John Bates Thurston

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Sir  John Bates Thurston
Governor of Fiji
In office 1888 – 1897
Born	1836 London, United Kingdom
Died	1897

Sir John Bates Thurston(1836-1897) was a British colonial official who served Fiji in a variety of capacities, including Premier of the Kingdom of Viti (before the islands were ceded to the United Kingdom) and later as colonial Governor.

Contents 1 Early life 2 Political Life in Fiji 3 Botanical Contributions 4 References

[edit] Early life

John Thurston ws born in London, England in 1836, where he received and elementary education before pursuing a nautical career. He eventually became a sheep farmer in Australia and in 1864 joined a botanising expedition to the South Sea Islands and was wrecked on Samoa.

[edit] Political Life in Fiji

In 1869 he became Consul for Fiji and Tonga.

In June 1871, Thurston, then Britain's honorary consul, forged a "marriage of convenience" between the Bauan chief Seru Epenisa Cakobau and the British settlers. He persuaded the Fijian chiefs to surrender the independence of their fiefdoms and accept a constitutional monarchy with Cakobau as king, but with real power in the hands of a cabinet and legislature dominated by settlers. The arrangement was not particularly successful. Within months, government overspending had led to the accumulation of an unmanageable debt which led to economic and social unrest.

In 1872, Thurston approached the British government, at Cakobau's request, with offer to cede the islands to the United Kingdom. (An earlier offer almost two decades earlier had been turned down). The British were much more inclined to annex Fiji now than they had been perviously. The murder of Bishop John Patteson of the Melanesian Mission at Nukapu in the Reef Islands had provoked public outrage, which was compounded by the massacre by crew members of more than 150 Fijians on board the brig Carl.

Two British commissioners were sent to Fiji to investigate the possibility of an annexation. The negotiations were concluded with Thurston himself acting as Premier, from 23 March to 10 October 1874, when Cakobau and his fellow-chiefs formally ceded the archipelago to the United Kingdom.

Thurston later served as Colonial Secretary. In this capacity, he persuaded the Colonial Sugar Refinig Company to extend its operations into Fiji by providing it with 2,000 acres (8.1 km²) of land to establish its plantations.

In February 1888, Thurston became Governor of Fiji, a position he held till he died on 7 February 1897.

[edit] Botanical Contributions

John Thurston was also responsible for the establishment of Suva Botanical Gardens, later named Thurston Gardens in his honour. Thurston's Palm (Pritchardia thurstonii) is named after him.

[edit] References

• New York Times - article on John Thurston's Death
• Probert Encyclopedia on John Bates Thurston

Political offices
Preceded by George Austin Woods	Premier of the Kingdom of Viti (acting) 1874	office abolished
Government offices
Preceded by Sir Charles Mitchell	High Commissioner for the Western Pacific 1888–1897	Succeeded by Sir George Thomas Michael O'Brien
	Governor of Fiji 1888–1897