Sir John Bramston, (14 November 1832 – 13 September 1921), was a politician in

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

(now part of Australia) and a British colonial government administrator in Queensland and

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

. He then served as Assistant Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies in London for 20 years.

Early life

Born on 14 November 1832 in Roxwell, Essex, Bramston was the second son of

Thomas William Bramston T.W. (Thomas William) Bramston (30 October 1796 – 21 May 1871) was Conservative and Protectionist Member for South Essex, 1835–1865. He was a trustee of the Royal Agricultural Society of England and a noted cattle breeder at the family estat ...

(later MP for South Essex), of Skreens, Essex and his wife Eliza, daughter of Admiral Sir

Eliab Harvey Admiral Sir Eliab Harvey (5 December 1758 – 20 February 1830) was an eccentric and hot-tempered officer of the Royal Navy during the French Revolutionary and the Napoleonic Wars who was as distinguished for his gambling and dueling as fo ...

. He was educated at

Winchester College Winchester College is a public school (fee-charging independent day and boarding school) in Winchester, Hampshire, England. It was founded by William of Wykeham in 1382 and has existed in its present location ever since. It is the oldest of the ...

and at

Balliol College Balliol College () is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. One of Oxford's oldest colleges, it was founded around 1263 by John I de Balliol, a landowner from Barnard Castle in County Durham, who provided the f ...

, Oxford, where he graduated B.A. in 1854, becoming Fellow of

All Souls College, Oxford All Souls College (official name: College of the Souls of All the Faithful Departed) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Unique to All Souls, all of its members automatically become fellows (i.e., full members of t ...

in the following year, and D.C.L. in 1863. He entered the

Middle Temple The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known simply as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court exclusively entitled to call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple, Gray's Inn an ...

in November 1854 and was called to the bar in June 1857.

Queensland

He went to Queensland in 1859 as private secretary to Sir

George Bowen Sir George Ferguson Bowen (; 2 November 1821 – 21 February 1899), was an Irish author and colonial administrator whose appointments included postings to the Ionian Islands, Queensland, New Zealand, Victoria, Mauritius and Hong Kong.R. B. Joy ...

, the first

Governor of Queensland The governor of Queensland is the representative in the state of Queensland of the monarch of Australia. In an analogous way to the governor-general of Australia at the national level, the governor Governors of the Australian states, performs c ...

, and held that post for two years when he resigned. On 3 July 1863, he was appointed as a

Member of the Queensland Legislative Council Following are lists of members of the Queensland Legislative Council: * 1860–1869 * 1870–1879 * 1880–1889 * 1890–1899 *1900–1909 The 1900s may refer to: * 1900s (decade), the decade from 1900 to 1909 * The century from 1900 to 1999, al ...

, and was a member without a portfolio of the first Ministry formed by his friend Sir

Robert Herbert Sir Robert George Wyndham Herbert, (12 June 1831 – 6 May 1905), was the first Premier of Queensland, Australia. At 28 years and 181 days of age, he was the youngest person ever to be elected premier of an Australian state. Early years Born ...

, the first

Premier of Queensland The premier of Queensland is the head of government in the Australian state of Queensland. By convention the premier is the leader of the party with a parliamentary majority in the unicameral Legislative Assembly of Queensland. The premier is ap ...

, from July 1863 to February 1866, acting briefly as

Attorney-General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general or attorney-general (sometimes abbreviated AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. The plural is attorneys general. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have exec ...

from 31 August 1865 to 11 September 1865. Although his membership of the Legislative Council was a lifetime appointment, Bramston resigned on 17 November 1869. Robert Herbert established a farm in the Brisbane area and lived in the farmhouse with John Bramston. The pair named their house ''Herston'', a combination of their surnames, which eventually became the name of the suburb of Herston.

England

Subsequently Bramston returned to England, and remained for two years, acting in 1867 as Assistant Boundary Commissioner for Devon and Cornwall under the Reform Act of that year.

Return to Queensland

Bramston returned to Queensland in 1868. When

Charles Haley Charles Lewis Haley (born January 6, 1964) is a former American football outside linebacker and defensive end who played in the National Football League (NFL) for the San Francisco 49ers (1986–1991, 1999) and the Dallas Cowboys (1992–1996). ...

resigned as Member of the

Queensland Legislative Assembly The Legislative Assembly of Queensland is the sole chamber of the unicameral Parliament of Queensland established under the Constitution of Queensland. Elections are held every four years and are done by full preferential voting. The Assembly ...

for Burnett, Bramston was elected in the resulting by-election on 3 April 1871. He held the seat until 8 December 1873, when the electorate was abolished in a redistribution. During this time, he was Queensland's Attorney-General in the

Palmer Palmer may refer to: People and fictional characters * Palmer (pilgrim), a medieval European pilgrim to the Holy Land * Palmer (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Palmer (surname), including a list of people and ...

Ministry from 3 May 1870 to 2 January 1874. On 12 December 1872 at

St John's Cathedral (Brisbane) St John's Cathedral is the cathedral of the Anglican Diocese of Brisbane and the metropolitan cathedral of the ecclesiastical province of Queensland, Australia. It is dedicated to St John the Evangelist. The cathedral is situated in Ann Street ...

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...

, Bramston married Eliza Isabella Russell, daughter of Rev. Harry Vane Russell and niece of the

George Phipps, 2nd Marquess of Normanby George Augustus Constantine Phipps, 2nd Marquess of Normanby (23 July 1819 – 3 April 1890), styled Viscount Normanby between 1831 and 1838 and Earl of Mulgrave between 1838 and 1863, was a British Liberal politician and colonial governor of Nov ...

(who had married Laura Russell, sister to Harry Russell). The service was conducted by the Bishop of Brisbane, Edward Tufnell. The Governor hosted a wedding reception at

Government House Government House is the name of many of the official residences of governors-general, governors and lieutenant-governors in the Commonwealth and the remaining colonies of the British Empire. The name is also used in some other countries. Gover ...

and the couple honeymooned in

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

and

Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...

Hong Kong

In 1874 Bramston was appointed

Attorney General of Hong Kong The Secretary for Justice () is the head of the Department of Justice (Hong Kong), Hong Kong Department of Justice, the chief legal advisor to the Chief Executive of Hong Kong, and the chief law enforcement officer of the Government of Hong Ko ...

replacing

Julian Pauncefote Julian Pauncefote, 1st Baron Pauncefote (13 September 1828 – 24 May 1902), known as Sir Julian Pauncefote between 1874 and 1899, was a British barrister, judge and diplomat. He was Permanent Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs between ...

. From time to time as Attorney General, he also acted as a judge in Hong Kong.

Return to England

In June 1876 Bramston was appointed as Assistant

Under Secretary of State Under Secretary of State (U/S) is a title used by senior officials of the United States Department of State who rank above the Assistant Secretaries and below the Deputy Secretary. From 1919 to 1972, the Under Secretary was the second-ranking of ...

in the

Colonial Office The Colonial Office was a government department of the Kingdom of Great Britain and later of the United Kingdom, first created to deal with the colonial affairs of British North America but required also to oversee the increasing number of col ...

, being employed on a mission to Berlin in connection with the

Angra Pequena Angra may refer to: Places * Bay of Angra (Baía de Angra), within Angra do Heroísmo on the Portuguese island of Terceira in the archipelago of the Azores * Angra do Heroísmo, a municipality in the Azores, Portugal * Angra dos Reis, a municipali ...

negotiations in July 1886, in which year he was created Companion of the

Order of the Bath The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I of Great Britain, George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate medieval ceremony for appointing a knight, which involved Bathing#Medieval ...

. In October 1887, Bramston's death was announced in the Queensland newspapers, resulting in the publication of many obituaries. However, it turned out to be an error arising from a misinterpretation of a telegram. John Bramston was appointed Registrar of the Order of St. Michael and St. George in 1892. He served as Assistant Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies for more than 20 years, retiring in 1898 upon which he was created

Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is a British order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George IV, Prince of Wales, while he was acting as prince regent for his father, King George III. It is named in honour ...

(KCMG). In 1899 he was sent as Royal Commissioner in conjunction with Admiral Sir

James Erskine James Erskine may refer to: *James Erskine, 6th Earl of Buchan (died 1640) *James Erskine, 7th Earl of Buchan (died 1664), Earl of Buchan *Sir James Erskine, 2nd Baronet (c. 1670–1693), of the Erskine baronets *James Erskine (Aberdeen MP) (born 1 ...

to inquire into French treaty rights in

Newfoundland Newfoundland and Labrador (; french: Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador; frequently abbreviated as NL) is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region ...

. The dispute was settled by the

Entente Cordiale The Entente Cordiale (; ) comprised a series of agreements signed on 8 April 1904 between the United Kingdom and the French Republic which saw a significant improvement in Anglo-French relations. Beyond the immediate concerns of colonial de ...

of 1904. Similarly Bramston was a member of the Royal Commission for the Paris Exhibition of 1900. In the 1900 New Year Honours list he was promoted to Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George (GCMG), and he received the order from

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 21 ...

during an investiture at

Windsor Castle Windsor Castle is a royal residence at Windsor in the English county of Berkshire. It is strongly associated with the English and succeeding British royal family, and embodies almost a millennium of architectural history. The original cast ...

on 1 March 1900.

Death

His wife, Lady Bramston, died in 1920. Bramston died at

Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * ...

on Tuesday 13 September 1921, and was buried at the Wimbledon Cemetery.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bramston, John 1832 births 1921 deaths Burials in England Members of the Queensland Legislative Assembly People educated at Winchester College Alumni of Balliol College, Oxford Members of the Middle Temple British barristers Knights Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George Attorneys General of Hong Kong Members of the Queensland Legislative Council Fellows of All Souls College, Oxford Companions of the Order of the Bath Attorneys-General of Queensland Colony of Queensland people People from the City of Chelmsford