John Langdon Bonython

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Portrait of Bonython in 1915.
Portrait of Bonython in 1915.

Sir John Langdon Bonython KCMG (/bɑnɑeˈθən/) (15 October 1848 – 22 October 1939), Australian politician and journalist, was a Member of the First Australian Parliament, and was editor of The Advertiser (Adelaide) for 35 years.

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[edit] Early life

Bonython was born in London in 1848, the son of George Langdon Bonython and Annie MacBain. The Bonythons are an ancient Cornish family, well-known in Tudor and Stuart times. When he was young, the family migrated to South Australia. There, Bonython was educated at the Brougham School in Adelaide.

[edit] Media career

When he was sixteen, Bonython took a job at The Advertiser, where he was well regarded as a hard worker. In 1870, he married Marie Louise Friedrike, with whom he went on to have three daughters and a son. In 1879, Bonython became a part proprietor of The Advertiser.

In 1883, Bonython was elected chairman of the Adelaide School Advisory Board. In 1889 he became the president of the council for the South Australian School of Mines and Industries, a position he held until his death. He often assisted the school with his own money, and provided the funds for the chemical and metallurgical laboratories there.

In 1894, Bonython became the sole proprietor and editor of The Advertiser, positions which he held for a further 35 years. During this time, the weekly Chronicle and the evening Express newspapers were added to The Advertiser. Bonython became chairman of the council of the agricultural college at Roseworthy in 1895, and he held this position until 1902.

[edit] Political career

Throughout his career, Bonython had avoided local politics, but after Federation in 1901 he was nominated to represent South Australia as a Protectionist in the Australian House of Representatives at the 1901 election. He ultimately finished second in the poll and was one of seven members elected (at that time, South Australia was a single electorate with multiple members).

At the 1903 election, Bonython was elected unopposed for the newly created Division of Barker. In 1904, he was a member of the Select Committee on old-age pensions, as well as the Royal Commission on the same subject in 1905-1906.

Bonython did not stand for reelection at the 1906 election, and retired from politics. Subsequently he was appointed one of fourteen trustees under the soldiers' repatriation programme of 1916, and one of seven commissioners under the Australian Soldiers Repatriation Act 1917.

Bonython joined the council of the University of Adelaide in 1916, and donated over £50,000 for the construction of a hall, and £20,000 to fund a Chair in law. From 1916 to 1926, Bonython was also the deputy chairman of the South Australian advisory council of education. He donated £100,000 towards the construction of Parliament House in Adelaide.

Bonython died in 1939, leaving an estate of £4,000,000, which at the time was estimated to be one of the largest of any Australian. Some of this money was donated to various religious institutions in South Australia. He was survived by his three daughters and his son Sir John Lavington Bonython, who was a Lord Mayor of Adelaide.

[edit] Name

Bonython told The Literary Digest: "It is a Cornish name and the accent is on the second syllable: Bon-y'thon, y as in spy. The ancient family located at Bonython in the Lizard district at a very early period. Existing deeds show that Stephen Bonython was in possession of the family lands in 1277." (Charles Earle Funk, What's the Name, Please?, Funk & Wagnalls, 1936.)

[edit] Honours

Bonython was knighted in 1898. In 1908 he was made a Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George (CMG), and in 1919 was promoted to Knight Commander of that Order (KCMG).

In 1935, Bonython was made the first Australian bard of the Cornish Gorseth Kernow.

An Australian Electoral Division, the Division of Bonython in northern Adelaide, was named after Bonython. It was created in 1955 and abolished in 2004.

[edit] See also

[edit] References

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