Page:History of Adelaide and vicinity.djvu/452

 426 ADELAIDE AND VICINITY The Dunn Family spirit in the house of Dunn & Co., and the chief representative of the family. He was born at Hideford, Devon, in 1830, and accompanied his father to South Australia in 1840. Mr. John Dunn, jun., was educated partly in England and partly in Australia, and in 1852, when 22 years old, he became a partner in his father's business. He felt a deep interest in the welfare of the Wesleyan Church, and as a young man devoted time and money to its service. Within 10 yeans, so lucrative was the business of John Dunn & Co., the junior partner had acquired a competency, and rather than spend the whole of his life in hoarding up wealth, he chose to become a missionary. He severed his connection with the house in 1862, and with his wife was appointed a missionary in the South Sea Islands, having his station at F"iji. In those days this was a more dangerous undertaking than at present, and the young couple literally took their lives in their hands. The work of the Wesleyan Church in F"iji has no parallel in any country. There the tenets of that Church seemed to seize readily upon the minds of the natives, and as a result the whole group is now practically a Methodist one. To the fulfilment of this result, however, Mr. John Dunn, jun., found he could contribute but little, owing to failing health, which compelled him, within 12 months, to abandon missionary endeavor, and to return to Adelaide. He rejoined his father in business in 1864, after designing and erecting, on his own account, a large mill at Port Adelaide. His engineering knowledge was of a high order, while acute intelligence and foresight led him unerringly in the right direction. As with his father, he devoted some years to politics. In 1875 he was returned to the House of Assembly for Barossa, and in 1888 he entered the Legislative Council. He visited England on three occasions — in 1866, 1878, and 1890 — and also travelled in the interests of his firm to other countrie.s. He was twice President of the Mill Owners' Association of South Australia, and at the time of his death was chairman of a number of Directorial Boards. He was for many years a prominent member of the Kent Town Wesleyan Church, and donated some ^1,600 towards the liquidation of its debt. Mr. John Dunn, jun., predeceased his father. He died at Port Augusta on Eebruary 13, 1892, and the Press was filled with eulogiums of him. He was buried in Adelaide, and his funeral was one of the largest ever seen in the metropolis. Mr. Frederick Williams Dunn is the son of Mr. John Dunn, jun., and was born at Fiji, when his parents were devoting themselves to missionary work. Three months after his birth the family left the South Sea Islands, and returned to Adelaide. As a boy, Mr. V. W. Dunn was educated at Prince Alfred College and St Peter's Collegiate School, finishing at Leys School, Cambridge, England, under the late Dr. Moulton. He remained in the old country for three years, and then returned to South Australia in 1 88 1, via America. Mr. F. W. Dunn inspected the largest mills in America, devoting especial attention to those at Minneapolis, a great centre of milling operations. Upon his arrival in .South Australia, the young man went to the mills at Port Adelaide, took off his coat, and began to acquire practical experience of every branch of the business, working personally in each department with the employes. He then assisted his father in planning and supervising the erection of new mills the firm were having built at Hawker and Wolseley. In 1885, to extend his knowledge, and with a view to trade, he visited California, and sedulously investigated the newest methods of