John Piper (military officer)

{{Short description|English militra officer}}{{Use British English|date=December 2010}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2021}}
{{Infobox military person
| honorific_prefix  = 
| name              = John Piper
| honorific_suffix  = 
| image         = File:Captain John Piper 1826 by A Earle.jpg
| image_upright = 
| alt           = 
| caption       = Captain John Piper, c.1826, oil painting by [[Augustus Earle]]
| native_name       = 
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| birth_date    = {{birth date|1773|04|20|df=y}}
| birth_place   = [[Maybole]], [[Ayrshire]] [[Scotland]]
| death_date    = {{Death date and age|1851|06|08|1773|04|20|df=y}} 
| death_place   = near {{NSWcity|Bathurst}}, [[New South Wales]]
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| placeofburial_coordinates = <!-- {{Coord|LAT|LONG|display=inline,title}} -->
| allegiance    = [[United Kingdom]]/[[Australia]]
| branch        = [[New South Wales Corps]]
| serviceyears  = {{start date|1791|04||}}{{spaced endash}}1811 (20 years)
| serviceyears_label =
| rank          = [[Captain (British Army and Royal Marines)|Captain]]
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| commands      = {{bulleted list|[[Lieutenant-Governor]] of [[Norfolk Island]]|New South Wales Collection of Customs Duties}}
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| spouse        = Mary Ann Shears<!-- Add spouse if reliably sourced -->
| children      = 14
| relations     =
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| website       = <!-- {{URL|example.com}} -->
| module        = 
| laterwork     = {{bulleted list|[[Bank of New South Wales]] {{small|(Chairman)}}|[[Australian Agricultural Company|Australian Agricultural Co.]]|Scot's Church, Sydney}}
}}
'''John Piper''' (20 April 1773 – 8 June 1851) was a military officer, public servant and landowner in the colony of [[New South Wales]]. The [[Sydney]] suburb of {{NSWcity|Point Piper}} was named in his honour.
[[File:Point Piper House.jpg|thumb|right|Point Piper House (Henrietta Villa), 1840s]]
[[Image:Vaucluse_House_02.jpg|thumb|320px|[[Vaucluse House]], one of Piper's properties in Sydney]]

==Background ==

Piper was born in [[Maybole]], [[Ayrshire]] [[Scotland]], son of Hugh Piper, a local physician;<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|title=John Piper|url=https://www.maybole.org/notables/johnpiper.htm|access-date=2020-12-09|website=maybole.org}}</ref> his family came from [[Cornwall]].

==Military career==
He was commissioned as an ensign in the [[New South Wales Corps]] in 1791, and sailed on the convict ship ''[[Pitt (ship)|Pitt]]'', arriving in Sydney in February 1792. In 1793 he was sent, at his own request, to the [[convict settlement]] of [[Norfolk Island]], perhaps because of a scandalous love affair. There was certainly an illegitimate daughter born around this time.<ref name=dab>{{Dictionary of Australian Biography|First=John|Last=Piper|shortlink=0-dict-biogP-Q.html#piper1 |accessdate=19 October 2008 }}</ref><ref name=adb>{{Australian Dictionary of Biography|last=Barnard |first=Marjorie |authorlink= Marjorie Barnard |year=1967|id=A020295b|title= Piper, John (1773–1851)|accessdate=6 November 2009 }}</ref>

Piper was promoted lieutenant and returned to Sydney in 1795; from 1797 to 1799 he was on leave.<ref name=adb/> In 1800 Piper was promoted to the local rank of captain. Piper supported [[John Macarthur (wool pioneer)|John Macarthur]] in the struggle between the New South Wales Corps and Governor [[Philip Gidley King|King]], and acted as his second in a duel with Colonel [[William Paterson (governor)|Paterson]], his commanding officer.  Piper was arrested and [[court-martial]]led in 1802, but apologised and was acquitted, to King's disgust.<ref name=adb/>

Piper returned to Norfolk Island in 1804 and, when Lieutenant-Governor [[Joseph Foveaux]] left on prolonged sick leave, became acting commandant.  His rule was mild, one of the convicts later writing that he "had the good will and respect of everyone, for he had always conducted himself as a Christian and a gentleman."  He was promoted to the full rank of [[Captain (British Army and Royal Marines)|captain]] in 1806. During Piper's period of leadership on Norfolk Island the British government decided it was too costly to maintain, and planned to close the settlement and transfer the inhabitants to Sydney or [[Van Diemen's Land]].  Piper showed both tact and organising ability in arranging for the transfers, especially of those settlers who had built up farms and families on the island.<ref name=dab/>

Piper returned to Sydney in 1810, having avoided all the turmoil of the [[Rum Rebellion]].<ref name=":1" />  He sailed for England in 1811, but resigned his commission and returned to Sydney in February 1814, as Naval Officer.<ref name=":0" />

==Administrative career==
In 1816 he married Mary Ann Shears, the daughter of two [[First Fleet]] convicts, who had already borne several children by him.<ref name=dab/>

As Naval Officer, Piper was responsible for the collection of customs duties, excise on spirits, harbour dues, control of lighthouses, and crime on water.  This post proved very remunerative, and he was able to purchase the property now known as [[Vaucluse House]].  He was granted {{convert|190|acre|ha|order=flip}} on what is now [[Point Piper, New South Wales|Point Piper]] and built Henrietta Villa (also called the Naval Pavilion) at the large cost of £10,000. He was appointed a magistrate by Governor [[Lachlan Macquarie|Macquarie]] in 1819, was chairman of directors of the [[Westpac|Bank of New South Wales]], sat on the local committee of the [[Australian Agricultural Company|Australian Agricultural Co.]], was president of the [[Scots Church, Sydney|Scots Church]] committee, and was involved in many social and sporting activities.  As well as Point Piper he had {{convert|475|acre|ha|order=flip}} at [[Vaucluse, New South Wales|Vaucluse]], {{convert|1130|acre|ha|order=flip}} at [[Woollahra, New South Wales|Woollahra]] and [[Rose Bay, New South Wales|Rose Bay]], a farm of {{convert|295|acre|ha|order=flip}} at [[Petersham, New South Wales|Petersham]], {{convert|700|acre|ha|order=flip}} at [[Neutral Bay, New South Wales|Neutral Bay]], {{convert|80|acre|ha|order=flip}} at [[Botany Bay]], {{convert|2000|acre|ha|order=flip}} at [[Bathurst, New South Wales|Bathurst]], {{convert|300|acre|ha|order=flip}} in Van Diemen's Land, and a {{convert|1|acre|ha|order=flip|spell=on}} of commercial land in [[George Street, Sydney]].<ref name=dab/>

Piper however, had financial difficulties; in 1826 he raised a mortgage of £20,000. He was forced to resign his bank chairmanship after an enquiry into its affairs in January 1827, and that April was suspended from his position as Naval Officer when mismanagement of customs collection was discovered.

Subsequently, Piper unsuccessfully tried to drown himself one evening after ordering his boat crew to sail his barge five miles from land beyond Sydney's North Head with the pretense of assessing the requirements for building a lighthouse on North Head. On the return with a steady breeze and the sails hoisted he leapt out at the stern and disappeared. It took his crew some time to pull down the sails and turn the boat to row back to where their master was sinking. With a struggle they saved him in time and succeeded in bringing him safely home. In later days he thanked divine providence for his rescue and was desirous of amending his life.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book|last=Barnard Eldershaw|first=Marjorie|title=The Life and Times of Captain John Piper|publisher=Ure Smith in Assoc. with National Trust of Australia|year=1973|isbn=072540132X|location=Sydney}}</ref>

Piper was forced to sell most of his property to repay his debts in full. He then moved to his farm "Alloway Bank", at Bathurst and became an important person in the town with visits by Governor Darling and later Governor Bourke. He was chairman of the committee which raised the funds to build St Stephens Presbyterian church. Piper was forced to mortgage the property in the drought of 1838 to 1841, and the subsequent economic depression of 1844 forced the Pipers to leave the property. Piper was saved by his friends who re-established the family to a property of 500 acres, called Westbourne, beside the [[Macquarie River]] at Bathurst.  Here Piper died on 8 June 1851, and Mary Ann continued to live until her death twenty years later, supported by her numerous children.<ref name="dab" />

[[Marjorie Barnard]] claims that "John Piper was a man of his times.  He personified the colonial dream."  He was an officer during the military rule, a civil servant when New South Wales became a civil state, and a land pioneer during the pastoral age. "He was honourable, generous, and so well loved that he was forgiven things which would have wrecked a stronger man. … He was a master of the bright illusion."<ref name=adb/>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

===Bibliography===
* {{cite book |author-link=Margaret Hazzard|last1=Hazzard |first1=Margaret |title=Punishment Short of Death: a history of the penal settlement at Norfolk Island |location=Melbourne |publisher=Hyland |year=1984 |isbn=978-0908090648 }}

==Further reading==
{{commons category|John Piper (military officer)}}
*{{cite book |url=http://catalogue.nla.gov.au/Record/2706303 |title=The life and times of Captain John Piper |last1=Eldershaw |first1=M. Barnard |isbn=072540132X |others=Feint, Adrian {{small|(illustrator)}} |year=1973 |publisher=[[Ure Smith]] in association with the [[National Trust of Australia]] (N.S.W.)}}
* {{cite book |last1=North |first1=Jessica |title=Mary Ann & Captain Piper |location=Sydney |publisher=Allen & Unwin |year=2022 |isbn=978-1760879433 }}

== External links ==

* [https://onesearch.slq.qld.gov.au/permalink/61SLQ_INST/tqqf2h/alma99183959420902061 Colonial Secretary's papers 1822-1877], [[State Library of Queensland]]- includes digitised letters written by Piper to the [[Colonial Secretary of New South Wales]]
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Piper, John}}
[[Category:1773 births]]
[[Category:1851 deaths]]
[[Category:Norfolk Island penal colony administrators]]
[[Category:Royal Navy officers]]
[[Category:Australian people of Cornish descent]]
[[Category:People from Maybole]]
[[Category:Point Piper, New South Wales]]
[[Category:Presidents of the Bank of New South Wales]]
[[Category:19th-century Australian public servants]]
[[Category:Royal Navy captains]]