John Lamont Dow (8 December 1837 – 16 July 1923) was an Australian politician. Born in

Kilmarnock Kilmarnock (, sco, Kilmaurnock; gd, Cill Mheàrnaig (IPA: ʰʲɪʎˈveaːɾnəkʲ, "Marnock's church") is a large town and former burgh in East Ayrshire, Scotland and is the administrative centre of East Ayrshire, East Ayrshire Council. ...

Ayrshire Ayrshire ( gd, Siorrachd Inbhir Àir, ) is a historic county and registration county in south-west Scotland, located on the shores of the Firth of Clyde. Its principal towns include Ayr, Kilmarnock and Irvine and it borders the counties of Re ...

, to weaver David Hill Dow and Agnes Lamont, he arrived in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

in December 1848 and settled in

Geelong Geelong ( ) (Wathawurrung: ''Djilang''/''Djalang'') is a port city in the southeastern Australian state of Victoria, located at the eastern end of Corio Bay (the smaller western portion of Port Phillip Bay) and the left bank of Barwon River, ...

, becoming a farmer. In 1869 he married Marion Jane Orr, with whom he would have eight children. He later became a journalist and edited the ''Leader'', becoming a vociferous advocate for

land reform Land reform is a form of agrarian reform involving the changing of laws, regulations, or customs regarding land ownership. Land reform may consist of a government-initiated or government-backed property redistribution, generally of agricultural ...

. In 1877 he was elected to the

Victorian Legislative Assembly The Victorian Legislative Assembly is the lower house of the bicameral Parliament of Victoria in Australia; the upper house being the Victorian Legislative Council. Both houses sit at Parliament House in Spring Street, Melbourne. The presiding ...

as the member for Kara Kara, serving until 1893; he was Minister for Agriculture (1886–90) and Mines (1886). In 1893 he was declared insolvent and left politics, returning to journalism. He died at

Kew Kew () is a district in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. Its population at the 2011 census was 11,436. Kew is the location of the Royal Botanic Gardens ("Kew Gardens"), now a World Heritage Site, which includes Kew Palace. Kew is a ...

in 1923.

References

1837 births 1923 deaths Members of the Victorian Legislative Assembly Presidents of the Board of Land and Works Scottish emigrants to colonial Australia People from Kilmarnock Politicians from Melbourne Politicians from Geelong Australian farmers Australian journalists Ministers for Agriculture (Victoria) Ministers of Mines (Victoria) {{Australia-politician-stub