Tuggeranong Suburbs - BONYTHON
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Number 6 in Tuggeranong Suburbs series
The suburb of Bonython is named after Sir John Langdon Bonython, the owner of The Adelaide Advertiser who promoted Federation, and was a member of the first Australian parliament.
The suburb was initially to be known as "Stranger". The name "Bonython" was declared when it was gazetted as a suburb on 17 October 1986. Streets are named after South Australians, especially journalists.
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Sir John Langdon Bonython (15 October 1848 – 22 October 1939), editor, newspaper proprietor, philanthropist, Australian politician and journalist, was a Member of the First Australian Parliament, and was editor of the Adelaide daily morning broadsheet, The Advertiser, for 35 years.
Bonython was born in London in 1848, the second son of George Langdon Bonython and Annie MacBain. The family migrated to South Australia in July 1854. Bonython was educated at the Brougham School in North Adelaide. In 1870, he married Mary Louisa Balthasar and they had eight children.
When sixteen, Bonython took a job at The Advertiser, where he was well regarded as a hard worker. In 1879, he became a part proprietor.
In 1894, Bonython became the sole proprietor and editor, a position which he held for a further 35 years. During this time, the weekly Chronicle and the evening Express newspapers were also published.
He retired from his newspapers in 1929, after 65 years' service. Throughout his career, Bonython had avoided local politics, but after Federation in 1901 he was nominated to represent 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 1905-1906.
Bonython did not stand for re-election at the 1906 election, and retired from politics.
During his lifetime, Bonython also held the following positions:
Chairman of the Adelaide School Advisory Board,
President of the council for the South Australian School of Mines and Industries, a position he held until his death,
Chairman of the council of the agricultural college at Roseworthy,
Appointed one of 14 trustees under the soldiers' repatriation programme of 1916, and one of seven commissioners under the Australian Soldiers Repatriation Act 1917.
Member of the council of the University of Adelaide, and donated over £50,000 for the construction of a hall, and
Deputy chairman of the South Australian advisory council of education when he donated £100,000 towards the construction of Parliament House in Adelaide.
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; St Peter's Cathedral, and the Salvation Army.
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