David Syme (1827 - 1908)

Born 2 Oct 1827 in North Berwick, Lothian, Scotland, United Kingdom

Husband of Annabella (Johnson) Syme — married 17 Aug 1858 in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia)

Descendants

Died 14 Feb 1908 at age 80 in Kew, Victoria, Australia

Biography

David Syme is Notable.

David Syme was the Scottish-Australian newspaper proprietor of The Age newspaper and was regarded as 'the father of protectionism in Australia' who had immense influence in the Government of Victoria.

David Syme was born on 2nd October 1827 in North Berwick, East Lothian, Scotland, the fourth and youngest son of George Syme, a parish schoolmaster, and Jean Mitchell. ^[1] David's childhood is stated to have been 'one of study with little companionship with other boys of his own age'.

When he was seventeen, in 1845, his father died. With some doubt to his future direction, David continued his classical studies, firstly at Kilmarnock and then Heidelberg, Germany. Thoughts of entering the ministry ended when he revolted from Calvinistic teaching. Independently, his older brothers George and Ebenezer also renounced the Church of Scotland. From 1850 he worked as a proofreader's assistant on a Glasgow newspaper. ^[1]

David Syme migrated from Scotland to Victoria.

In 1851, he made the long voyage around Cape Horn to the California gold diggings. After little success, he migrated to Victoria (Australia) in 1852, landing in Melbourne and walking to Castlemaine. He had varied success there and at the Bendigo, Wangaratta, Ballarat and Beechworth diggings. Towards the end of 1855 he returned to Melbourne and became a road contractor. ^[1]

In September 1856 David joined his brother Ebenezer, who had earlier migrated to Victoria, in Melbourne as partner in The Age newspaper. Ebenezer retired in 1859 due to ill health and died the following year. ^[1]

David married Annabella Johnson on 17th August 1858 in St James' Church of England (now Anglican Church), Melbourne. ^[2] Moving about the inner Melbourne suburbs, the couple had nine children, losing two daughters in infancy. ^[3] They eventually settled in Blythswood, in Kew.

The original policies of The Age included manhood suffrage, the opening of the lands for selection by the people, no compensation for the squatters, and compulsory, free and secular education. When David added protectionism there was, initially, great opposition. So much so that many advertisers boycotted the paper. However, in 1869, an Act was passed in the Victorian Parliament which embodied most of the principles for which David (and Ebenezer) had fought. David's protectionism led to many manufacturing industries being established in Victoria. With the added popularity of The Age David's influence grew in the parliament. His young journalist protge, Alfred Deakin, became a key figure in federation.

He wrote Outlines of an Industrial Science in 1876, largely a vindication of protection and also a plea for the extension of the activities of the state, and later, Representative Government in England, a study of the history of parliament in England. David wrote and published On the Modification of Organisms in 1890, which aimed to disprove the theory of natural selection. David was not a creationist – he accepted the theory of evolution – but rejected Darwinism. A subsequent book in 1903, The Soul: A Study and an Argument, 'attacked both materialism and the then argument for design' it was claimed in the Dictionary of National Biography.

David declined a knighthood in 1900.

Aged eighty years, he died on 14th February 1908 at his home, Blythswood, in Kew, Victoria and is buried Boroondara General Cemetery. ^[4] He was survived by Annabella, and their five sons and two daughters and their families.

Alfred Deakin, then Prime Minister of Australia, said of his mentor, "one of the greatest men in colonial history".

The Age remained in family hands until 1983. It was headed by Sir Geoffrey Syme from 1908 to 1942, Oswald Syme from 1942 to 1964 and Ranald McDonald (Oswald Syme's grandson), from 1964 to 1983, when he sold The Age to Fairfax.

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3} [http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/syme-david-4679/text7741 Sayers, C E. 'Syme, David (1827–1908)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, published first in hardcopy 1976, accessed online 4 Oct 2019 by Clare Spring.
2. ↑ Victoria Marriage Index #/1858
3. ↑ ascertained from children's places of birth and death
4. ↑ Victoria Death Index #/1908

See also

• Sayers, C E. 'Syme, David (1827–1908)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, published first in hardcopy 1976, accessed online 4 Oct 2019.
• Wikipedia: David Syme; accessed 3 Aug 2023.