http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/scripts/adbp-births-deaths.php A list of all those people in the Australian Dictionary of Biography who were born on this day. http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A010219b.htm CLOSE, EDWARD CHARLES (1790-1866), settler and churchman, was born on 12 March 1790 at Rangamati, Bengal, the only child of Edward Close, merchant, and Marrianne, daughter of Michael Collinson. Educated in England, he entered the army in 1808, serving throughout the Peninsular war as a lieutenant in the 48th Regiment. On 3 August 1817 he arrived in New South Wales with a detachment of his regiment in the and after several years in Sydney was transferred to Newcastle. As acting engineer he was responsible in 1821-22 for putting down mooring chains and removing dangerous shoals from Newcastle Harbour. He built a fort near the signal station and erected an iron beacon in which a large coal fire was lit each night at sunset. This light on Beacon Hill functioned until 1857, when it was replaced by the Nobby's Head light-house.... http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A020172b.htm MANSFIELD, RALPH (1799-1880), Methodist missionary and newspaper editor, was born on 12 March 1799 at Toxteth Park, Liverpool, England, the son of Ralph Mansfield, manufacturer of earthenware, and his wife Ann, née Worthington. In 1820 he was ordained a Methodist minister, married Lydia Fellows, and sailed for New South Wales in the to become a missionary. He arrived in September and soon became a leader in all Methodist activities, including the Auxiliary Wesleyan Missionary Society, of which he was secretary, and the , which he edited and Robert Howe printed. Because of the small numbers of Methodists in the colony, the magazine was not exclusively religious but aimed at a blend of religion and literary interest. Despite its success, however, the Wesleyan Committee in London prohibited its publication.... http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A010319b.htm DUNCAN, WILLIAM AUGUSTINE (1811-1885), journalist and public servant, was born on 12 March 1811 at Bluefield, Towie, Aberdeenshire, Scotland, the son of Peter Duncan and Mary, née Macdougal. Duncan's early ability encouraged his parents to suppose that he might join the Presbyterian ministry, but in adolescence his unaided reading caused him to enter the Roman Catholic church. The Benedictine order attracted Duncan and he studied at Blairs. Having quarrelled with his teachers he withdrew, and for five years was a bookseller and publisher in Aberdeen. He agitated for the Reform Act of 1832. When his business failed he did some journalism and teaching. News of Governor 's church and school measures prompted him to migrate to New South Wales as a Catholic schoolteacher in 1837. ... http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/AS10203b.htm HAMILTON, GEORGE (1812-1883), police commissioner, was born on 12 March 1812, probably in Hertfordshire, England, one of at least eight children of Charles Hamilton. Following education at Harrow School in 1823-26, George served in the navy as a midshipman. He reached Sydney before 1837, when he overlanded sheep to Australia Felix. In 1839, following 's southern route, he drove cattle to Adelaide.... http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/AS10479b.htm WARNER, JAMES (1814-1891),role='bold'>surveyor, was born on 12 March 1814 in London, son of James Warner, master mariner. Young James followed his father into the merchant navy and became second officer in the , trading between London and China and to Port Jackson. Resigning his commission, Warner reached Sydney in the on 25 August 1835. By 1837 he was junior clerk, third class, in the Surveyor-General's Department. He became an assistant surveyor in 1839. Posted to the Moreton Bay district, under the supervision of he cleared the trees on the Herbert Taylor Range for a trigonometrical station, leaving a single tree as a surveyors' marker. The feature, for many years called One Tree Hill, was later named Mount Coot-tha.... http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A050262b.htm MAUND, JOHN (1823-1858), physician and analytical chemist, was born on 12 March 1823 at Bromsgrove, Worcestershire, England, eldest son of Benjamin Maund (1790-1863) and his wife Sarah. Benjamin was a chemist, botanist, fellow of the Linnean Society (1827) and author and publisher of such periodicals as the .... http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/AS10040b.htm BIRKS, ROSETTA JANE (1856-1911), suffragist and philanthropist, was born on 12 March 1856 in Adelaide, one of nine children of English-born parents , newspaper proprietor, and his wife Mary Jane, née Good. The granddaughter of , Rose grew up in a family that strongly supported public affairs and philanthropic and religious causes. She was a lifelong member of the evangelical Flinders Street Baptist Church, co-founded by her father. On 8 March 1879 at Glenelg Rosetta married with Baptist forms her sister's widower , a draper, and became stepmother to his six children.... http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A080584b.htm FOX, EMANUEL PHILLIPS (1865-1915), artist and art teacher, was born on 12 March 1865 at Fitzroy, Melbourne, seventh child of Alexander Fox, a Jewish photographer from London, and his Sydney-born wife Rosette, née Phillips. Fox matriculated at 15 and took early drawing lessons from John Carter. Between 1878 and 1886 he trained at the National Gallery schools under and , together with , , and . He won awards for landscape painting at the gallery students' exhibitions in 1884 and 1886.... http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A070443b.htm BROWN, FRANCIS ERNEST (1869-1939), schoolmaster and clergyman, was born on 12 March 1869 at Bristol, England, fifth surviving child of James Brown, master hatter, and his wife Eliza Adelaide, née Gillis. Generations of Browns had been hatters at Frampton Cotterell, Gloucestershire, but new techniques and fashions had eroded the craft by the time James died in 1886. Despite economic hardship Francis was sent to a boarding-school from which, in 1884, he won a scholarship to Bristol Grammar School. He was head boy in 1888, won a mathematical scholarship to Hertford College, Oxford, and graduated B.A. in 1892.... http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A070259b.htm BENHAM, ELLEN IDA (1871-1917), educationist, was born on 12 March 1871 at Allen's Creek, Kapunda, South Australia, third of eleven children of William Hoare Benham, solicitor, and his wife Aimie, née Huggins. She went from Kapunda Model School to the Advanced School for Girls, Adelaide, where she was influenced by the headmistress . She studied at the University of Adelaide from 1889 (B.Sc., 1892). After becoming headmistress of Christ Church day school, Kapunda, for two years, she studied in Europe in 1895. She returned to teach science at Dryburgh House School, Adelaide, in 1896-1900, and later at Tormore House School under and concurrently at the Advanced School.... http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A150155b.htm LORT SMITH, LOUISA ELEANOR (1875-1956), animal-welfare advocate and administrator, was born on 12 March 1875 at Sale, Victoria, tenth of eleven children of William Montgomery, a grazier who came from Ireland, and his Australian-born wife Elizabeth Wilhelmina, née Du Moulin. Louisa was educated at Sale at Miss Jane Geoghegan's school and Madame Beausire's Ladies' High School. Her father's reversal of fortune in the 1880s forced the family to leave their property for suburban Caulfield.... http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A070201b.htm BARTON, ALAN SINCLAIR DARVALL (1886-1950), medical practitioner, was born on 12 March 1886 at Bathurst, New South Wales, son of Robert Darvall Barton, grazier and author of (Sydney, 1917), and his wife Fanny Blanche, a daughter of , sheep-breeder; he was a first cousin of . Educated at All Saints' College, Bathurst, and the University of Sydney (M.B., Ch.B., 1909; Ch.M., 1910), he became resident medical officer and registrar at Sydney Hospital in 1910-11. Two years later he began private practice at Coonabarabran.... http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A090534b.htm KAUPER, HENRY ALEXIS (1888-1942), aviation and radio engineer and inventor, was born on 12 March 1888 at Hawthorn, Melbourne, son of Charles Henry Kauper, carpenter and later orchardist, and his wife Rosa Victoria, née Francis. Harry's father, an Estonian seaman, landed at Port Melbourne in 1877.... http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A140241b.htm FRASER, JAMES McINTOSH (1889-1961), motorman, trade unionist and politician, was born on 12 March 1889 at Forres, Morayshire, Scotland, son of James McIntosh Fraser, ploughman, and his wife Elspet, née Anderson. Educated locally, young James was employed as a gardener at Gordon Castle, Fochabers, and as a munitions worker at the Royal Arsenal, Woolwich, London, before he emigrated to Western Australia. On 6 April 1912 at St Andrew's Presbyterian Church, Perth, he married Ellen Simmons, a domestic servant; they were to have five children. During World War I he tried to enlist in the Australian Imperial Force; when he was rejected, he returned to Britain and regained his job at Woolwich arsenal.... http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A160684b.htm WITT, SIDNEY HERBERT (1892-1973), electrical engineer, was born on 12 March 1892 at Windsor, Melbourne, son of Australian-born parents Herbert Horatio Witt, broker, and his wife Mathilde Laura Ida, née Schultze. Educated in Melbourne, he joined the Commonwealth Postmaster-General's Department as a junior instrument fitter, electrical engineer's branch, on 10 February 1910. By completing training courses and displaying innovative skills, he became an assistant-engineer in December 1913.... http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A150517b.htm MURPHY, JAMES FRANCIS (1893-1949), public servant, was born on 12 March 1893 at North Carlton, Melbourne, second son of Irish-born parents Peter Murphy, police constable (later sergeant), and his wife Winifred Mary, née Sheane. Educated at Christian Brothers' colleges in South and East Melbourne, Frank joined the Commonwealth Public Service in 1910 and was appointed to the Department of External Affairs. He studied commerce part time at the University of Melbourne. On 25 February 1922 at the Church of Our Lady of Victories, Camberwell, he married with Catholic rites Beatrice Emily McClounan, a 31-year-old typist.... http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A160060b.htm RAMSAY, ALAN HOLLICK (1895-1973), educationist and soldier, was born on 12 March 1895 at Windsor, Melbourne, eldest of five children of Victorian-born parents Charles Ramsay, produce dealer, and his wife Frances Sarah Laura, née Hollick. Alan attended Melbourne Continuation (High) School where he was an above-average student, quiet and unassuming, perhaps even shy. He took little interest in sport, but was enthusiastic about serving in the cadets. Joining the Victorian Education Department, he became a junior teacher (on probation) in 1912 and three years later was appointed to the primary school at Cowleys Creek, near Timboon.... http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A130073b.htm ANTHONY, HUBERT LAWRENCE (1897-1957), politician and farmer, was born on 12 March 1897 at Warren, New South Wales, son of George Edward Anthony, a native-born labourer, and his Irish wife Honoria Elizabeth, née McNab. Educated at Warren Public School, in September 1911 Larry joined the Postmaster-General's Department as a telegraph messenger. He was employed as a postal assistant at Peak Hill when he enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force on 28 October 1914. Embarking for Egypt in December with No.2 Signal Troop, he served at Gallipoli from April 1915 until illness caused him to be evacuated to England in August; he returned to Australia in 1916 and was discharged from the A.I.F. on 4 October.... http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A160475b.htm TIEGS, OSCAR WERNER (1897-1956), professor of zoology, was born on 12 March 1897 at Kangaroo Point, Brisbane, only son and eldest child of Otto Theodor Carl Tiegs, a Prussian-born merchant, and his wife Helene Caroline Ottilie, née Meyer, who came from Hanover. Sent to Brisbane Grammar School, Oscar gained a scholarship to the University of Queensland (B.Sc., 1919; M.Sc., 1921) and specialized in biology. In 1920-21 he held a fellowship in economic biology. He joined scientists studying the control of the blowfly and prickly pear, and took part in the campaign to eradicate hookworm.... http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A130061b.htm ANDERSON, ROBERT HENRY (1899-1969), botanist, was born on 12 March 1899 at Cooma, New South Wales, son of native-born parents Rev. William Addison Smyth Anderson, Presbyterian clergyman, and his wife Jane, née Thompson, late Corbett. Educated with his elder brother at Fort Street Boys' High School, Robert attended the University of Sydney (B.Sc.Agr., 1921) and won the scholarship (1917). Fair haired, blue eyed and 5 ft 6 ins (168 cm) tall, he enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force on 6 June 1918 and embarked for Britain, but was recalled from Cape Town after the Armistice was signed and never again left Australia.... http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A160658b.htm WILLIAMS, MERVYN LOUIS (1902-1980), boxer and sports writer, was born on 12 March 1902 at Aramac, Queensland, son of Charles Williams, station overseer, and his wife Delia Isabella, née Phillips, both Queensland born. Educated at Ipswich Grammar School, Merv was State amateur middleweight boxing champion at age 17 and undefeated when he turned professional at 18. He worked as a blacksmith's hand, miner and breadcarter to harden his medium build.... http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A140289b.htm GEDDES, CHARLES MATHERS ('JOCK') (1904-1979), Salvation Army officer and military chaplain, was born on 12 March 1904 at Torry, Kincardineshire, Scotland, son of William Geddes, journeyman ironmoulder, and his wife Amelia, née Paterson. Educated locally, by the age of 14 'Jock' was a boy-bandsman with the Gordon Highlanders. He later helped an uncle who was a fish-buyer, but by the early 1920s was unemployed.... http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A160140b.htm RODD, LEWIS CHARLES (1905-1979), headmaster, social historian and Christian socialist, was born on 12 March 1905 at Paddington, Sydney, fifth child of English-born parents Lewis Rodd (d.1916), master mariner, and his wife Lillian Amelia, née Waterhouse. 'Roddy' grew into a 'child bookworm'. He left school early, like his hero in , and read his own way to matriculation.... http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A130495b.htm COALDRAKE, FRANK WILLIAM (1912-1970), Anglican priest and missionary, was born on 12 March 1912 in Brisbane, second child of native-born parents Thomas John Coaldrake, insurance superintendent, and his wife Eliza Rose, née Smith. After attending Sandgate State School and Brisbane Grammar School, Frank enrolled at the Teachers' Training College, Brisbane, and, during a short teaching career, became an external student at the University of Queensland.... http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A130447b.htm CHAPMAN, GARY ARTHUR (1938-1978), swimmer and fisherman, was born on 12 March 1938 at Brighton-Le-Sands, Sydney, eldest son of Australian-born parents Arthur James Kennard Chapman, sports store proprietor, and his wife Gladys Alma, née Deller. As a youngster Gary was mischievous, even wilful, and loved outdoor life, especially tree-climbing. Told that he must learn to swim before he could boat and fish on his own, at the age of 7 he reluctantly mastered the art at Ramsgate baths and was soon coached by Steve Duff....