Frederick Johns (22 March 1868 – 3 December 1932) was an American-born

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 ...

journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...

and biographer. Johns was born in

Houghton, Michigan Houghton (; ) is the largest city and seat of government of Houghton County in the U.S. state of Michigan. Located on the Keweenaw Peninsula, Houghton is the largest city in the Copper Country region. It is the fifth-largest city in the Uppe ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, son of

Cornishman The Cornish people or Cornish ( kw, Kernowyon, ang, Cornƿīelisċ) are an ethnic group native to, or associated with Cornwall: and a recognised national minority in the United Kingdom, which can trace its roots to the ancient Britons w ...

Ezekiel JohnsSuzanne Edgar,
Johns, Frederick (Fred) (1868 - 1932)
, ''

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 ...

'', Volume 9, MUP, 1983, pp 491–492. Retrieved 2009-08-16 of

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...

, UK. His father Ezekiel died while Fred was still an infant, whereupon he was taken to Cornwall, England. After leaving school, he emigrated to

in 1884 at the age of 16. He obtained a position on the ''South Australian Register'' and rose to be a sub-editor. In 1906 he published his '' Johns's Notable Australians'', a volume of biographies of Australians then living. A later edition appeared in 1908; from 1912–1914 it appeared as ''Fred Johns's Annual''. In 1922 it was revived as ''Who's Who in the Commonwealth of Australia '', and then in 1927 as ''

Who's Who in Australia ''Who's Who in Australia'' (''WWIA'') is an Australian biographical dictionary first published by Fred Johns in 1906 as ''Johns's Notable Australians''. It is used as a resource for summary information on prominent Australians. ''WWIA'' is part of ...

''. In 1914 Johns was appointed a member of the State Hansard staff, of which he subsequently became the leader. In 1920 Johns published a small collection of patriotic verses, ''In Remembrance'', which was followed two years later by ''A Journalist's Jottings'', a collection of essays dealing mostly with well-known Australians. Johns also edited the ''South Australian Freemason'' 1920–25. Johns died at Adelaide aged 64. He was survived by a daughter. Under his will the sum of £1500 was left to the

University of Adelaide The University of Adelaide (informally Adelaide University) is a public research university located in Adelaide, South Australia. Established in 1874, it is the third-oldest university in Australia. The university's main campus is located on N ...

to found "The Fred Johns Scholarship for Biography". Johns' '' An Australian Biographical Dictionary'' was not quite finished at the time of his death. It was completed by his friend B. S. Roach and published by his daughter in 1934, two years after his death. It contains about 3000 short biographies of eminent Australians. His work is marked by great conscientiousness and care, and as a general rule is remarkably accurate.

Footnotes

References

Johns, Fred, ''Johns's Notable Australians, and Who is Who in Australasia: A Dictionary of Biography Containing Records of the Careers of Men and Women of Distinction in the Commonwealth of Australia and the Dominion of New Zealand'', Fred Johns, (Rose Park, Adelaide), 1908
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Johns, Fred Australian biographers Male biographers American emigrants to Australia American people of Cornish descent Australian people of Cornish descent Writers from South Australia People from Houghton, Michigan 1868 births 1932 deaths Australian Freemasons