John Baxter Mather (5 March 1853 – 7 November 1940) was a Scottish born journalist, newspaper proprietor, landscape painter and art critic in

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories by area, which in ...

History

Mather was born in

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

, Scotland to Thomas S. Mather (c. 1824 – 20 June 1865) and Jessie Mather (c. 1826 – 20 October 1901), and emigrated with his parents to Australia around 1860, settling first in

Portland, Victoria Portland ( ) is a city in Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, and is the oldest European settlement in the state. It is also the main urban centre in the Shire of Glenelg and is located on Portland Bay. As of the 2021 Australian census, 20 ...

. This belated obituary is more complete and accurate than that of the ''Advertiser'' of 8 November 1940 Around 1864 they moved to

Mount Gambier, South Australia Mount Gambier is the second most populated city in South Australia, with a population of 25,591 as of the 2021 census. The city is located on the slopes of Mount Gambier (volcano), Mount Gambier, a volcano in the south east of the state, about ...

, where after completing his schooling he started working as a compositor for A. F. Laurie and John Watson's Border Watch. In 1874 he left Mount Gambier for a time to work as compositor for Lawrie and Fairfax at the

Portland Guardian ''The Portland Guardian'' was a weekly newspaper published between 1842 and 1964 in the seaport town of Portland, Victoria, Australia. It was known as the ''Portland Guardian and Normanby General Advertiser'' from 1842 to 1876. It was founded by ...

where

J. F. Archibald Jules François Archibald (born John Feltham Archibald, 14 January 1856 – 10 September 1919) was an Australian journalist and publisher, best known for co-founding and editing '' The Bulletin'', Australia's most popular magazine in the late 19 ...

was an apprentice. After some initial sparring, the two became friends. In 1875, he started work at

Naracoorte, South Australia Naracoorte is a town in the Limestone Coast region of South Australia, approximately 336 kilometres south-east of Adelaide and 100 kilometres north of Mount Gambier, South Australia, Mount Gambier on the Riddoch Highway (A66). History Before the ...

for the ''Border Watch'', running its daughter publication, the Narracoorte Herald, which shortly afterwards he and George Ash acquired. In 1889 they were sued for libel by a wealthy

squatter Squatting is the action of occupying an abandoned or unoccupied area of land or a building (usually residential) that the squatter does not Land ownership and tenure, own, rent or otherwise have lawful permission to use. The United Nations estima ...

and lost everything they had. A great deal of sympathy was evinced locally for the pair. He moved to

Adelaide Adelaide ( , ; ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and most populous city of South Australia, as well as the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. The name "Adelaide" may refer to ei ...

and found employment with The Advertiser as a compositor, then joined their literary staff as an art critic, a post he filled for fifteen years. From 1893 to 1899, he contributed drawings to the Adelaide ''Express'', using the chalk plate method, at which he was particularly adept. He was at the forefront of process engraving technology; the first in South Australia to do colored monotypes. In 1900 he and Joseph Hanka founded Mather & Hanka's Excelsior Engraving Company of 4

Franklin Street, Adelaide Franklin Street is a main street in the Adelaide city centre, South Australia. Extent Franklin Street terminates at its western end at West Terrace, Adelaide, West Terrace. The eastern end merges into the northern edge of Victoria Square, Adela ...

, etching chalk plates (a fore-runner of the process plate) then making

half-tone Halftone is the reprographic technique that simulates continuous-tone imagery through the use of dots, varying either in size or in spacing, thus generating a gradient-like effect.Campbell, Alastair. ''The Designer's Lexicon''. ©2000 Chronicl ...

plates for printers, including ''The Advertiser''. A year later the company was run by Mather and George Mackie By November 1903 the company was known simply as J. B. Mather, Photo-engraver, and ceased operation in late 1910. In 1913 he was employed by the

Art Gallery of South Australia The Art Gallery of South Australia (AGSA), established as the National Gallery of South Australia in 1881, is located in Adelaide. It is the most significant visual arts museum in the Australian state of South Australia. It has a collection of ...

, revising the catalogue which H. P. Gill completed in 1903.

Other interests

He enjoyed writing humorous verse, and contributed occasionally to ''The Advertiser'', and frequently to the magazine ''Quiz'' and its successor ''Quiz and The Lantern''. A few are listed here: *''Township v. City Life'' *''The Decayed Township'' *''The Old woman (Turgenieff done into Verse)'' His published books include: *''Out of the Depths: based on passages in "De Profundis"'', Advertiser printers 1908. *''In Memoriam J. M.'', Hassell Press, Adelaide 1927 *''Heine's North Sea'', Advertiser printers, illustrated, 1933 *''A Metrical Version of Ivan Turgenieff's Poems in Prose'', Advertiser printers, illustrated, 1934 *''My Queen Elect and other Verses'' Advertiser printers, 1937 *''The Voyagers and other Verses'', Advertiser printers, 1938 He was also a landscape painter of some distinction, in watercolors, and a member of the

Adelaide Easel Club The Adelaide Easel Club was a society for South Australian painters which broke away from the South Australian Society of Arts in 1892 and which re-merged with the parent organization in 1901. History The club was founded in November 1892 when a ...

. He was elected an associate of the

South Australian Society of Arts The South Australian Society of Arts was a society for artists in South Australia, later with a royal warrant renamed The Royal South Australian Society of Arts in 1935. History A meeting of persons interested in the formation of a society for th ...

Family

He had two brothers: Alexander Henderson Mather (c. 1861 – 13 June 1942) of Mount Gambier, and George R. J. Mather of Naracoorte. A sister, Margaret married Omar Arthur of Mount Gambier on 17 November 1875. Another sister married J. J. Driscoll of Mount Gambier. He married Johanna Fraser (c. 1853 – 26 June 1921) in 1880; they lived at 38 Myrtle Street,

Prospect Prospect may refer to: General * Prospect (marketing), a marketing term describing a potential customer * Prospect (sports), any player whose rights are owned by a professional team, but who has yet to play a game for the team * Prospect (minin ...

, where he died.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mather, John Baxter 1853 births 1940 deaths Australian journalists Australian newspaper publishers (people) Australian landscape painters Australian art critics Australian printers Australian poets 19th-century Australian painters 19th-century Australian male artists 20th-century Australian painters 20th-century Australian male artists Scottish male painters Australian male painters