John Langdon Bonython

{{distinguish|text=his son John Lavington Bonython, or his grandson John Langdon Bonython (1905–1992)}}

{{Infobox officeholder

| honorific-prefix = The Honourable Sir

| honorific-suffix = KCMG

| image = John Langdon Bonython 3.jpeg

| constituency_MP = South Australia

| parliament = Australian

| predecessor =

| successor =

| term_start = 30 March 1901

| term_end = 16 December 1903

| alongside = Lee Batchelor, Paddy Glynn, Frederick Holder, Charles Kingston, Alexander Poynton and Vaiben Louis Solomon

| constituency_MP1 = Barker

| parliament1 = Australian

| predecessor1 = New seat

| successor1 = John Livingston

| term_start1 = 16 December 1903

| term_end1 = 8 November 1906

| birth_date = {{Birth date|df=yes|1848|10|15}}

| birth_place = London, England

| death_date = {{Death date and age|df=yes|1939|10|22|1848|10|15}}

| death_place = Adelaide, South Australia

| nationality = Cornish Australian

| spouse = Mary Louisa Fredericka, Lady Bonython ({{nee}} Balthasar; m. 1870-1924; her death)

| party = Protectionist Party

| occupation = Journalist, philanthropist

}}

File:Langdon Bonython 2.jpg

File:Langdon bonython.jpg

File:John Langdon Bonython 4.jpegSir John Langdon Bonython {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|KCMG}} ({{IPAc-en|b|ɒ|ˈ|n|aɪ|θ|ən}};Charles Earle Funk, What's the Name, Please? (Funk & Wagnalls, 1936). 15 October 1848{{spaced ndash}}22 October 1939) was an Australian editor, newspaper proprietor, philanthropist, journalist and politician who served as a member of the inaugural federal Parliament, and was editor of the Adelaide daily morning broadsheet, The Advertiser, for 35 years.W. B. Pitcher, [http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A070345b.htm Bonython, Sir John Langdon (1848–1939)], Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 7, Melbourne University Press, 1979, pp 339-341{{Dictionary of Australian Biography|First=John Langdon|Last=Bonython|shortlink=0-dict-biogBe-Bo.html#bonython1|access-date=19 November 2008}}

Early life

Bonython was born in London in 1848, the second son of George Langdon Bonython (1820–1909), a carpenter and builder, and Annie MacBain (1824–1906). His siblings were George Langdon Bonython (1845–1921) and Alfred MacBain Bonython (1865–1954). George (senior) was born in Canada to which his parents Thomas Bonython (1787-1860) and Ann ({{nee}} Langdon; 1800-1897?) had migrated. George was sent back to England into the care of his maternal grandfather John Harris Langdon, a successful architect/builder. Thomas, Anne and their family later returned to England and eventually migrated to South Australia in 1840, but without George. But after the death of his grandfather and employer, John Harris Langdon, George (senior) with wife Ann and children, also migrated to South Australia in July 1854 where young John Langdon Bonython was educated at the Brougham School in North Adelaide. In 1870, he married Mary Louisa Frederica (or Marie Louise Friedrike, or Marie Louise Fredericka{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article36650166 |title=Family Notices. |newspaper=The Advertiser |location=Adelaide |date=11 February 1924 |access-date=20 November 2012 |page=8 |publisher=National Library of Australia}}) Balthasar; they had eight children, of whom three daughters and three sons survived infancy.

Media career

When he was sixteen, Bonython took a job at The Advertiser, where he was well regarded as a hard worker. In 1879, he became a part proprietor of The Advertiser.

In 1894, Bonython became the sole proprietor and editor of The Advertiser, positions which he held for a further 35 years. During this time, the weekly Chronicle and the evening Express newspapers were added to The Advertiser. He retired from his newspapers in 1929, after 65 years' service. On 12 January 1929, Adelaide paper The Mail announced that Langdon Bonython had sold The Advertiser for £1,250,000 to a group of Melbourne financiers, but had retained a considerable interest.{{cite news |title= Sir Langdon Bonython Sells 'The Advertiser' for More Than £1,000,000 |work= The Mail |date= 12 January 1929 |page=1 |publisher= Trove (trove.nla.gov.au) |url= http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article59855083 |access-date= 17 June 2012 }}

Political career

Throughout his career, Bonython had avoided local politics, but after Federation in 1901 he was nominated to represent the single statewide Division of South Australia as a Protectionist in the Australian House of Representatives at the 1901 election. He ultimately finished second in the poll and was one of seven members elected. At that time, South Australia was a single electorate with multiple members.

At the 1903 election, Bonython was elected unopposed for the newly created Division of Barker. In 1904, he was a member of the Select Committee on old-age pensions, as well as the Royal Commission on the same subject in 1905–06.

Bonython did not stand for reelection at the 1906 election, and retired from politics. In 1908 he was appointed a Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George (CMG) "In recognition of service to the Commonwealth of Australia".[https://honours.pmc.gov.au/honours/awards/1066635 Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George] 9 November 1908 Citation: In recognition of service to the Commonwealth of Australia

Public service and philanthropy

In 1883, Bonython was elected chairman of the Adelaide School Advisory Board. In 1889 he became the president of the council for the South Australian School of Mines and Industries, a position he held until his death. He often assisted the school with his own money, and provided the funds for the chemical and metallurgical laboratories there.

Bonython became chairman of the council of the agricultural college at Roseworthy in 1895, and he held this position until 1902. He was knighted in 1898. He was appointed one of fourteen trustees under the soldiers' repatriation programme of 1916, and one of seven commissioners under the Australian Soldiers Repatriation Act 1917.

Bonython joined the council of the University of Adelaide in 1916, and donated over £50,000 for the construction of a hall,"Bonython Hall" is the Great Hall of the University of Adelaide. It is located on North Terrace, Adelaide opposite Pulteney Street. and £20,000 to fund a Chair in law. From 1916 to 1926, Bonython was also the deputy chairman of the South Australian advisory council of education. He donated £100,000 towards the construction of Parliament House in Adelaide.Parliament House is located on the corner of North Terrace and King William Street, Adelaide.The South Australian Story, Advertiser Newspapers Ltd, Griffin Press, Adelaide, South Australia, 1958.

In 1919, he was appointed Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George (KCMG) "In recognition of service to the Commonwealth".[https://honours.pmc.gov.au/honours/awards/1082604 KCMG] 3 June 1919 Citation: In recognition of service to the Commonwealth

Bonython was vice-president of the Royal Institution of Cornwall from 1900 until becoming president from 1932 to 1933, succeeding Viscount Falmouth. Despite living in Australia, and being unable to visit Cornwall during his presidency, he became one of the most active and hard working presidents that the institution had had.Journal of the Royal Institution of Cornwall, Volume XXIV, Parts 1 and 2, 1933-34.

In 1931, he donated £2,000 to the Royal Cornwall Museum building fund and the Bonython gallery on the ground floor was named in his honour.Journal of the Royal Institution of Cornwall, Volume XXIII, Parts 3 and 4, 1931-32.

His wife, Lady Bonython, was also active in altruistic causes, notably the Kindergarten Union{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article56856393 |title=The Kindergarten Movement |newspaper=The Register |location=Adelaide |date=28 September 1905 |access-date=20 November 2012 |page=4 |publisher=National Library of Australia}} and State Children's Council,{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article5370938 |title=The State Children's Council |newspaper=The Advertiser |location=Adelaide |date=11 February 1913 |access-date=20 November 2012 |page=12 |publisher=National Library of Australia}} in association with Catherine Helen Spence and C. Emily Clark.

;Bonython Hall:

File:UofAdelaide-BonythonHall&Conservatorium-front-Aug08.jpg (and Elder Conservatorium), University of Adelaide ]]

|File:UofAdelaide-BonythonHall&LawBld-front-Aug08.jpg

|File:Bonython Hall.jpg

Legacy

Bonython died in 1939, leaving an estate of over £4,000,000, which at the time was estimated to be one of the largest of any Australian. Beneficiaries under his will included the Pirie Street Methodist Church, where he always worshipped and of which he was a trustee; St Peter's Cathedral, to which he donated the cost of the canons' and choir stalls in 1925 in memory of his wife who had died the previous year; and the Salvation Army.

==Children==

On 24 December 1870, Bonython married Mary Louisa Fredericka Balthasar (died 9 February 1924) in Adelaide. She is also referred to in various references as "Marie Louise Friedrike", "Marie Louise Frederica", and after Langdon's knighthood in 1898, Lady Bonython.

They had eight children of whom three daughters and three sons survived infancy. Outliving his wife and four of his children, he was survived by three daughters and one son, (John Lavington Bonython).

His children included:

(1872–1873) Clive Hereward Bonython[http://www.mundia.com/au/Tree/Family/27299737/12750065375# Family tree], www.mundia.com/au
(1874–1956) Mary Elsie Bonython, later Lady Parsons.On 18 April 1900 in the Pirie Street Methodist Church, Mary Elsie Bonython married Sir Herbert Angas Parsons (1872–1945), judge and politician. "Parsons spent many hours at the Adelaide Club, preferring its convivial atmosphere to his wife's Methodism". "Survived by Lady Parsons and their two sons, he died of cirrhosis of the liver". (Kwan, Australian Dictionary of Biography, vol.11 pp.148-150.)Elizabeth Kwan, [http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A110697b.htm Parsons, Sir Herbert Angas (1872–1945)], Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 11, Melbourne University Press, 1988, pp 148-150. (2 children)
(1875–1960) Sir John Lavington Bonython who was a Lord Mayor of Adelaide.W. B. Pitcher, [http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A070346b.htm Bonython, Sir John Lavington (1875–1960)], Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 7, Melbourne University Press, 1979, pp 341-342. (2 marriages, 6 children)
(1877–1956) Edith Annie Bonython
(1879–1915) Hugh Trevarnon Bonython died 10 March 1915, only three weeks after his wife.[http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article5446432 Funeral notices] The Advertiser (Adelaide) 15 February 1915 pg.2[http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article45318124 Death of Mr. Hugh Bonython] Barrier Miner (Broken Hill, NSW) 10 March 1915 p.4

(1881–1965) Ada Langdon Bonython

File:Elsie Bonython 13yrs 1887-B7723 41.jpg

|File:John L Bonython 12yrs 1887-B7723 43.jpg

|File:Edith A Bonython 10yrs-1887-B7723 40.jpg

|File:Hugh T Bonython 8yrs 1887-B7723 42.jpg

File:Elsie Bonython Bridesmaids-18 April 1900-B30390.jpg, 18 April 1900. Left to right: Elsie Parsons (half sister of bridegroom); Ada & Edith Bonython (sisters of the bride); Winifred Bonython (cousin of the bride) ]]

Family name

Bonython was descended from an old Cornish family, well known in Tudor and Stuart times. Inspired by his grandmother, Bonython took an interest in his heritage. He had a fine library of books on Cornish history and was patron of the South Australian Cornish Association and a member of the Royal Institution of Cornwall. Although he acquired some family relics, he deeply regretted that he could not buy back Bonython Manor, the family seat in Cornwall. After purchasing a large mansion in North Adelaide in 1908, he renamed it 'Carclew' after the area in Cornwall which his ancestors were from.[https://carclew.com.au/Venue-Equipment-Hire Carclew Website]

Bonython told The Literary Digest: "It is a Cornish name and the accent is on the second syllable: Bon-y'thon, y as in spy. The ancient family located at Bonython in the Lizard district at a very early period. Existing deeds show that Stephen Bonython was in possession of the family lands in 1277."

Honours

Bonython was knighted in 1898. In 1908 he was made a Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George (CMG), and in 1919 was promoted to Knight Commander of that Order (KCMG).{{cn|date=March 2024}}

In 1935, Bonython was made the first Australian bard of the Cornish Gorseth Kernow.Dunkerley Family Web Pages – [http://members.ozemail.com.au/~kevrenor/gorseth.html The Bards of the Gorseth of Cornwall in Australia]

The Division of Bonython, an Australian Electoral Division in the northern suburbs of Adelaide, was named after Bonython. It was created in 1955 and abolished in 2004.