Sir John McIntyre

Sir John McIntyre (24 April 1832 – 18 January 1904) was a Scottish born Australian politician and businessman. After emigrating to Australia during the Victorian gold rush, McIntyre became heavily involved in the mining industry around Bendigo. Later as he began to rise in prominence he became involved in local politics, eventually becoming the first mayor of Bendigo, a post he held for five years before resigning. In the years following he became heavily involved in community work, serving as a territorial magistrate and children's guardian for the Bendigo district. In 1877 he was elected to the Victorian Parliament as the Member for Sandhurst. Although he later lost this seat in 1880, he re-entered parliament in 1881 after winning the seat of Maldon in a by election. He held this seat until 1902, serving as a minister during the Patterson premiership and as Leader of the Opposition from 1895 to 1898. In December 1903 he stood for the Australian Senate but narrowly failed to win a seat. Suffering from ill health, he died shortly afterwards.

McIntyre was born in Glasgow, Lanarkshire, Scotland on 24 April 1832. He was the son of Malcolm McIntyre and his wife, Euphemia McGuinness. Educated at South End Academy, he began a medical course at the University of Glasgow but did not complete this course, deciding instead to emigrate to Australia in 1852. In 1853 he married Jeanne Grant, sister-in-law of Dr James Eadie, his business partner. She died in 1861, leaving three sons—Alexander, John and James. In 1875 McIntyre married Jeanne's sister, Isabella, who died in 1902.

McIntyre came to Australia after reports of significant gold discoveries and in 1852 he arrived at Portland, Victoria aboard the Runnymede. He travelled to the Bendigo fields by foot and after some early success on some mining claims he settled at Bendigo where, in 1855, he set up a business partnership with Dr James Eadie (a colleague from Glasgow) involving an apothecary and other business pursuits. His ongoing involvement in mining led to McIntyre becoming involved in advocacy of miners' rights and he was a supporter of the Red Ribbon Rebellion.

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