John Forrest

Forrest's parents had arrived from Scotland in December 1842, accompanying Dr John Ferguson to work as domestic servants on his farm in the newly settled district of Australind.

Margaret was from Dundee and William from Kincardineshire; the Forrest paternal line originated from the village of Glenbervie.

They were released from Ferguson's service in 1846, and William took up a property at the mouth of the Preston River on the eastern side of the Leschenault Estuary.

He built a windmill and a small house, where John was born.

A few years after Forrest's birth, the family moved down the Preston River to Picton, where William built a homestead and watermill.

The family's youngest son, Augustus, drowned in the mill race as a toddler.

The mill was primarily used as a flour mill, at a time when flour was a scarce commodity, but was also used as a sawmill.

Its success allowed William To expand his land holdings to 400 acre and gave the family a high social status in the small district around Bunbury.

The property remains in the ownership of his descendants and is now heritage-listed.

Forrest and his brothers began their education at the one-room school in Bunbury, walking or riding 4 mi in each direction.

Sir John Forrest (22 August 1847 – 2 September 1918) was an Australian explorer and politician.

Forrest was born on 22 August 1847 on his father's property 2 mi outside of Bunbury, Western Australia.

He was the fourth of ten children and third of nine sons born to Margaret (née Hill) and William Forrest.

The couple's first child and only daughter, Mary, died as an infant.

John's younger brothers included Alexander and David Forrest, who became public figures in their own right.

His parents prized education, and in 1860 he was sent to Perth to board at Bishop Hale's School, the only secondary school in the colony.

He attended the school for four years, winning several prizes for arithmetic.

Although three of William Forrest's sons became members of parliament, he had no involvement in public life beyond a local level and was not known to hold strong political opinions.

According to John Forrest's biographer Frank Crowley, "William Forrest's greatest gift to his sons was not a precise political creed but the practical approach to life that he had acquired as a tradesman, farmer and jack-of-all-trades".

In November 1863, aged 16, Forrest took up an apprenticeship with Thomas Campbell Carey, the government surveyor at Bunbury.

He had already been taught celestial navigation by his father, and under Carey learned the basic techniques of surveying, becoming proficient in traversing and the use of surveyors' tools, including Gunter's chains, prismatic compasses, sextants, and transit theodolites.

He was also a skilled horseman and able to endure long periods in the bush without access to fresh meat and vegetables.

After two years as an apprentice to Carey, Forrest was appointed as a government surveyor on a provisional basis.

He was the colony's first locally born surveyor, coming to public notice in 1869 when he led an expedition into the interior in search of Ludwig Leichhardt.

The following year, Forrest accomplished the first land crossing from Perth to Adelaide across the Nullarbor Plain.

His third expedition in 1874 travelled from Geraldton to Adelaide through the centre of Australia.

Forrest's expeditions were characterised by a cautious, well-planned approach and diligent record-keeping.

He received the Patron's Medal of the Royal Geographical Society in 1876.

Forrest became involved in politics through his promotion to surveyor-general, a powerful position that entitled him to a seat on the colony's executive council.

He was the first premier of Western Australia (1890–1901) and a long-serving cabinet minister in federal politics.

Forrest was born in Bunbury, Western Australia, to Scottish immigrant parents.

He was appointed as Western Australia's first premier in 1890, following the granting of responsible government.

The gold rushes of the early 1890s saw a large increase in the colony's population and allowed for a program of public works, including the construction of Fremantle Harbour and the Goldfields Water Supply Scheme.

Forrest's government also passed a number of social reforms, maintaining power through several elections in an era before formal political parties.

His support for Federation was crucial in Western Australia's decision to join as an original member.

In 1901, Forrest was invited to join Prime Minister Edmund Barton's inaugural federal cabinet.

He was a member of all but one non-Labor government over the following two decades, serving as Postmaster-General (1901), Minister for Defence (1901–1903), Minister for Home Affairs (1903–1904), and Treasurer (1905–1907, 1909–1910, 1913–1914, 1917–1918).

He helped shape Australia's early defence and financial policies, also lobbying for the construction of the Trans-Australian Railway, a pet project.

Forrest served briefly as acting prime minister in 1907 and in 1913 was defeated for the leadership of the Liberal Party by a single vote.

He was nominated to the peerage in 1918 by Prime Minister Billy Hughes, but died on his way to England before the appointment could be confirmed.