{{Infobox person | name = John Baptist Austin | post-nominals = | image = John Baptist Austin c1870.jpg | alt = Bust-length portrait of John Baptist Austin | caption = Photograph of John Baptist Austin, c.1870 | birth_name = | birth_date = 1799 | birth_place = | death_date = 1882 | known_for = | education = | occupation = schoolmaster, minister | title = The Reverend | children = | father = | mother = }} '''John Baptist Austin''' III (1799–1882)<ref>{{cite web |title=Austin, John Baptist |url=https://surman.english.qmul.ac.uk/main.php?personid=710 |website=surman.english.qmul.ac.uk}}</ref> was an English schoolmaster and minister. He emigrated in 1843 and settled in South Australia.
==John Baptist Austin II== His father was the surgeon John Baptist Austin II: a family tradition held that he had been called to attend in 1797 after Mary Lamb's fatal stabbing of her mother Elizabeth.<ref name="Lamb">{{cite news |title=The Late Mrs. Clarkson.-An Appreciation |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0002164/19081224/085/0014 |work=Clifton Society |date=24 December 1908|page=14}}</ref> He was in a druggist partnership with Robert Saddington, based at Tower Royal, near the junction of Cannon Street and Watling Street: it was dissolved in 1808.<ref>{{cite news |title=Partnerships Dissolved |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0001651/18081228/006/0001 |work=Globe |date=28 December 1808|page=1}}</ref> In 1810 he was made bankrupt, as a druggist in Kentish Town.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000073/18100519/013/0004 |title=Bankrupts |work=Oxford Journal |date=19 May 1810|page=4}}</ref> He was later based in New Alresford, Hampshire, and partnered another surgeon, William Winter. That partnership was dissolved in 1827.<ref>{{cite news |title=Partnerships Dissolved |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0002633/18271230/010/0002 |work=Englishman |date=30 December 1827|page=2}}</ref> He had 16 children, the youngest being born c.1822.<ref name="Lamb"/>
==Early life== Austin was born on Christmas Day 1799, in Hertford.<ref name="Loyau">{{cite book |last1=Loyau |first1=George E. |title=The Representative Men of South Australia |date=1882 |publisher=Austaprint |isbn=978-0-85872-184-5 |page=44 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ESCmKMsk-WIC&pg=PA44 |language=en}}</ref> He was educated at Merchant Taylors School, London, from 1809.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Robinson |first1=Charles John |title=A register of the scholars admitted into Merchant Taylors' School : from A. D. 1562 to 1874 |date=1882 |publisher=Printed and published for the editor by Farncombe & Co. |location=Lewes |page=191 |url=https://archive.org/details/aregisterschola00schogoog/page/n191/mode/1up}}</ref> He left before he turned 14. He was apprenticed to the surgeon James Scott of Bromley. Going into business himself in London as a surgeon, he attracted the attention of George Birkbeck, who helped him find work as a lecturer.<ref name="Loyau"/> He maintained an interest in the work of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge.<ref name="Mayor">{{cite book |last1=Mayor |first1=John Eyton Bickersteth |title=In Memoriam: Isaac Todhunter|date=1884 |publisher=Macmillan & Bowes |pages=43–44 |isbn=978-1-02-237987-9 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=w-_uAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA44 |language=en}}</ref>
Around 1827 Austin moved to Hastings, where he set up a school.<ref name="Loyau"/> His pupils included Henry John Congreve and his brother William. He sent them a South Australian newspaper, which had a direct bearing on Harry Congreve's decision to emigrate later himself.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Wall |first1=Barbara |title=Our Own Matilda: Matilda Jane Evans, 1827-1886 : Pioneer Woman and Novelist |date=1994 |publisher=Wakefield Press |isbn=978-1-86254-329-4 |page=16 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=V4GJk3UWuyYC&pg=PA16 |language=en}}</ref> Isaac Todhunter became a noted pupil, and then an usher in the school. He moved to Austin's school on the recommendation of the Rev. William Davis, a minister with a chapel in Hastings.<ref name="Mayor"/> Another pupil was John Eyre Ashby, who went on to become a Congregationalist minister.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Loyau |first1=George E. |title=The Representative Men of South Australia |date=1882 |publisher=Austaprint |isbn=978-0-85872-184-5 |page=45 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ESCmKMsk-WIC&pg=PA45 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Ashby, John Eyre |url=https://surman.english.qmul.ac.uk/main.php?personid=562 |website=surman.english.qmul.ac.uk}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Ashby, John Eyre |url=https://www.biblicalcyclopedia.com/A/ashby-john-eyre-lld-fras.html |website=McClintock and Strong Biblical Cyclopedia Online |language=en}}</ref>
Accompanied by Isaac Todhunter, Austin moved his school to Peckham, then a village south of London, around 1835. He adopted the name "Goldsmith House" for it, playing on the episode in the early history of Oliver Goldsmith during which he was usher at the Peckham Presbyterian academy of the terminally ill Dr John Milner (1688–1757).<ref name="Mayor"/><ref>{{cite ODNB|id=10924|first=John A.|last=Dussinger|title=Goldsmith, Oliver (1728?–1774)}}</ref>
Austin began preaching at Guestling, near Hastings. After he moved to London, he became involved in the Christian Instruction Society of the mid-1830s. It was a branch of the Congregationalists concerned to supply preaching in areas on the outskirts of London.<ref name="Loyau"/><ref>{{cite book |last1=Campbell |first1=John |title=An Address to the Churches and Congregations, assembling in the Tabernacle, Moorfields, and Tottenham Court Chapel, London. Fourth edition. With addresses, I. To heads of families. II. To youth |date=1835 |publisher=T. Ward & Co. |page=83 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4wIjLl9kV6kC&pg=PA83 |language=en}}</ref> It led to the building of a chapel at Nun Green, Peckham Rye, (now known as Nunhead Green), opened in 1836, where Austin was ordained minister around 1837.<ref name="Loyau"/><ref>{{cite book |last1=Allport |first1=Douglas |title=Collections illustrative of the geology, history, antiquities, and associations, of Camberwell, and the neighbourhood |date=1841 |publisher=Printed for the author |location=Camberwell |page=261 |url=https://archive.org/details/collectionsillu00allpgoog/page/n261/mode/2up}}</ref>
==Australia== Before leaving England, Austin took steps to acquire land near Macclesfield, South Australia;<ref name="Edwin">{{cite news |title=Mr. Edwin Austin |url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/146299392 |work=The Mount Barker Courier and Onkaparinga and Gumeracha Advertiser |date=27 August 1915|page=2}}</ref> he bought {{convert|500|acres}} of land through the banker Roger Cunliffe (Cunliffe, Brooks).<ref name="Loyau"/> The transaction was connected to the Special Survey of more than {{convert|4000|acres}} in the area carried out in 1839 for the banker George Davenport, banker and agent of the South Australian Company, with two partners, Cunliffe being one of the partners.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Stark |first1=Paul B. |title=Meadows Heritage|page=155 |url=https://data.environment.sa.gov.au/Content/heritage-surveys/2-Meadows-Heritage-1983.pdf |website=data.environment.sa.gov.au |publisher=District Council of Meadows|date=1983}}</ref> George Davenport (1782–1846) was the father of Robert Davenport and Samuel Davenport.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Burke |first1=Bernard |title=A Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Colonial Gentry|date=1891 |publisher=Harrison |page=23 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wbEKAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA23 |language=en}}</ref> A service to mark the departure of the Austin family was held on 14 September 1843 in the Albany Chapel, Camberwell, led by the Rev. George Rose.<ref>{{cite news |title=Religious Intelligence |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0002580/18430918/035/0007 |work=Patriot |date=18 September 1843|page=7}}</ref>
Austin and family sailed to Adelaide in the barque ''Augustus'', arriving at the end of 1843.<ref name="Advertiser">{{cite news |title=The Late Mr. J. B. Austin |url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/34558955 |work=The Advertiser (Adelaide) |date=15 September 1896|page=5}}</ref> On arrival, Austin made his way to Macclesfield, where he was well received by Samuel Davenport and his wife.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Hodder |first1=Edwin |title=The History of South Australia from its foundation to the year of its jubilee. With a chronological summary of all the principal events of interest up to date |date=1893 |publisher=London, S. Low, Marston |page=163|volume=II |url=https://archive.org/details/historyofsouthau02hodd/page/163/mode/1up}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=A Church's Diamond Jubilee|url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/162443761 |work=The Observer (Adelaide) |date=25 November 1905|page=39}}</ref> With Alexander Lang Elder (his future son-in-law) as agent, he bought land at Bugle Ranges from Frederick Harrison, in an area first granted to the Davenport family. There he built his dwelling "Lashbrooke". The initial slab hut was replaced by a stone building by the end of the 1840s.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Pope |first1=Anna |last2=Booth |first2=Claire |title=DC Mount Barker Heritage Survey Part 3: Local Heritage Recommendations: Biggs Flat to Hahndorf|page=47 |url=https://www.mountbarker.sa.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0013/113710/Heritage-Survey-2004-Part-3a-Local-Heritage-Recommendations-Biggs-Flat-to-Hahndorf.-Report-by-Heritage-Online-Anna-Pope-and-Claire-Booth.pdf |website=mountbarker.sa.gov.au}}</ref>
Holding services in a tent, Austin began a ministry at Macclesfield.<ref name="Bull"/> From 1844 he had regular preaching stations: at Echunga in Walter Duffield's house; at Mount Barker in Denman McFarlane's barn; at Strathalbyn, where a church was built in 1844 and he held services every two weeks; and at Bugle Range's, at a place later called Zion's Hill.<ref name="Advertiser"/><ref>{{cite book |title=The Southern Spectator |date=1858 |publisher=W. Fairfax & Company |page=139 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=r7IRAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA139 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Memorial Foundation Stone Unveiled At Strathalbyn |url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/74331837 |work=The Advertiser (Adelaide) |date=21 July 1936|page=11}}</ref> In his religious work he collaborated with Thomas Stow.<ref name="Hodder">{{cite book |last1=Hodder |first1=Edwin |title=The History of South Australia from Its Foundation to the Year of Its Jubilee |date=1893 |publisher=S. Low, Marston, Ltd. |page=301 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OiYXAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA301 |language=en}}</ref> A stone chapel was built at Macclesfield, on land granted by the trustees of George Davenport, the foundation stone being laid in 1848.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Libraries Board of South Australia |title=South Australiana |date=1968 |page=48 note 18 |language=en}}</ref>
==Family== Austin married, firstly or secondly, in 1826, Margaret Young, daughter of Edward Young.<ref name="Loyau"/> She died in 1840, aged 36, leaving him a family of seven children.<ref>{{cite news |title=Deaths |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0002580/18401119/058/0008 |work=Patriot |date=19 November 1840|page=8}}</ref>
Austin in 1841 married at Finsbury Chapel, with Alexander Fletcher officiating, Matilda Lashbrooke. She was the daughter of the late John Lashbrooke, of Trinity Square Gardens, Tower Hill.<ref>{{cite news |title=Marriages |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0002580/18411220/061/0008 |work=Patriot |date=20 December 1841|page=8}}</ref> She died at Lashbrooke in 1871.<ref>{{cite news |title=Died |url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/207700558 |work=The Express and Telegraph (Adelaide) |date=7 November 1871|page=2}}</ref> He married again, in 1872, to Phoebe Davies Hinton, fourth daughter of John Howard Hinton.<ref name="Hodder"/><ref>{{cite news |title=Deaths |url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/33617733 |work=The South Australian Advertiser |date=13 June 1882|page=4}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Married |url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/207724029 |work=The Express and Telegraph (Adelaide) |date=1 October 1872|page=2}}</ref>
When he came to Australia in 1843, Austin had eight children with him.<ref name="Bull">{{cite book |last1=Bull |first1=John Wrathall |title=Early Experiences of Colonial Life in South Australia |date=1878 |publisher=Advertiser, Chronicle, and Express Offices |page=301 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QysQAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA301 |language=en}}</ref>
*His daughter Mary Eliza married in 1847 Alexander Lang Elder, founder of Elder & Co.<ref>{{cite Australasia|Elder, Alexander Lang}}</ref><ref>{{cite Australian Dictionary of Biography|title=Elder Brothers}}</ref> * His son John Baptist Austin IV (died 1896) was a journalist and mining expert, one-time partner of H. W. de Mole. * Edward Austin (1836–1915), left manuscript memoirs describing his life, including contact with Aboriginal people at Coorong.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Austin |first1=Edward |title=Reminiscences of Edward Austin |url=https://www.catalog.slsa.sa.gov.au/record=b2173712~S1 |website=catalog.slsa.sa.gov.au}}</ref> They also cover demographic effects of the Victorian gold rush.<ref>{{cite web |title=SA Memory, Title : Effect of Victorian gold rush on South Australia |url=https://www.samemory.sa.gov.au/site/page.cfm?c=1265 |website=www.samemory.sa.gov.au |language=en-au}}</ref> He recalled the initial times as hard, with "rough tents to sleep in" as typical.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Jones |first1=Jennifer Anne |title=Old age in a young colony: image and experience in South Australia in the nineteenth century.|page=81 |url=https://digital.library.adelaide.edu.au/dspace/bitstream/2440/65142/8/02whole.pdf |website=digital.library.adelaide.edu.au |publisher=University of Adelaide, School of History and Politics|date=2010}}</ref> His son Alfred Herbert Austin (1870–1930), pastor at Mosman, married Charlotte Elizabeth Fullerton.<ref>{{cite AuDB |first=Brian Hinton |last=Fletcher |title=Austin, Charlotte Elizabeth (Lottie) (1878–1933) |volume=Supplementary Volume |edition= |year=2005 |id2=austin-charlotte-elizabeth-lottie-12776 |access-date=2023-07-22}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Who's who in the Commonwealth of Australia|volume=9 |date=1922 |publisher=The Herald |page=12 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Alfred Herbert Austin, Doing our bit, Mosman 1914-1918 -- Alfred Herbert Austin |url=https://mosman1914-1918.net/people/351/ |website=mosman1914-1918.net}}</ref> * Edwin Austin (died 1915) married the daughter of the Rev. Samuel Link Harris, minister at Macclesfield and father of Charles Hope Harris.<ref name="Edwin"/><ref>{{cite book |title=The Observatory |date=1915 |publisher=Editors of the Observatory |page=407 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3pIOAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA407 |language=en}}</ref>
==Notes== {{reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Austin, John Baptist}} Category:1799 births Category:1882 deaths Category:English educators Category:English Congregationalists Category:British emigrants to the Colony of South Australia