MACLEAN, John
| Service Number: | 231 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | Not yet discovered |
| Last Rank: | Sergeant |
| Last Unit: | 26th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Stornoway, Scotland, U.K., 29 March 1884 |
| Home Town: | Not yet discovered |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Pearl Diver, Gold Miner, Planter |
| Died: | Natural causes, Redcliffe, Queensland, Australia, 22 October 1966, aged 82 years |
| Cemetery: |
Redcliffe Cemetery, Qld |
| Memorials: |
World War 1 Service
| 24 May 1915: | Involvement Sergeant, 231, 26th Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '15' embarkation_place: Brisbane embarkation_ship: HMAT Ascanius embarkation_ship_number: A11 public_note: '' | |
|---|---|---|
| 24 May 1915: | Embarked Sergeant, 231, 26th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Ascanius, Brisbane |
Obituary (October 1966) written by son, Mr Donald Maclean
A Colourful Career Ends at 83
"JOCK" MACLEAN DIES
RABAUL: An old Territory resident who discovered the Talele Goldfield in the Bainings in 1932 has died in Brisbane.
Mr John “Jock” Maclean, was 83 when he died.
Mr Maclean, a long-time resident of Rabaul, retired from the Territory in 1960.
He went to live with his wife at Redcliffe, Brisbane.
His son, Mr Donald Maclean of Rabaul, flew to Brisbane for the funeral.
COLORFUL
An ex-Scots Guardsman, "Jock" as he was great known, had a colourful career on Thursday Island and in the Territory
In his early days he was a pearl diver at Thursday Island.
In 1906 he planted Australia's first coconut plantation on Cape York.
He first came to Papua in 1908, a contemporary of the Pryke brothers, gold mining on the Lakekamu and Yodda Fields.
He prospected on Misima and did pearl diving with his own lugger around Samarai waters.
"Jock" walked overland from Buna to Port Moresby at the start of World War 1, when there was no such thing as the Kokoda Trail, and joined the 1st AIF from Port Moresby, enlisting in the 26th Battalion, a Queensland unit.
In World War 2 he evacuated a party of 2/22nd soldiers from New Britain and is mentioned in Australia's Official War History of the 2nd World War, for this act.
"Jock's" memoirs of his early days and experiences in North Australia and Papua are in the Mitchell Library, a tribute to a great pioneer.
He came to Rabaul in the Territory of New Guinea in late 1919, and became a Manager for the on Expropriation Board on Kurakakaul, and later Lassul in the
Bainings where he subsequently bought his own plantation from the Expropriation Board, Rangarere.
He later enlarged this property by purchasing undeveloped land and became a planter in the true sense of the term.
Jock sold out his interests to Mr E. Achok in 1960.
He is survived by his widow, a son living in Rabaul, and a daughter in Melbourne and seven grandchildren.
Submitted 8 July 2024 by Richard Maclean
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