The Presidents of the Launceston Mechanics' Institute 2

The Institute's governing body was a Board of Management, with an elected President. Many individuals prominent in Launceston's civic life took the role of president. This post - the second of two listing the Institute's presidents - covers the period 1877 to 1928.

It was Institute practise to request a portrait from each president to be hung in a place of honour in the Reading Room. The illustration below shows another view of the Reading Room featuring a selection of the portraits.

1877

Robert Byron Miller

Miller was a highly regarded lawyer, specialising in criminal cases. He served as a member of the Tasmanian House of Assembly between 1861 and 1866, including terms as solicitor-general and attorney-general. As a Launceston Alderman he was an effective advocate for improvements to the City's sanitation and drainage.*

1878-1882

Andrew William Birchall

The Birchall name is synonymous with books in Launceston, A. W. Birchall first came to Launceston to manage the bookshop of which he became a partner in 1858. The firm was first known as Walch Bros. and Birchall, until 1893 when Birchall acquired the business and registered the company of A.W.Birchall and Sons. The company trades on the same site to this day.

Mr Birchall was active in many philanthropic and charitable works in the community; a member of the Launceston Hospital Board, Vice-president of the Benevolent Society, member of the Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, a Justice of the Peace, superintendent of Christ Church Sunday school and secretary to the Church building committee.

1883-1884

Adye William Douglas

Adye Douglas settled in Launceston in 1842 where he founded the legal practice which still bears his name. He was a founder of the Anti-Transportation League, served as Mayor of Launceston in 1865-66 and 1880-82, and represented the city in the first Tasmanian House of Assembly in 1856. At different times he represented other electorates in both houses of parliament. He was Premier of Tasmania (1884-1886) and President of the Legislative Council (1894-1904). He was a leading light in the movement towards Federation, and a delegate at the federal conventions in 1891 and 1897-98. Adye Douglas was knighted in 1902, ranked by the governor as 'the first among living Tasmanians'. He died in Hobart in 1906.*

1885-1886

Henry Button

One of the most respected men in the history of the city, Henry Button arrived in Launceston as a child in 1837.  In 1879-88 Button was an alderman of Launceston, and Mayor in 1885. He was a life member of the Institute and in 1892 published a pamphlet on its jubilee. Throughout his life he was closely connected with the Congregational Church, starting from his days at the school of the Rev. Charles Price.  Button was a journalist, writer and newspaper proprietor. His Memories of Fifty Years of Courtship and Wedded Life 1847-1897 was published by the Examiner in 1899, and dedicated to the memory of his wife. Flotsam and Jetsam; Floating Fragments of Life in England and Tasmania. An Autobiographical Sketch with an Outline of Responsible Government was published in Launceston in 1909. This book has been reissued many times, and is an invaluable record of the history of the city.*

1887

Landon Fairthorne

Fairthorne arrived in South Australia in 1839 and moved in 1842 to Tasmania, where he qualified to practise as a chemist by examination. He then opened in business at Longford before setting up as a chemist at Launceston. He took an interest in public and social matters, and occupied a seat at the Municipal Council as Alderman for six years, and was elected Mayor in 1884. On February 5, 1883 he was made a Justice of the Peace. He had business interests in shipping, was a director of the Cornwall Insurance Company and the Mount Bischoff T.M. Company, and a strong supporter of the mining industry in Tasmania.*

1888-1889

Matthew Edward Robinson

Matthew Robinson was a wholesale merchant and manufacturer's agent, and a foundation member of the Commercial Travellers' Association. He served for many years as a churchwarden, lay-preacher and Sunday School superintendent at St John's Church. He was a Launceston City Council alderman for three years and a member of the House of Assembly from 1903-1906.

1890

Rev. Donald Smith Brunton

Reverend Brunton was a Presbyterian Minister, attached to Chalmers Church from the mid-1880s until his retirement through ill-health in 1895. In his retirement he conducted occasional services at the Mechanics' Institute and a collection of his sermons, Fruit from my Launceston study, was published in Launceston in 1895.

1891

George Wilson Waterhouse

G. W. Waterhouse was educated at Horton College, Ross, and won the Tasmanian Scholarship, going to Cambridge University to study law. He had a brilliant career at that University where he was famous as a mathematician, becoming a 'Wrangler', the highest degree in the world at that time relating to applied mathematics. He was admitted as a barrister-at-law at the Inner Temple, London, in 1879. Returning to Tasmania he was appointed Police Magistrate at Launceston from 1886 to 1894, when he resumed private practice. He was President of the Institute for one year, and then served as Vice-President from 1892-1905.

1892

Bernard Patrick Farrelly

A stalwart member of the Launceston Roman Catholic community, Mr Farrelly was a woollen and drapery merchant. He served four terms as an Alderman, and was Mayor of Launceston 1887-1888. Mr Farrelly was very active in sporting organisations including the Tamar Rowing Club, Turf Club and Northern Tasmanian Cricket Association. He was proprietor of both the Tasmanian Catholic Standard and Morning Star newspapers. He was a great supporter of literary and debating societies including the Tasmanian Parliamentary Debating Society.

1893-1895

Alfred Barrett Biggs

A.B. Biggs is remembered as an astronomer, inventor and instrument maker. He enjoyed long careers as a teacher and a bank officer, while pursuing his scientific interests. Biggs was a very active member of the Royal Society of Tasmania, contributing numerous papers, and choirmaster at St Andrew's Presbyterian Church. In addition to his term as President of the Institute, Biggs had briefly served as librarian and resident hall-keeper in 1860 and later as Treasurer.

1896-1899

Dr Lavington Grey Thompson

Dr Thompson was Surgeon-Superintendent at the Launceston General Hospital until 1889 when he returned to private practice, and Chief Medical Officer for the City from 1903 -1923.  A progressive thinker, Dr Thompson was responsible for important advances in public health and particularly in the improvement of Launceston's water supply. He was active in many public institutions, served as a coroner and justice of the peace and was a passionate advocate for the disadvantaged.

1900

Alexander Richard Fowler

Alex Fowler was a timber merchant in Launceston from 1870. He was a founder of the Court Sherwood Lodge, chair of the United Friendly Society Dispensary, secretary of the Launceston Savings, Investment and Building Society, and was active in many roles at Holy Trinity Church. He was a member of the House of Assembly from 1893 until 1901, and a Chairman of the Launceston Chamber of Commerce.

1901-1903

Augustus Simson

Simson came to Tasmania in 1874 and established a business purchasing and exporting wool and tin. He became manager, secretary and agent for many Tasmanian mines, and a founding member of the Launceston Stock Exchange. He was interested in the sciences, a respected naturalist and a member of the Royal Society of Tasmania.

1904-1908

Ernest Whitfeld

The holder of many public positions, including Police Magistrate and Commissioner of the Court of Requests, Coroner, Returning Officer for the district of Selby, chair of the Public Works Commission, and member of the Royal Commission on Education, Ernest Whitfeld was chiefly esteemed for his voluntary work in the Launceston community. It was recorded in his obituary that "[t]here was hardly a local institution having for its objective the welfare of the city with which Mr. Whitfeld was not associated".

Mr Whitfeld took a great interest in history, and contributed by lectures and articles to the knowledge of Tasmania's early experiences, particularly development in and around Launceston and on the Tamar. He wrote, also, much of the state's church history, and many brief sketches of the pioneer clergymen. He was the author of The History of the Launceston Mechanics' Institute and Public Library published by the Institute in 1910.

1909-1928

Frederick Richard Unsworth

The longest-serving president of the Institute, Mr Unsworth came to Launceston in the 1860s as a mining and commission agent with David Collins of Evandale. He later joined the wholesale firm of Messrs Lindsay Tulloch & Co. and then became the managing director of Irvine & McEachern, wholesale grocers and wine and spirit merchants.

For 26 years he was a member of the board of the Launceston Mechanics' Institute and president for 19 years. He was a member of the Launceston Golf Club, the ABC Bowls Club and the Northern Tasmanian Athletic Association. He was a member of the Lodge of Hope, an executive of the Benevolent Society and a Justice of the Peace. Mr Unsworth was a member of the St John's Church choir, but in later years was associated with St Paul's Church.

These brief biographical notes are based in part on entries in the Australian Dictionary of Biography. Those notes marked with an asterisk refer the reader to ADB Online for further information.