Robert John Sholl

This article is about Robert Sholl senior (1819–1886), a magistrate and government administrator. For his son, see Robert Frederick Sholl.

Robert John Sholl
JP
Robert John Sholl, c. 1880
Government Resident, North District,[1][2]
  (a. k. a.)  Resident Magistrate, Roebourne
In office
1865–1881
Succeeded byE. H. Laurence[3]
Personal details
Born(1819-07-16)16 July 1819
London
Died19 June 1886(1886-06-19) (aged 66)
Perth, Western Australia[1]
Resting placeEast Perth Cemetery
SpouseMary Ann Berckelman

Robert John Sholl (16 July 1819 – 19 June 1886) was a government administrator, magistrate, explorer, journalist, entrepreneur, harbourmaster, customs official, postmaster and lay reader in Western Australia (WA), during the colonial era.[1][4] Because of his multiple, simultaneous roles, which carried judicial, political, cultural and commercial power and influence, Sholl is regarded as a significant figure in the history of North-West Australia, at an early stage of its settlement by Europeans.

Between 1865 and 1881, Sholl was the most senior government official and only judicial officer in North West Australia between the Murchison River and Timor Sea – a jurisdiction known at the time as the North District.[5] His headquarters at Roebourne was extremely isolated – messages took weeks to travel between Sholl and his immediate superior, Frederick Barlee, Colonial Secretary of Western Australia.[6] Consequently, Sholl wielded considerable, de facto executive power;[7] an obituary in The West Australian described him as having been "virtually a Lieutenant Governor" of the North District.[1]

  1. ^ a b c d "The Late Mr R. J. Sholl, J.P". The West Australian. 22 June 1886. p. 3. Retrieved 12 December 2013.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference gazette_5_Apr_1881 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference govgazette was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Colonial Secretary, 1865, "Instructions to the Government Resident of the North District".
  5. ^ McCarthy, 2001, p. 33. (From 1883, the North District was sub-divided into three magisterial districts: "Gascoyne", "Northern" [i.e. Pilbara] and "Kimberley".)
  6. ^ The Parliament of Western Australia was far less powerful at the time. While members of the Legislative Council ostensibly represented the North District sat from 1874, the Parliament's powers were highly limited until 1890, when responsible government was granted.
  7. ^ Sholl's paid positions apart from Resident Magistrate were Sub-collector of Customs & Internal Revenue, as well as Registrar of Births, Deaths & Marriages. He was also expected to perform religious services for the Church of England, which was the official church in Western Australia at the time). (See also Sholl's preliminary instructions from the Colonial Secretary of Western Australia, Frederick Barlee, in the quotation box on this page.)