John Griffiths (1801-1881) was an Australian shipowner and builder.

Early life

His father, Johnathon, was born in England in 1773 and, in 1788, at the age of 15, was sentenced to seven years

transportation Transport (in British English), or transportation (in American English), is the intentional movement of humans, animals, and goods from one location to another. Modes of transport include air, land (rail and road), water, cable, pipeline, ...

to Australia. He arrived Sydney in June 1790 aboard the convict transport ''Scarborough''. In August that year he was transported to Norfolk Island. While there he met convict Eleanor McDonald. He returned to Port Jackson in 1795 and was joined the following year by Eleanor. The couple went on to have seven children, including John born in 1801. By 1806, Johnathon and Eleanor had 100 acres of land at

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States * Richmond, London, a part of London * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, ...

. Johnathon senior was shipbuilding by 1804 and as John grew older he was apprenticed into the trade. Some of the ships they built were put to work in the sealing trade in Bass Strait. In 1822, Jonathan took John and another son to Launceston, Tasmania where they acquired land, began farming and built a house. They put their woodworking skills to good use, building a bridge and new wharf at Launceston. In Tasmania John came increasingly into his own, building small vessels and sailing on them on sealing expeditions into Bass Strait and engaging in bay whaling at

Portland Portland most commonly refers to: * Portland, Oregon, the largest city in the state of Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States * Portland, Maine, the largest city in the state of Maine, in the New England region of the northeas ...

and

Port Fairy Port Fairy (historically known as Belfast) is a coastal town in south-western Victoria, Australia. It lies on the Princes Highway in the Shire of Moyne, west of Warrnambool and west of Melbourne, at the point where the Moyne River enters the ...

on the coast of Victoria. By 1835 he was building warehouses on the wharf and soon had a steam-powered flour mill and shipping agency in partnership with Michael Connolly.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Griffiths, John 1801 births 1881 deaths Australian shipbuilders Australian people in whaling 19th-century Australian businesspeople