# Peter Scratchley

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[Major General](/source/Major-general_(United_Kingdom)) **Sir Peter Henry Scratchley** (24 August 1835 – 2 December 1885) was special commissioner for [Great Britain](/source/Great_Britain) in [New Guinea](/source/Papua_(Australian_territory)) 1884–1885 and defence adviser for [Australia](/source/Australia).[1]

## Biography

Scratchley was born in [Paris](/source/Paris), the thirteenth child of Dr James Scratchley, who was a soldier in the [Royal Artillery](/source/Royal_Artillery), and his wife Maria, *née* Roberts.[1] He was educated in Paris and attended the [Royal Military Academy at Woolwich](/source/Royal_Military_Academy,_Woolwich). After graduating he began his career as an Officer in the [Royal Engineers](/source/Royal_Engineers). Scratchley served in the [Crimea](/source/Crimea) and [Indian Mutiny](/source/Indian_Mutiny) and in October 1859 was made a captain. He then had several tours of duty in the [Australian](/source/Australia) colonies advising on defence.[1][2]

Following the withdrawal in 1870 of British garrison troops from Australia, Major General Sir [William Jervois](/source/William_Jervois) and then Lieutenant Colonel Scratchley were commissioned by a group of colonies to advise on defence matters. They inspected each colony's defences and produced the [Jervois-Scratchley reports](/source/Jervois-Scratchley_reports) of 1877. Not surprisingly given their engineering backgrounds and the fear in the colonies of potential enemy fleets, the reports emphasised fortifications against naval attack. The Jervois-Scratchley reports formed the basis of defence planning in Australia and [New Zealand](/source/New_Zealand) for the next 30 years.[2]

Among his achievements in Australia were:

- Founding of the Corps of Engineers in [Victoria](/source/Victoria,_Australia) in 1860
- The fort on [Bare Island](/source/Bare_Island_(New_South_Wales)), Botany Bay, New South Wales[3]
- [Fort Scratchley](/source/Fort_Scratchley), Newcastle, New South Wales
- [Fort Lytton](/source/Fort_Lytton_National_Park), Brisbane, Queensland
- [Fort Glanville](/source/Fort_Glanville_Conservation_Park), South Australia — assisted by [Alexander Bain Moncrieff](/source/Alexander_Bain_Moncrieff)
- [Fort Queenscliff](/source/Fort_Queenscliff), Queenscliff, Victoria

Scratchley retired with the honorary rank of [Major-General](/source/Major-General) on 1 October 1882, but was still employed as defence adviser for Australia by the Colonial Office. Scratchley soon contracted [malaria](/source/Malaria) and died at sea on aboard the *Governor Blackall* on 2 December 1885. He was buried in [Melbourne](/source/Melbourne) and then reinterred to the Old Charlton cemetery in [England](/source/England). He left a widow, two daughters and a son.[2]

## Honours

Scratchley was created a [Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George](/source/Knight_Commander_of_the_Order_of_St_Michael_and_St_George) in June 1885.[1]

Scratchley Road in [Port Moresby](/source/Port_Moresby), [Mount Scratchley](/source/Mount_Scratchley) in the [Owen Stanley Range](/source/Owen_Stanley_Range) near [Kokoda](/source/Kokoda) in Papua New Guinea, and [Fort Scratchley](/source/Fort_Scratchley) in Newcastle are named in his honour.[1]

## References

1. Retrieved 8 October 2014.

## Further reading

- Kinloch Cooke, C. *Peter Scratchley. Australian Defences and New Guinea*. Elibron Classics. Compiled from the papers of the late Major-General Sir Peter Scratchley

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Peter Scratchley](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Scratchley) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Scratchley?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.