Sir John Henry MacFarland (19 April 1851 – 22 July 1935) was an Irish–

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

n university chancellor. MacFarland was born in

Omagh Omagh (; from ga, An Ómaigh , meaning 'the virgin plain') is the county town of County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. It is situated where the rivers River Drumragh, Drumragh and Camowen River, Camowen meet to form the River Strule, Strule. North ...

County Tyrone County Tyrone (; ) is one of the six Counties of Northern Ireland, counties of Northern Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of the thirty-two traditional Counties of Ireland, counties of Ireland. It is no longer used as an admini ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

and educated at the Royal Academical Institution, Belfast. He was senior scholar in Mathematics and Natural Philosophy at

Queen's College, Belfast , mottoeng = For so much, what shall we give back? , top_free_label = , top_free = , top_free_label1 = , top_free1 = , top_free_label2 = , top_free2 = , established = , closed = , type = Public research university , parent = ...

, where he was taught by

John Purser John Purser (born 1942) is a Scottish composer, musicologist, and music historian. He is also a playwright.cover notes from ''Scotland's Music'' CD Purser was born in Glasgow. He initiated the reconstruction that commenced in 1991 of the Iron ...

. There he earned a BA in 1871 and MA in 1872. Moving to

St. John's College, Cambridge St John's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge founded by the Tudor matriarch Lady Margaret Beaufort. In constitutional terms, the college is a charitable corporation established by a charter dated 9 April 1511. The ...

, he was elected a foundation scholar, and earned a second BA, as 26th wrangler, in 1876. He also got an MA there in 1879. MacFarland taught at

Repton School Repton School is a 13–18 Mixed-sex education, co-educational, Independent school (United Kingdom), independent, Day school, day and boarding school in the English Public school (United Kingdom), public school tradition, in Repton, Derbyshire, ...

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands, England. It includes much of the Peak District National Park, the southern end of the Pennine range of hills and part of the National Forest. It borders Greater Manchester to the nor ...

from 1876 to 1880. (A decade later, his younger brother Robert (1860-1922), also a Queen's Belfast and Cambridge maths graduate, would teach at Repton.) In 1881, he became the first master of

Ormond College Ormond College is the largest of the residential colleges of the University of Melbourne located in the city of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It is home to around 350 undergraduates, 90 graduates and 35 professorial and academic residents. Hi ...

in the

University of Melbourne The University of Melbourne is a public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in Victoria. Its main campus is located in Parkville, an inner suburb nor ...

. In 1919, he became chancellor of the university and was knighted the same year. In 1892, the

Royal University of Ireland The Royal University of Ireland was founded in accordance with the ''University Education (Ireland) Act 1879'' as an examining and degree-awarding university based on the model of the University of London. A Royal Charter was issued on 27 Apri ...

had bestowed upon him an honorary LLD degree.MacFarland, Sir John Henry (1851-1935)
Heritage Guide to The Geelong College MacFarland became a director of the National Mutual Life Association c. 1905 and was chairman from 1928. He died 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 ...

, Victoria, Australia on 22 July 1935.

References

*Serle, Geoffrey
MacFarland, Sir John Henry (1851 - 1935)
''

Australian Dictionary of Biography The ''Australian Dictionary of Biography'' (ADB or AuDB) is a national co-operative enterprise founded and maintained by the Australian National University (ANU) to produce authoritative biographical articles on eminent people in Australia's ...

'', Vol. 10, MUP, 1986, pp 266–267. Retrieved 8 January 2014 *

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:MacFarland, John Henry 1851 births 1935 deaths Australian educational theorists Irish emigrants to colonial Australia Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge Vice-Chancellors of the University of Melbourne Chancellors of the University of Melbourne Australian Knights Bachelor People from Omagh People educated at the Royal Belfast Academical Institution Alumni of Queen's University Belfast