BLAIR, David (1820-1899)

journalist

came of a north of Ireland family and was born in 1820. He studied for the ministry and came to Australia in 1850 at the suggestion of Dr Lang (q.v.), the intention being that he should go into the back country as a missionary. Blair, however, took up journalism in Sydney, where he was associated with Parkes (q.v.) on the Empire newspaper. Blair went to Victoria in 1852 and had a long and varied career as a journalist. He was elected a member of the legislative assembly of Victoria in 1856 and again in 1868, but did not make any special mark in politics. In 1876 he edited the Speeches of Henry Parkes, and in 1879 he published The History of Australasia—to the Establishment of Self-Government, based largely on the works of his predecessors. In 1881 appeared his Cyclopaedia of Australasia, a useful compilation. Blair, who was a man of scholarly taste with a fine memory, died at Melbourne on 19 February 1899. He married and was survived by children. In addition to the works mentioned he was the author of several pamphlets.

The Age, Melbourne, 20 February 1899; Blair, Cyclopaedia of Australasia; P. Mennell, The Dictionary of Australasian Biography.