John Douglas obituary in the Capricornian

The Capricornian (Rockhampton), Saturday, 30 July 1904, p. 36

THE LATE HON. JOHN DOUGLAS.

The death of the Hon. John Douglas, says the “Brisbane Courier” removes from the public life of Queensland one who, by reason of his natural intellectual gifts, his educational attainments, his wide experience of men and affairs, and his well balanced and essentially fair mind, was eminently qualified for a leading part in building up the institutions of a young country. To the traits mentioned add honesty of purpose and honourable, even chivalrous, character, and we have a fair view of the mental side of the Hon. John Douglas.

Physically he was a fine, robust specimen of the Anglo-Saxon—alert, active, enduring. His face revealed his generous nature; his brow, dignified in later years by an abundance of silvered, waving hair, was that of a man of noble instincts. There was in him and about him always a calm dignity and courtesy which, however estimable in the eyes of his private friends, did not help him in the rough-and-tumble fighting of political life. It was said that he was not a born political leader in that he was not a fighter. Those who knew John Douglas privately and closely would put the expression thus: He was not a born political leader, because he always fought in the open, and his blows were never below the belt.

He was not personally aggressive, did not possess the aggressiveness that pursues (and belittles), and it is no secret to those who watched Queensland political developments in the late seventies that his lack of that very quality led to the selection of another leader of the old Liberal party. Practically upon that came the retirement of Mr. Douglas from political life.

But he had done the state good service; he had served in the old Legislative Council of New South Wales when Queensland had not yet been established as a separate colony, and from 1863 until 1879 he held a prominent place in the political life of this state. Mr. Douglas during his political career was responsible for the first blow struck at unrestricted Chinese immigration to Queensland. His Government passed an Act designed to check the flood of Chinese to the Palmer goldfield and other portions of the state. The Royal assent to the measure was withheld, but Mr. Douglas was not content to accept that as the last word on the subject. He imposed upon ships coming from China ports certain quarantine regulations, and that administrative act was found quite effective. Later on the legislation, much as we find it to-day, met with the Royal assent.

With this exception, Mr. Douglas’s term as Premier, from 8th March, 1877, to the 21st January, 1879, was not marked by any strong policy; but for that there were other reasons than his lack of creative instinct. Mr. Douglas had gathered up the threads of the Macalister and Thorn Administrations, and it was evident was fully occupied in holding the ground for his party until the general elections. Though not credited with having originated any other big political movements, Mr. Douglas was a good, sound administrator, whose honour was never impugned, and whose natural alertness and mental power prevented him from making serious mistakes.

Since his retirement from active political life he gave ample proof of his capacity in the management of men. He lived for many years in the outposts of this country and in New Guinea, administering the laws given him to meet cases, and using his own discretion where no laws existed—when savage people had to be dealt with—and there has been no occasion upon which his judgment, his tact, or his broad sense of right and wrong have been questioned.

Away in the great gateway that leads to and from the East, Mr. Douglas has had under his care a community as diverse as one would meet at Port Said, and at times the elements were bitterly and openly contentious. Again, he has had to deal with aboriginals whose instincts to plunder and murder are well known; again, with employers of aboriginals—white men and yellow—whose natures were lower and more devilish than the savages employed; again, with the natives of New Guinea and of the intervening islands lying between the Queensland coast and that of the Possession. Can any one point to an instance of lack of capacity on the part of the Government Resident (or High Commissioner) in handling the difficult material which makes up the population on the fringes of Torres Straits? Has there ever been a display of temper or tyranny? On the other hand, the Government of the state and of the Empire in so far as it was entrusted to the Hon. John Douglas has been carried out in a lofty and practical spirit, with firmness, but with kindness, with unflinching justice, yet with patience.

The Hon. John Douglas was for some years on the literary staff of the “Courier” and “Queenslander” as a leader writer. That was after his retirement from politics and before taking up his appointment as Government Resident at Thursday Island. It was chiefly in those days that the present writer, working in the same room with Mr. Douglas, learnt to appreciate his high intellectual qualities, to know the warmth and kindliness of his nature, to fully realise his benevolence in dealing with the weaker side of humanity.

Mr. Douglas carried into his literary work the polished style which characterised his public speaking, but he was in the nature of things more concise and therefore more effective as a writer than a speaker. In Parliament and on public platforms Mr. Douglas was more remarkable as a pleasant speaker, dipping his eloquence from a “well of purest English undefiled,” than as a forceful critic or advocate. As a writer, he was, perforce, restricted to space, and his ideas put in the concrete form often sparkled.

For much of the following we are indebted to “Meynell” and Werrett and Co.’s “Queensland.”

The Hon. John Douglas, C.M.G., B.A., son of Henry Alexander Douglas and Elizabeth (Dalziel) his wife, was born in London on the 6th of March, 1828. He was a nephew of the 4th and 5th Marquises of Queensberry. He was educated at Rugby and Durham University, and emigrated to New South Wales in 1851. Received an appointment as Gold Fields Commissioner, which he gave up to enter pastoral pursuits. He sat as member for Darling Downs in Sydney before Separation, and afterwards for Camden in the New South Wales Parliament.

In 1863 he settled in Queensland, and entered the Legislative Assembly for Port Curtis. In February, 1866, he joined the Macalister Ministry, and was Postmaster-General from March to July of that year. He was called to the Legislative Council the same year, but some months later he was appointed Treasurer, and re-entered the Assembly as member for the Eastern Downs. Again he resigned, and led for the Government in the Legislative Council. In May, 1867, Mr. Douglas resigned the Treasurership, and took up the portfolio of Secretary of Works until the following August.

On the 25th of November, 1868, the late Sir Charles Lilley came into power at the head of a Liberal Government, and Mr. Douglas in December took office as Postmaster-General, amongst his colleagues being Macalister, T. B. Stephens, and St. George Gore. In November, 1869, he resigned on accepting the post of Agent-General for Queensland, which he held until 1871, when he returned to the state, and was elected in 1875 for Maryborough.

In June, 1876, Mr. Douglas accepted office as Secretary for Lands in the Thorn Government, which was an offshoot of the Macalister party. In this Cabinet were Sir S. W. Griffith, Sir J. R. Dickson, Mr. R. M. Stewart, and Mr. C. S. Mein. On the 8th of March, 1877, Mr. Thorn resigned, and the Premiership fell to Mr. Douglas, who led a really strong combination against a strong and active Opposition led by Sir Thomas McIlwraith. In the following year he exchanged the portfolios of Secretary for Lands for that of Home Secretary. He led the Government until the 21st of January, 1879, when his party was defeated in the general election, and Sir Thomas McIlwraith’s Administration succeeded to power.

Subsequent to the assumption of a protectorate over a portion of New Guinea by the British Government, Mr. Douglas was a candidate for the office of High Commissioner, but the position was given by the Imperial Government to Sir Peter Scratchley, R.E. Mr. Douglas became Government Resident at Thursday Island in April, 1885, and on the death of Sir Peter Scratchley he was appointed Special Commissioner for British New Guinea, which post he held for nearly three years after the sovereignty of Great Britain was proclaimed. In 1889 he returned to Thursday Island as Government Resident and Police Magistrate.

The long residence in the far North seemed to impair the constitution of Mr. Douglas very little, but in 1902 he was able to take a long holiday, during the term of which he visited England and the Continent, and returned to Queensland, as he described it in his cheery way, “in splendid fettle.” Early in the present year he visited Brisbane from Thursday Island, and it was then noticed by his friends that he did not appear quite so robust as on his return from England, but his mental brightness and energy were in no way impaired. Age was, however, levying its charges on his reserve of strength, and the White Horseman coming, as he comes to all, delivered the great message, and the faithful servant of the public went to his rest.

The Hon. John Douglas leaves four sons. The eldest, Edward, is a barrister, and has served as associate to Sir S. W. Griffith and Mr. Justice Power. He is now practising his profession in Brisbane. The second son, Henry, is manager of Mr. Bowden’s business at Thursday Island, and with him is the third son, Hugh. The youngest, Robert, who is spoken of as a young man of high intellectual promise, is at Sydney University, and is intended for the Bar.

John Douglas obituary - Toowoomba Chronicle

The Toowoomba Chronicle, Tuesday, 26 July 1904, p. 3

THE DEATH OF JOHN DOUGLAS.

With the death at Thursday Island last Saturday of the Hon. John Douglas there passed away one of the most notable figures in the early political history of Queensland. A man of considerable ability, he had a remarkable experience of combined legislative and administrative life; that is to say, in the Public Service as well as Parliamentary. Few, indeed if any, of our Australian public men had such an experience in the service of the State.

Over fifty years ago, in the first flush of the gold discoveries, he was a Gold Fields Commissioner in the mother State. Then, after a brief interval devoted to pastoral pursuits, he entered Parliamentary life as a representative for Darling Downs in the New South Wales Parliament. There was no “Queensland” in those days, and the Darling Downs was a huge electorate. It was the irony of fate that it was the Darling Downs which commenced Mr. Douglas’s Parliamentary career, and it was the chief town of the Darling Downs which over a quarter of a century later terminated it.

But for a Parliament sitting in Sydney the Darling Downs was a scarcely convenient electorate to contest, and Mr. Douglas found in Camden a much more convenient one. Then some years later came Separation, and the election of the first Queensland Parliament. Mr. Douglas was not in the first batch of members elected to that first Parliament, and when on April 21, 1863, the late Hon. W. H. Groom first took his seat for Drayton and Toowoomba, Mr. Douglas was not a member. The seat for Port Curtis was then vacant—at any rate, Mr. Douglas was elected for it in 1863, but he was unable to take his seat in that first Parliament as it was dissolved on May 20, in consequence of the defeat of the Herbert Government on their Railway policy.

But he sat in the succeeding Parliaments, and in 1866 he joined the Macalister Ministry, first without portfolio and subsequently as Postmaster-General. His colleagues were Arthur Macalister, Robert Ramsay Mackenzie, Charles Lilley, and Joshua Peter Bell. All of these have long since passed away, so that with John Douglas passes the last member of the second Ministry of Queensland. The reign of that Ministry was a very short one—in fact, only six months.

The Macalister party again came into power in the following year. Mr. Douglas was not a member of it first, but he succeeded John Donald McLean as Colonial Treasurer six months after its formation, and later on he succeeded John Watts in the same Ministry as Minister for Works. We next find him as Postmaster-General in the Lilley Ministry in 1868-9 and afterwards he went to London as Agent-General.

He returned to Queensland in 1875 and found his old Liberal chief, Arthur Macalister, once more in power, and among Arthur Macalister’s colleagues at one period in the life of that Liberal Ministry were Thomas McIlwraith and Samuel Walker Griffith. McIlwraith soon left it to throw all the weight of his undoubted political genius into the Conservative Camp.

In the following year Arthur Macalister had a turn at the Agent-Generalship, and John Douglas being returned for Maryborough became joint head of the Ministry with George Thorn as Premier. Mr. Thorn was really only Premier nominally, and after about nine months he made way for John Douglas, under whom he accepted a subordinate position.

That Ministry was opposed by a strong combination, led by Sir Thomas McIlwraith and Sir Arthur Palmer. Mr. Douglas, like Mr. Thorn, was considered by members of the party too easy-going, not sufficiently aggressive, despite his undoubted political experience. The real brain of the Ministry was considered to be Sir Samuel Walker Griffith, and accordingly when the Douglas Government were defeated at the general elections in 1879 and Sir Thomas McIlwraith came into power, the Liberal party elected the member they considered their ablest one as Leader—namely, the then Mr. Griffith.

It was after this that John Douglas made what was perhaps the biggest political mistake of his lifetime. For some reason or other, he saw fit to leave his old Liberal colleagues and join the Conservative McIlwraith-Palmer party, and particularly at the most inopportune period. In 1883 the McIlwraith party induced him to contest North Brisbane against S. W. Griffith and William Brookes, just at the time when the Liberal tide was flowing strongest against the McIlwraith policy of syndicate railways and black labour. John Douglas could not have come forward as a Conservative candidate at a more inopportune period. Accordingly, he was at the bottom of the poll.

A few weeks later he chivalrously consented to lead a second “forlorn hope,” by contesting Drayton and Toowoomba, which had a similar result. After this he retired from public life, and two years later he was appointed Government Resident at Thursday Island, and on the death of Sir Peter Scratchley was appointed Her late Majesty’s Special Commissioner for British New Guinea, which he administered as a protectorate for nearly three years.

On the proclamation of British New Guinea as a British possession, he returned to his former position at Thursday Island. In both capacities, Special Commissioner and Government Resident, he rendered yeoman service to Australia for nearly 20 years. He had no easy task, having to deal with some very unpleasant material, but he brought to it a kindly spirit of patience and justice that gained him the admiration of all.

It may be said of John Douglas that, however one may have disagreed with him politically, he had no personal enemy. As a political leader he was conciliatory rather than aggressive. He was not a “born fighter” in the sense that a McIlwraith is—he was too chivalrous in many respects to be considered a born fighter—and he was really more of the born administrator than leader. His high intellectual abilities, his refined culture and kindly benevolent disposition impelled him more to the council room and study than the platform. Nevertheless, he was a charming speaker, though, perhaps, he was an even more charming writer.

As a personal friend, in giving an appreciation of him in yesterday’s “Courier,” well remarked:—

The death of the Hon. John Douglas removes from the public life of Queensland one who, by reason of his natural intellectual gifts, his educational attainments, his wide experience of men and affairs, and his well balanced and essentially fair mind, was eminently qualified for a leading part in building up the institutions of a young country. To the traits mentioned add honesty of purpose and honorable, even chivalrous, character, and we have a fair view of the mental side of the Hon. John Douglas. Physically he was a fine, robust specimen of the Anglo-Saxon—alert, active, enduring. His face revealed his generous nature; his brow, undignified in later years by an abundance of silvered, waving hair, was that of a man of noble instincts. There was in him and about him always a calm dignity and courtesy which, however estimable in the eyes of his private friends, did not help him in the rough-and-tumble fighting of political life. It was said that he was not a born political leader in that he was not a fighter. Those who knew John Douglas privately and closely would put the expression thus: He was not a born political leader, because he always fought in the open, and his blows were never below the belt. He was not personally aggressive, did not possess the aggressiveness that persuades, and it is no secret to those who watched Queensland political developments in the late seventies that his lack of that very quality led to the selection of another leader of the old Liberal party. Though probably lacking in the capacity for organising big political movements, and for wide processes of development, Mr. Douglas was a good, sound administrator, whose honor was never impugned. He lived for many years in the outposts of this country and in New Guinea, administering the laws given him to meet cases, and using his own discretion where no laws existed—when savage people had to be dealt with—and there has been no occasion upon which his judgment, his tact, or his broad sense of right and wrong have been questioned. Away in the great gateway that leads to and from the East, Mr. Douglas has had under his care a community as diverse as one would meet at Port Said, and at times the elements were bitterly and openly contentious. Again, he has had to deal with aboriginals whose instincts to plunder and murder are well known; again, with employers of aboriginals—white men and yellow—whose natures were lower and more devilish than the savages employed; again, with the natives of New Guinea and of the intervening islands lying between the Queensland coast and that of the Possession. Can any one point to an instance of lack of capacity on the part of the Government Resident (or High Commissioner) in handling the difficult material which makes up the population on the fringes of Torres Straits? Has there ever been a display of temper or tyranny? On the other hand, the Government of the State and of the Empire in so far as it was entrusted to the Hon. John Douglas has been carried out in a lofty and practical spirit, with firmness, but with kindness, with unflinching justice, yet with patience. In Parliament and on public platforms Mr. Douglas was more remarkable as a pleasant speaker, dipping his eloquence from a “well of purest English undefiled,” than as a forceful critic or advocate. As a writer he was, perforce, restricted to space, and his ideas put in the concrete form often sparkled.

The above appreciation is a well-deserved tribute to the memory of one who, as we have said, rendered yeoman public service to Australia in many capacities, but, perhaps, best of all as the Administrator of the most difficult part of the Commonwealth to govern. After nearly half a century, broadly speaking, of public service, he now passes away deeply regretted by all.

The Honourable John Douglas, C.M.G.

An assessment of John Douglas in Bernays, Charles, Queensland Politics During Sixty Years, 1920, pp. 40-41

The Honourable John Douglas, C.M.G.

A twig off the Queensberry tree who escaped being a marquis by several steps in a large family. A younger son has a good many grievances against his progenitors. He must always be thinking of what might have been if only he had been born the heir. Douglas's far-distant ancestor, "Old Q," whom Wordsworth held up to ridicule and contempt as "degenerate Douglas," is alleged to have died worth a million. The only million John Douglas ever saw was in a bad dream after a late sitting of the House. There is no evidence that Douglas inherited a "dirty right" from that famous ancestor who was author of the Queensberry rules. Indeed he was a mild-mannered man who was not given to quarrelling, and he did not appear to have imported into Queensland any of the family characteristics—even that of money-making. In his early days he engaged in squatting, but he was possessed of neither the capital nor stamina to make a success of an occupation which in his time was more strenuous than it is in modern times. He came into the Second Parliament on 21st July 1863, and it was not long before he took a prominent place in local politics, for he was a man of very considerable learning, and had the faculty of expressing himself well in a full, sonorous voice. He was in the first two Macalister Ministries in 1866, and served under Lilley in 1868. Again he came in under George Thorn in 1876, and had a Ministry all his own in 1877. As a matter of fact his and Thorn's Ministries were only stopgaps until the discovery of Griffith, who soon overshadowed them but was kept back somewhat by the little jealousies of the day. There were numbers of men in our early political times who had not a tenth of the influence of Douglas, for he was a clever political wire-puller, and did not often omit to remember himself in possible reshuffles. Amongst other characteristics he was credited with extreme obstinacy, and there was an occasion (mentioned elsewhere) on which he defied the Legislature when taxed with a breach of a well-known Parliamentary rule. He represented Queensland at the other end of the world as Agent-General, and after filling that position creditably for a considerable period he came back to the State and was appointed firstly as Administrator of New Guinea, and then as Government Resident at Thursday Island. In both positions he was a capable and industrious Administrator, and the little far-northern island community learned to appreciate to the full his tactful and far-sighted methods. Government after Government succeeded one another, and all had confidence in this venerable, white-haired public servant who had done more than the average share in political foundation laying. The records politicians leave behind them are as varied in character as the politicians themselves. John Douglas had nothing to be ashamed of in his political career, and left behind him a good and clean name and some sons who do him credit.

John Douglas obituary in Queensland Country Life

Queensland Country Life, Monday 1 August 1904, p. 1

LATE HON JOHN DOUGLAS, C.M.G.

The death of the Hon. John Douglas, C.M.G., severs another of the links that connect the present with the dim past. Mr. Douglas was closely connected with the establishment of Queensland as a colony, he having represented Darling Downs more than forty-five years ago in the New South Wales Parliament. He afterwards sat for nearly twenty years as a member of one or other House of the Queensland Legislature. He also occupied the position of Agent-General for about two years. It is just a quarter of a century since he disappeared from our Legislature, and entered the civil service as Government Resident at New Guinea. With a short exception, during which he was engaged in pastoral pursuits," Mr. Douglas spent the whole of his fifty-three years of Australian life in the public service. As a politician he was perhaps least successful, for, although the most scholarly member who ever sat in our Legislature, he was not a good party man, his mind being of too judicial a cast to enable him to win the reputation of a fighting politician. Mr. Douglas was always connected with the Liberal party in politics, and drew down upon himself violent animadversion from members of the old squatting party. In his earlier days he was a charming speaker, and was always a perfect gentleman in public life. After taking up his residence at- Thursday Island Mr. Douglas took a great interest in New Guinea, and was strongly in favour of the provisional annexation resolved upon by Sir Thomas McIlwraith, which was unfortunately not approved of by the Colonial Office, the result being the subsequent annexation by Germany of a great part of an island the whole of which should have been an Australian dependency. Mr. Douglas was a scholarly writer, and for many years was a regular contributor of leading articles to the Brisbane Courier. Altogether he was a fine specimen of a man and his death will be much regretted by a great number or friends who, while not always agreeing with his political opinions, all recognised his sterling integrity and public spirit.

John Douglas obituary in the Brisbane Courier

An obituary written by Spencer Browne that appeared in the Brisbane Courier 25 July 1904, p. 3

Death of the Hon. John Douglas

A former member of Queensland

Government Resident at Thursday Island

Thursday Island, Saturday

The Hon.  John Douglas, C.M.G., died at 11.15 this morning from weakness, following haematemesis.  His funeral takes place at 4 o’clock to-morrow afternoon..

  

The news of the death of the Hon. John Douglas, C.M.G., was received in Brisbane with genuine regret, a regret which will be felt throughout the State and in the southern portions of the Commonwealth as well.  The Home Secretary was advised officially of the event on Saturday afternoon, and the flags on all the public buildings of the city were lowered to half-mast.

AN APPRECIATION

The death of the Hon. John Douglas removes from the public life of Queensland one who, by reason of his natural intellectual gifts, his educational attainments, his wide experience of men and affairs, and his well balanced and essentially fair mind, was eminently qualified for a leading part in building up the institutions of a young country.  To the traits mentioned add honesty of purpose and honourable, even chivalrous, character, and we have a fair view of the mental side of the Hon.  John Douglas.  Physically he was a fine, robust specimen of the Anglo-Saxon – alert, active, enduring.  His face revealed his generous nature:  his brow, dignified in later years by an abundance of silvered, waving hair, was that of a man of noble instincts.  There was in him and about him always a calm dignity and courtesy which, however estimable in the eyes of his private friends, did not help him in the rough-and-tumble fighting of political life.  It was said that he was not a born political leader in that he was not a fighter.  Those who knew John Douglas privately and closely would put the expression thus:  He was not a born political leader because he always fought in the open, and his blows were never below the belt.  He was not personally aggressive, did not possess the aggressiveness that pursues and belittles, and it is no secret to those who watched Queensland political developments in the late seventies that his lack of that very quality led to the selection of another leader of the old Liberal party.  Practically upon that came the retirement of Mr. Douglas from political life.  But he had done the State good service:  he had served in the old Legislative Council of new South Wales when Queensland had not yet been established as a separate colony, and from 1863 until 1879 held a prominent place in the political life of this State.  Mr. Douglas during his political career was responsible for the first blow struck at unrestricted Chinese immigration to Queensland.  His Government passed an Act designed to check the flood of Chinese to the Palmer Goldfield and other portions of the State.  The Royal assent to the measure was withheld, but Mr. Douglas was not content to accept this as the last word on the subject.  He imposed upon ships coming from China ports certain quarantine regulations, and that administrative act was found quite effective.  Later on the legislation, much as we find it to-day, met with the Royal assent.  With this exception Mr. Douglas’ term as Premier, from 8^th March 1877, to 21^st January, 1879, was not marked by any strong policy:  but  for that there were other reasons than his lack of creative instinct.  Mr.  Douglas had gathered up the threads of the Macalister and Thorn Administrations, and it was evident was fully occupied in holding the ground for his party until the general elections.  Though not credited with having originated any other big political movements, Mr.  Douglas was a good, sound administrator, whose humour was never impugned, and whose natural alertness and mental power prevented him from making serious mistakes.

Since his retirement from active political life he gave ample proof of his capacity in the management of men.  He lived for many years in the outposts of this country and in New Guinea, administering the laws given him to meet cases, and using his own discretion where no laws existed – when savage people had to be dealt with – and there has been no occasion  upon which his judgement, his tact, or his broad sense of right and wrong have been questioned.  Away in the great gateway that leads to the and from the East, Mr.  Douglas has had under his care a community as diverse as one would meet at Port said, and at times the elements were bitterly and openly contentious.  Again he has had to deal with Aboriginals whose instincts to plunder and murder are well known: again, with employers of Aboriginals – white men and yellow – whose natures were lower and more devilish than the savages employed: again, with the native of New Guinea and of the intervening islands lying between that Queensland coast and that of the Possession.  Can any one point to an instance of lack of capacity on the part of the Government Resident of High Commissioner in handling the difficult material which makes up the population on the fringes of Torres Straits?  Has there ever been a display of temper or tyranny?  On the other hand, the Government of the State and of the Empire in so far as it was entrusted to the Hon.  John Douglas has been carried out in a lofty and practical spirit, with firmness, but with kindness and unflinching justice, yet with patience.

The Hon. John Douglas was for some years on the literary staff of the “Courier” and “Queenslander” as a leader writer.  That was after his retirement from politics and before taking up his appointment as Government Resident at Thursday Island.  It was chiefly in those days that the present writer working in the same room with Mr. Douglas learnt to appreciate his high intellectual qualities, to know the warmth and kindliness of his nature, to fully realise his benevolence in dealing with the weaker side of humanity.  Mr. Douglas carried into his literary work the polished style which characterised his public speaking, but he was in the nature of things more concise and therefore more effective as a writer than a speaker.  In Parliament and on public platforms Mr. Douglas was more remarkable as a pleasant speaker, dipping his eloquence from a “well of purest English undefiled” than as a forceful critic or advocate.  As a writer he was, perforce, restricted to space, and his ideas put in the concrete form often sparkled.

For much of the following we are indebted to “Meynall”and Wendt and Co.’s “Queensland.”  The Hon. John Douglas. C.M.G., B.A., son of Henry Alexander Douglasw and Elizabeth (Dalziel) his wife, was born in London on 6^th March 1828, and a nephew of the 4^th and 5^th Marquises of Queensberry.  He was educated at Rugby and Durham University and emigrated to New South Wales in 1851.  Received an appointment as Gold Fields Commissioner which he gave up to enter pastoral pursuits.  He sat as member for Darling Downs in Sydney before Separation and afterwards for Camden in the New South Wales Parliament.  In 1863 he settled in Queensland and entered the Legislative Assembly for Port Curtis.  In February 1866, he joined the Macalister Ministry, and was Postmaster-General from March to July of that year.  He was called to the Legislative Council the same year, but some months later he was appointed Treasurer, and re-entered the Assembly as member for the Eastern Downs.  Again he resigned and led for the Government in the Legislative Council.  In May 1867, Mr. Douglas resigned the Treasurership and took up the portfolio of Secretary of Works until the following August.  On the 25^th November 1868, the late Sir Charles Lilley came into power at the head of a Liberal Government and Mr. Douglas in December took office as Postmaster-General, amongst his colleagues being Macalister, T. B. Stephens and St. George Gore.  In November 1869 he resigned on accepting the post of Agent-General for Queensland, which he held until 1871, when he returned to the State and was elected in 1875 for Maryborough.  In June 1876 Mr. Douglas accepted office as Secretary for Lands in the Thorn Government, which was an offshoot of the Macalister party.  In this Cabinet were Sir S. W. Griffith, Sir J. R. Dickson, Mr. R.M. Stewart and Mr. C. S. Mein.  On the 8^th March 1877, Mr. Thorn resigned and the Premiership fell to Mr. Douglas, who led a really strong combination against a strong and active opposition led by Sir Thomas McIllwraith.  In the following year he exchanged the portfolios of Secretary for Lands for that of Home Secretary.  He led the Government until 21^st January 1879, when his party was defeated in the general election, and Sir Thomas McIllwraith’s administration succeeded to power.  Subsequent to the assumption of a protectorate over a portion of New Guinea by the British Government  Mr. Douglas was a candidate for the office of High Commissioner, but the position was given by the Imperial Government to Sir Peter Scratchley, R.E.  Mr. Douglas became Government Resident at Thursday Island in April 1885 and on the death of Sir Peter Scratchley  he was appointed Special Commissioner for British New Guinea, which post he held for nearly 3 years after the sovereignty of Great Britain was proclaimed. In 1889 he returned to Thursday Island as Government Resident and Police Magistrate.

  

The long residence in the far North seemed to impair the constitution of Mr Douglas very little, but in 1902 he was able to take a long holiday, during the term of which he visited England and the Continent and returned to Queensland, as he described it in his cheery way, "in splendid fettle.'' Early in the present year he visited Brisbane from Thursday Island, and it was then noticed by his friends that he did not appear quite so robust as on his return from England but his mental brightness and energy were in no way impaired. Age was, however, levying its charges on his reserve of strength, and the White Horseman coming, as he comes to all, delivered the great message, and the faithful servant of the public went to his rest.

The Hon. John Douglas leaves four sons.  The eldest, Edward, is a barrister who served as an associate to Sir S. W. Griffith and Mr. Justice Power.  He is now practising his profession in Brisbane.  The second son, Henry, is manager of Bowden’s business at Thursday Island and with him is the third son, Hugh.  The youngest, Robert, who is spoken as a young man of high intellectual prowess is at Sydney University, and is in line for the Bar.

John Douglas obituary in the Rockhampton Morning Bulletin

This obituary appeared in the Rockhampton Morning Bulletin on Wednesday 27 July 1904, p. 6

THE LATE HON JOHN  DOUGLAS

The death of the Hon John Douglas says the Brisbane Courier removes from the public life of Queensland one who, by reason of his natural intellectual gifts, his educational attainments, his wide experience of men and affairs, and his well balanced and essentially fair mind, was eminently qualified for a leading part in building the institutions of a young country. To the traits mentioned add honesty of purpose and honourable, even chivalrous, character, and we have a fair view of the mental side of the Hon John Douglas.

Physically he was a fine, robust specimen of the Anglo-Saxon-alert, active, enduring. His face revealed his generous nature. His brow, dignified in later years by an abundance of silvered, waving hair, was that of' a man of noble instincts. There was in him and about him always a calm dignity and courtesy which, however estimable in the eyes of his private, friends, did not help him in the rough and tumble fighting of political life. It was said that he was not a born political leader in that he was not a fighter. Those who knew John Douglas, privately and closely would put the expression thus; He was not a born political leader, because he always fought in the open,-and his blows were never below the belt. He was not personally aggressive, did not possess the aggressiveness (that pursues and belittles), and it is no secret to those who watched Queensland political developments in the late seventies that his lack of that very quality led to the selection of another leader of the old Liberal party. Practically upon that came the retirement of Mr. Douglas front political life. But he had done the state good service; he had served in the old Legislative Council of New South Wales when Queensland had not yet been established ns a separate colony, and from 1863 until 1879 he held a prominent place in the political life of the state.

Mr Douglas during his political career was responsible for the first blow struck at unrestricted Chinese immigration to Queensland. His Government passed an Act, designed to check the flood of Chinese to the Palmer goldfield and other portions of the state. The Royal assent to the measure was withheld, but Mr. Douglas was not content to accept that as the last word on the subject. He imposed upon ships coming from China ports certain quarantine regulations, and that administrative act was found quite effective. Later on the legislation, much ns we find it today, met with the Royal assent. With this exception, Mr. Douglas's tern ns Premier, from 8th March 1877, to the 21st January, 1879, was not marked by any strong policy; but for that there were other reasons than his lack of creative instinct. Mr. Douglas had gathered np the threads of the Macalister and Thom Administrations, and it was evident was fully occupied in holding the ground for his party until the general elections. Though not credited with having originated any other big political movements, Mr. Douglas was a good, sound administrator, whose honour was never impugned; and whose natural alertness and mental power prevented him from I making serious mistakes.

Since his retirement from active political life he gave ample proof of his capacity in the management of men. He lived for many years in the outposts of this country and in New Guinea, administering tho laws given him to meet cases, and using his own discretion whore no laws existed - when savage people had to be dealt with -and there has been no occasion upon which his judgment, his tact, or his broad sense of right and wrong has been questioned. Away in the great gateway that leads to and from the East, Mr. Douglas has had under his care, a community as diverse as one would meet at Port Said, and at times the elements were bitterly and openly contentious. Again, he has had to deal with aboriginals whose instincts to plunder and murder are well known ; again, with employers of aboriginals - white men and yellow - whose natures were lower and more devilish than the savages employed : again, with the natives of New Guinea and the intervening islands lying between the Queensland coast and that of the Possession. Can any one point to an instance of lack of capacity on the part of the Government Resident (or High Commissioner) in handling the difficult material which makes up the population on the fringes of Torres Straits. Has there ever been a display of temper or tyranny; On the other baud, the Government of the state and of the Empire in so far as it was entrusted to the Hon. John Douglas been carried out in a lofty and practical spirit, with firmness, but with kindness, with unflinching justice, yet with patience.

The Hon. John Douglas was for some years on the literary staff of the "Courier" and "Queenslander" as a leader writer. That was after his retirement from politics and before taking up his appointment as Government Resident at Thursday Island. It was chiefly in those days that the present writer, working in the same, room with Mr. Douglas learnt to appreciate his high intellectual qualities, to know the warmth and kindliness of his nature, to fully realise his benevolence in dealing with the weaker side of humanity. Mr. Douglas carried into his literary work the polished style which characterised his public speaking, but he was in the nature of things more concise and therefore more effective as a writer than a speaker. In Parliament and on public platforms Mr. Douglas was more remarkable as a pleasant speaker, dipping his eloquence from a "well of purest English undefiled" than as a forceful critic or advocate. As a writer he was, perforce, restricted to space, and his ideas put in the concrete form often sparkled.

For much of the following we are indebted "Meynell" and Wend and Co.s "Queensland.'' The Hon. John Douglas, C.M.G., B.A., son of Henry Alexander Douglas and Elizabeth (Dalziel) his wife, was bor in Loudon on the 6th of March 1828. He was a nephew of the 4^th and 5^th Marquises of Queensberry. He was educated at Rugby and Durham University and emigrated to New South Wales in 1851. Received an appointment as Gold Fields Commissioner, which he gave up to enter pastoral pursuits. He sat a member for Darling Downs in Sydney before Separation, and afterwards for Camden in the New South Wales Parliament. In 1863 he settled in Queensland and entered the Legislative Assembly for Port Curtis. In February 1866 he joined the Macalister Ministry, and was Postmaster General from March to July of that year. He was called to the Legislative Council the same year but some months later he was appointed Treasurer, and re-entered the Assembly as member for the Eastern Downs. Again he resigned, and led for the Government in the Legislative Council. In May 1867 Mr. Douglas resigned the Treasurership and took up the portfolio of Secretary of Works until the following August.  On the 25th of November 1868, the late Sir Charles Lilley came into power at the head of a Liberal Government and Mr. Douglas in December; took office as Postmaster-General, amongst his colleagues being Macalister, T. B. Stephens and St. George Gore. In November, 1869, he resigned on accepting the post of Agent-General for Queensland, which he held until 187, when he returned to the state, and was elected in 1875 for Maryborough. In June, 1876 Mr. Douglas accepted office as Secretary for Lands in the Thorn Government, which was an offshoot of the Macalister party. In this Cabinet were Sir S. W. Griffith, Sir J. R. Dickson. Mr. R. M. Stewart, and Mr. C. S. Mein. On the 8^th of March 1877, Mr. Thorn resigned, and the Premiership fell to Mr. Douglas, who led a really strong combination against a strong and active Opposition led by Sir Thomas Mcilwraith. In the following year he exchanged the portfolio of Secretary for Lands for that of Home Secretary. He led the Government until the 21st of January 1879, when his party was defeated in the general election, and Sir Thomas Mcilwraith's Administration succeeded to power.

Subsequent to the assumption of a protectorate over a portion of New Guinea by the  British Government Mr. Douglas was a candidate for the office of High Commissioner, but the position was given by the Imperial Government to Sir Peter Scratchley, R.E. Mr. Douglas became Government Resident at Thursday Island in April. 1885, and on the death of Sir Peter Scratchley he was appointed Special Commissioner for British New Guinea, which, post he held for nearly three years after the sovereignly of Great Britain was proclaimed. In 1889 he returned to Thursday Island as Government Resident and Police Magistrate.

The long residence in the far North seemed to impair the constitution of Mr Douglas very little, but in 1902 he was able to take a long holiday, during the term of which he visited England and the Continent and returned to Queensland, as he described it in his cheery way, "in splendid fettle.'' Early in the present year he visited Brisbane from Thursday Island, and it was then noticed by his friends that he did not appear quite so robust as on his return from England but his mental brightness and energy were in no way impaired. Age was, however, levying its charges on his reserve of strength, and the White Horseman coming, as he comes to all, delivered the great message, and the faithful servant of the public went to his rest.

The Hon. John Douglas leaves four sons. The eldest, Edward, is a barrister and has served as associate to Sir S. W. Griffith and Mr. Justice Power. He is now practising his profession in Brisbane The second son, Henry, is manager of Mr Bowden’s business at Thursday Island and with him is the third son, Hugh. The youngest, Robert, who is spoken of as a young man of high intellectual promise, is at Sydney University and is intended for the Bar.