George Bain Johnston

George Bain Johnston (28 November 1829 – 29 May 1882) was a pioneer of the Murray River trade in South Australia.

History George Bain Johnston was born at Cockenzie, in the county of Haddington, Scotland, and was educated at Steel's Hospital in the parish of Tranent. At the age of 15 he served an apprenticeship on the schooner Mary Donaldson, under Captain James Donaldson, in the employ of Captain Hew (or Hugh) Francis Cadell (c. 1790 – 27 April 1873). He was one of a group of Scotsmen who left Scotland in 1853 as one of the crew of the Lioness, a small River Mersey steamer of 70 tons register, which was purchased by Cadell to be used for towing purposes in Port Melbourne. The vessel was rigged as a three-masted schooner in Scotland and sailed out to Melbourne. Other members of the crew of the Lioness, all associated with the opening of the Murray, were James Ritchie, Thomas Johnston, John Barclay, John McDonald, William Barker and John Ritchie. The four first named returned to Scotland for Captain Cadell in December 1853 in the Admiral, returning to Australia in 1854 in the brig Lady Emma, with the river steamers Gundagai and Albury in sections as freight. These vessels were assembled at Port Adelaide, and steamed through the Murray mouth. On 18 October 1857, the wives of these gentlemen left Scotland in the sailing ship Planter, arriving in Melbourne on 12 January 1858. The first vessel to come alongside to welcome these lady pioneers was the Lioness, the little craft that had left Scotland four years previously with the husbands of all the members of the party. These ladies had booked their passages in the Great Britain, but prior to sailing this vessel was commandeered by the British authorities for service as a troop ship in connection with the Indian mutiny.

Johnston joined the rush to the gold diggings at Forest Creek and in 1853 joined Hew's son Captain Francis Cadell, the River Murray pioneer, and moved to Goolwa, where in 1857 he purchased a plot of land in "Little Scotland" and built a substantial dwelling "Cockenzie House". His first expedition was to take a survey of the Murray from Wentworth downwards in a small boat – the Quiz – recording obstacles that lay in the river. His next trip was with Captain Cadell in the steamer Lady Augusta. In 1855 he was appointed captain of the steamer Albury, and was the first to reach the town of Albury. The residents celebrated his arrival with a banquet and presented him with a purse of one hundred sovereigns, with which a suitable cup was bought and engraved to commemorate the occasion. After continuing in this trade for some years he joined Charles Murphy as "Johnston & Murphy", and purchased the Moolgewanke (the boat with which he explored the Edward River, and which came to a terrible end ) from Cadell, and soon afterwards the Albury. They prospered and became substantial steamboat proprietors and traders on the Murray and its tributaries. In 1862 they built the stern-wheeler Maranoa. and was honored with a medal from the Royal Humane Society. Though industrious and enterprising in business matters, he was a liberal and earnest Christian. He was associated with the Wesleyan Church from its infancy at Goolwa, and was a most enthusiastic and energetic worker in all its activities. Hugh Francis Cadell Johnston (c. April 1862 – 21 December 1862) George (later Captain) Johnston (January 1864 – 18 September 1925) married Miriam Ottaway ( – ) on 22 February 1893, lived at Blanchetown. George captained the S.S. Cadell in the Spencer Gulf trade, and the Charles Sturt on the Murray. Miriam retired to Sturt Street, St. Leonards. Their son George "Blue" Johnston was a noted footballer. eldest daughter Elizabeth Marshall Johnston ( – 4 April 1951) married Henry Alfred "Harry" Wigzell (c. 1864 – 30 March 1929) on 31 March 1897. Home Alpha St. Kensington Park. Helen D. Johnston (c. 1870 – 10 January 1944) married David J. Byrnes (c. 1866 – 30 July 1951) John Bathgate Johnston (c. 1871 – 25 June 1944) married Lilian May "Milly" Goode ( – 26 October 1918), daughter of Benjamin P. Goode on 27 September 1894. They moved to Port Pirie. He married again, to Emily Marg "Millie" Windebank on 11 July 1921. James Charles Murphy "Jim" Johnston (c. 1872 – 21 December 1923) and his wife Mary moved to Port Pirie; he became a longtime employee of H. A. and W. Goode. Augusta "Gussie" Johnston (c. 1874 – 4 March 1921) married William C. Taverner of Middleton. Peter Johnston, a brother, (1826 – 2 June 1881) died of exposure after falling from the steamer Cadell at the Goolwa wharf.