Page:The Dictionary of Australasian Biography.djvu/39

 1877, Mr. Baker was appointed to succeed him, but the Government only held office till March. He was appointed Secretary for Mines in the next Robertson Administration, in August of the same year, exchanging that post for the portfolio of Lands in November, and going out of office with his colleagues in December. Mr. Baker was again Minister of Mines in the Government from Dec. 1878 to August 1881, when he was expelled from the Assembly on a charge of corrupt conduct.

Baker, Hon. John, M.L.C., J.P., F.R.G.S., sometime Premier of South Australia, was the eldest son of Richard Chaffey Baker, of Lopen, Somersetshire, and Mary, his wife, daughter of John Anstice, of South Petherton, Somersetshire. He was born at Ilminster, Somerset, England, in Dec 1812. He emigrated to Tasmania in early life, and married on June 7th, 1838, Isabella, second daughter of George Allan, of Allan Vale, Tasmania. In the same year he visited South Australia, where he permanently settled about a year later. Soon after his arrival he concluded an arrangement with the South Australian Company for the importation of ten thousand sheep from Tasmania; and from this time entered largely into pastoral pursuits, and was very successful. Mr. Baker was also concerned in forming a company to import draught horses from England, and bred and trained many successful performers on the turf. He was a director of the Bank of Australasia and of the South Australian Mining Association, and was the first chairman of the Chamber of Commerce on its establishment in 1850. He was also a lieut.-colonel in the South Australian Infantry force, and represented Mount Barker in the mixed Legislative Council from 1851 to 1856. Whilst a member of this body he opposed the abolition of State aid to religion, and supported the proposal for a nominee Upper House—in each case unsuccessfully. When responsible government was inaugurated, in 1857, he was elected to the new Legislative Council, and retained his seat till his death. He was Premier and Chief Secretary for eleven days—viz., from August 21st to Sept. 1st, 1857. The next year he was commissioned by his fellow-colonists to present an address to Her Majesty the Queen on the occasion of the marriage of the Princess Royal, and this he did at a levée at St. James's Palace in March 1859. Shortly afterwards he returned to South Australia, and died at Morialta on May 19th, 1872.

Baker, Hon. Richard Chaffey, C.M.G., M.L.C., M.A., eldest son of the late John Baker, of Morialta, South Australia, and Isabella (Allan) his wife, was born at North Adelaide in 1841, and educated at Eton, and at Trinity College, Cambridge, where he graduated B.A. (Mathematical Tripos) in 1864, and M.A. in 1870. Mr. Baker, who is a member of the legal firm of Baker & Barlow, of Adelaide, became a student at Lincoln's Inn in Jan. 1861, and was called to the bar in June 1864. He entered the Legislative Assembly of South Australia as member for Barossa in 1868, and represented that constituency till 1871. He was Attorney-General in the Ministry of the late Captain from May 1870 to July 1871, when he resigned. He also held office in Mr. 's Cabinet as Minister of Justice and Education from June 1884 to June 1886. In the latter year Mr. Baker was sent to England as the representative of the Australian colonies to negotiate with the Imperial Government, in connection with the renewal of the expiring mail contracts. He succeeded in obtaining some important concessions, and was created C.M.G. in 1886, in recognition of his services. Mr. Baker, who has been a member of the Legislative Council since 1877, was elected to act as one of the representatives of South Australia at the Federation Convention in Sydney in March 1891, and distinguished himself by his championship of the state rights of the smaller colonies. He was married at Glenelg, S.A., to Katherine Edith, daughter of Richard Bowen Colley.

Baker, Rev. Shirley W., late Premier of Tonga, was sent to Tonga in the year 1860 by the Australian Wesleyan Conference, and remained a missionary for about twenty years, being head of the mission for the latter half of that period, a position which he resigned to become adviser to King George of Tonga and Premier of the Tongan Government. During his residence in the islands he did much to obtain liberty for the people, who previously had been simply serfs of the chiefs. Mr. Baker had also fore-