John Mayo Farquharson (7 September 192929 June 2016) was an Australian journalist. He worked for 22 years with ''

The Canberra Times ''The Canberra Times'' is a daily newspaper in Canberra, Australia, which is published by Australian Community Media. It was founded in 1926, and has changed ownership and format several times. History ''The Canberra Times'' was launched in ...

'', from 1966 to 1988.

Life and career

From 1942 to 1947, Farquharson attended

The King's School, Parramatta , motto_translation = "Bravely and Faithfully" , streetaddress = 87–129 Pennant Hills Road , city = North Parramatta, Sydney , state = New South Wales , country = Australia , coordinat ...

. He got his first newspaper job in 1948, with ''

The Cumberland Argus and Fruitgrowers' Advocate ''The Cumberland Argus and Fruitgrowers' Advocate'' (also known as ''The Cumberland Argus'' or ''The Argus'') was a newspaper published in Parramatta, New South Wales, Parramatta with coverage and circulation incorporating Greater Western Sydney ...

''. He was responsible for covering local government and football, and for visiting the stockyard for the market report. Farquharson moved to the Australian Capital Territory in 1952, to work in the

Canberra Press Gallery The Canberra Press Gallery, officially called the Federal Parliamentary Press Gallery, is the name given to the approximately 180 journalists and their support staff, including producers, editors and camera crews, who report the workings of the A ...

as a parliamentary reporter. In 1956 Farquharson ventured overseas as a member of the

Moral Re-Armament Moral Re-Armament (MRA) was an international moral and spiritual movement that, in 1938, developed from American minister Frank Buchman's Oxford Group. Buchman headed MRA for 23 years until his death in 1961. In 2001, the movement was renamed I ...

movement. From 1965 to 1966, Farquharson lived in

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua Niu Gini), officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea ( tpi, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niugini; ho, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niu Gini), is a country i ...

and worked as editor of the ''South Pacific Post''. His first child was born while he and his wife were resident in Port Moresby. In 1966 Farquharson and his family returned to Canberra and he took up an appointment as senior sub-editor of ''

''. He was news editor from 1969 until 1975, when he was appointed assistant editor. He was later promoted to deputy editor and in 1985 was appointed editorial manager. In 1988, Farquharson worked as a staffer for politician Wal Fife. Farquharson had a long history of association with the Australian Dictionary of Biography. He allowed the National Centre of Biography to publish a collection of his obituaries as part of the pilot stage of the Obituaries Australia project. Farquharson died on 29 June 2016.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Farquharson, John 2016 deaths 1929 births Australian journalists People educated at The King's School, Parramatta The Canberra Times people