John Harvey Finlayson (3 February 1843 – 30 March 1915) was the editor and part-owner of the ''South Australian Register''.

Employment and social advocacy

He joined ''

The Register ''The Register'' is a British technology news website co-founded in 1994 by Mike Magee, John Lettice and Ross Alderson. The online newspaper's masthead sublogo is "''Biting the hand that feeds IT''." Their primary focus is information tec ...

'' in 1861 and became head reporter 1866, a proprietor in 1877 and editor in 1878, succeeding

John Howard Clark John Howard Clark (15 January 1830 – 20 May 1878) was editor of ''The South Australian Register'' from 1870 to 1877 and was responsible for its ''Echoes from the Bush'' column and closely associated with its ''Geoffry Crabthorn'' persona. ...

, resigning in 1899 due to ill-health. He was then appointed resident reporter in Britain until retiring and returning to Adelaide in 1908, dying 7 years later. As an editor he was an outspoken supporter of

female suffrage Women's suffrage is the right of women to vote in elections. Beginning in the start of the 18th century, some people sought to change voting laws to allow women to vote. Liberal political parties would go on to grant women the right to vot ...

, free secular education,

free trade Free trade is a trade policy that does not restrict imports or exports. It can also be understood as the free market idea applied to international trade. In government, free trade is predominantly advocated by political parties that hold econo ...

between the Colonies, and

Federation A federation (also known as a federal state) is a political entity characterized by a union of partially self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a central federal government (federalism). In a federation, the self-governin ...

. Finlayson was an active Congregational churchman and was appointed Justice of the Peace in 1880. In 1878 Finlayson built a residence "Strelda" in North Adelaide which still stands, at 217-221 Stanley Street. Finlayson Place, in the Canberra suburb of

Gilmore Gilmore or Gillmore may refer to: *Gilmore (surname) Places Australia *Gilmore, Australian Capital Territory, a suburb in the Canberra district of Tuggeranong *Gilmore Avenue, a road in southern Perth, Western Australia *Division of Gilmore, an ...

, is named in his honour.

Family and education

Finlayson was born at "Helenholm",

Mitcham, South Australia Mitcham, formerly known as Mitcham Village, is an inner-southern suburb of Adelaide in the City of Mitcham. History Created as a village separate from Adelaide known as "Mitcham Village", it was ancillary to a sheep station at Brown Hill Creek b ...

.Finlayson, John Harvey
Love, J. H. ''Australian Dictionary of Biography online'' accessed 14 July 2011Baptist Churches in Mitcham
Mitcham Local History Service and Heritage Research Centre, July 2006, last updated 3/12/2009, accessed 17 September 2011
"Helenholm" still stands at 1 Finlayson Street, Netherby He was one of nine children born to William Finlayson (1813 – 18 December 1897) and his wife, née Helen Harvey (born Edinburgh 1811 – 20 October 1884).The Late Mr. William Finlayson
''South Australian Register'' 18 December 1897 p.7 accessed 24 July 2011 He was educated at George Mugg's school (founded 1847, later to become

Mitcham Primary School Mitcham Primary School is a South Australian State school serving the Mitcham area and situated on Hillview Road, Kingswood. It is the oldest continuously operating school in South Australia. It has an enrolment of approximately 766 students from ...

, the oldest in South Australia) and

Adelaide Educational Institution Adelaide Educational Institution was a privately run non-sectarian academy for boys in Adelaide founded in 1852 by John Lorenzo Young.B. K. Hyams'Young, John Lorenzo (1826–1881)' ''Australian Dictionary of Biography'', Volume 6, Melbourne Unive ...

, where he emulated the successes of his older brother R. K. Finlayson. Finlayson married Alice Shoobridge (ca. 1847 – 6 June 1933) on 20 March 1878. They had a son Harvey Pym Finlayson (a

Boer War The Second Boer War ( af, Tweede Vryheidsoorlog, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, the Anglo–Boer War, or the South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer Republics (the Sou ...

hero killed 27 February 1915 in

Elwood, Victoria Elwood is an inner suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 8 km south-east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Port Phillip local government area. Elwood recorded a population of 15,153 at the 2021 census ...

when the car he was driving left the road,Elwood Motor Accident
''The Register'' 10 March 1915 p.8 accessed 24 July 2011) and a daughter Katharine, "Kate", who never married.Death of Mr. John Harvey Finlayson
''The Register'' 31 March 1915 p.8 accessed 24 July 2011

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Finlayson, John Harvey People educated at Adelaide Educational Institution Australian newspaper editors Australian newspaper publishers (people) 1843 births 1915 deaths 19th-century Australian businesspeople