Robert John Sholl
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Robert John Sholl JP |
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RJ Sholl, c.1880.
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Government Resident, North District AKA; Government Resident, Roebourne |
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In office 1865–1881 |
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| Succeeded by | E. Hayes Laurence |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
16 July 1819 London |
| Died | 19 June 1886 (aged 66) Perth, Western Australia |
| Resting place | East Perth Cemetery |
| Spouse(s) | Mary Ann Berckelman |
Robert John Sholl (16 July 1819 – 19 June 1886) was a government administrator, magistrate, explorer, newspaper editor, entrepreneur, harbourmaster, customs official, postmaster and lay reader in Western Australia (WA), during the colonial era.
Sholl was the most senior, and sometimes only, government and judicial official located within a vast jurisdiction – known at the time as the North District – between the Murchison River and Timor Sea, during the period between 1865 and 1881. Because of his geographical isolation from his superiors and the colonial legislature, Sholl wielded considerable, de facto executive power; an obituary in The West Australian described him as having been "virtually a Lieutenant Governor" of the North District.
Because of his multiple roles and significant political power, Sholl is regarded as a highly significant figure in the history of the region known later as the Pilbara, at an early stage of its settlement.
The Sholl family originated in Cornwall and had strong ties to maritime industries, the armed forces, international trade, public office and medicine, in both England and Australia.
William Sholl (1736–1797), RJ Sholl's paternal grandfather, was a Freeman (shareholder) of the Levant Company, represented it at İskenderun (Alexandretta) in Turkey and was vice consul of both the UK and the Netherlands in that city; He married Maria Teresa Sholl, née Justa (1761?—1833) at Aleppo in 1778.
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