David Syme
Encyclopedia
David Syme was a Scottish
-Australia
n newspaper proprietor of The Age
and regarded as "the father of protection
in Australia
" who had immense influence in the Government of Victoria
.
in Scotland, the youngest of the seven children and fourth son of George Alexander Syme (18?–1845), a parish schoolmaster, whose father had been a don at Edinburgh University. Syme's wife, David's mother, was Jean née Mitchell.
George Syme was a radical in church and state, his income was comfortable yet moderate, but it was stretched to provide for his large family and send three of his sons to universities (which he successfully did, while providing David with a relentlessly demanding education himself.) David Syme's childhood was one of study with little companionship with other boys of his own age. George Syme was not physically unkind to his sons, but Syme would write later "It was difficult to understand my father's attitude to we boys. He had naturally a kind disposition; he was a devoted husband and no-one ever asked him for help that he did not freely give … but his affection for us never found expression in words".
Syme married Annabella Garnett-Johnson, of the Lancashire Garnett family of Waddow Hall, Clitheroe, England. Annabella was connected through her Garnett relation to Vice Admiral Sir George Tryon
, who was in turn a direct descendant of King Henry VII. Annabella's great-grandson Ranald McDonald married the Honourable Patricia Tryon, descended from Sir George. Thus, the two are distant cousins.
David Syme was 17 years old when his father died and he continued his classical studies with some doubt to his future. Syme had thoughts of qualifying for the ministry but revolted from the Calvinistic
teaching of the day; his brothers George and Ebenezer
had renounced the Church of Scotland
.
Syme studied under James Morison at Kilmarnock for two years, attended some classes at Heidelberg
and returned to Scotland obtaining a position about 1850 as a proofreader's assistant on a Glasgow
newspaper. With low pay and little prospect of advancement, Syme sailed for San Francisco
by way of Cape Horn
in 1851 and arrived after a voyage of five months to search for gold but had little success.
in a badly provisioned vessel, and arrived at Sydney
in a half-starved condition.
Syme took the first steamer for Melbourne
and walked to Castlemaine
. Syme had some success there and at the Bendigo
, Wangaratta
, Ballarat
and Beechworth
diggings. In 1855, at Mount Egerton
, Syme and his partner almost obtained a fortune, but their claim, which afterwards became very valuable, was jumped by other men and they were unable to obtain recompense.
Syme's brother, Ebenezer, was editing the The Age newspaper and when it was threatened with failure bought it for £2000 in June 1856.
David Syme, who had saved some money while on the diggings joined his brother as partner in The Age on 27 September 1856. The paper struggled on for 18 months, when finding it could not support the two proprietors David obtained other employment. Ebenezer retired in 1859 and David Syme, with some reluctance, returned to the business. On 13 March 1860 Ebenezer died, and finding it was difficult to sell The Age Syme decided to abandon his contracting and carry on the paper.
The task of running the newspaper was a difficult one, and only the fact that the proprietor was willing to work 15 hours a day made success possible. The original policies of The Age included manhood suffrage, the opening of the lands for selection by the people, no compensation for the squatters, and compulsory, free and secular education. When protection was added to the program great opposition was raised. Opponents felt that these policies would greatly harm the colony. The opposition to The Age was carried even to the extent of boycotting its advertising. Various abortive amending land acts became law between 1860 and 1869, but in the latter year an act was passed which embodied most of the principles for which Syme had fought. A tremendous flow of population came into Victoria
between 1850 and 1860 due to the Victorian gold rush
and towards the end of the decade there was some unemployment.
and Sir Graham Berry
and protectionism became the settled economic policy of the colony; consequently many factories were established.
Syme was a driving force for the introduction of such policies, which accompanied a great increase in economic activity. As a comparison, the neighbouring colony of New South Wales
retained a policy which was practically free trade for most of the period before federation, and appears to have been as steadily prosperous as Victoria. Protectionism in Victoria was bitterly opposed and dispute led to great contests between the Victorian Legislative Assembly
and the Victorian Legislative Council
. The struggle went on for years, but Syme's belief that the people as a whole should rule, rather than any one section of them, was finally established, and for a long period The Age became the predominant factor in Victorian politics. In its early days there was difficulty in getting competent journalists, the best of them was G. Paton Smith who was editor for some years. After Smith left, Syme took the editorial chair until Arthur Lloyd Windsor became editor in 1872 and held the position until 1900. Possibly Syme's most able assistant was Charles Henry Pearson
who began writing leaders around 1875.
Victoria's first protectionist tariff had been a very moderate one and McCulloch was not willing to increase it. Though Syme thought highly of McCulloch's ability, he opposed him and transferred his support to Graham Berry. Parliament was not stable and more than once ministries were formed consisting partly of freetraders and partly of protectionists. This did not satisfy Syme and in 1877 his advocacy brought in Berry with a large majority and popularity to the The Age. The Legislative Council, however, rejected Berry's tariff and fresh constitutional difficulties arose. The governor, Sir George Bowen, was placed in a difficult position, and took the unprecedented step of asking Syme's advice. Syme's reply was that the governor should act in conformity with the opinions of the law officers of the crown. This Bowen did but Syme thought the advice was bad and told the premier so. Berry then asked Syme for his advice and took it. It is evident that Syme at this time had very great influence within the colony. Constitutional difficulties continued for some time, but at last the Legislative Council was reformed, by increasing the number of eligible voters and by other changes in its constitution to make it more democratic.
Syme had supported Berry in the fight for protection and during the constitutional struggle, but was not satisfied with him as an administrator. Although opposed to James Service
, Syme recognised that Service had the very qualities Berry lacked. Syme therefore supported the coalition ministry formed in 1883 which did good work for three years. There was a general feeling of confidence, a tendency to over-borrow money and to spend huge sums on railways and other public works. This led to the mining and land booms which really burst in 1889, although the full effects were not realized until the bank crisis
of 1893. In 1891 The Age began a series of articles alleging bad management and incompetence on the part of the railway commissioners. This led at last to an action for libel being brought against The Age by the chief commissioner, Richard Speight. Other articles attacked the civil service generally. At the first trial of the railway libel case begun on 1 June 1893 the jury disagreed, and the second trial which began on 17 April 1894 and lasted for 105 days resulted in a verdict for the defendant on nine out of the ten counts, and on the tenth count the damages were assessed at one farthing. Speight, however, was ruined and Syme had to pay his own costs which amounted to about £50,000. As an example of the power some felt was exercised by Syme at this time, the leading counsel for the plaintiff, when addressing the jury, stated that "no government could stand against The Age without being shaken to its centre".
Syme had early realized that agriculture would need development in Victoria and twice sent J. L. Dew to America to study irrigation and agricultural methods. Syme also sent Alfred Deakin
to India to report on irrigation there. As a result the development of irrigation began which after some early failures was to be successfully extended in later years. Syme also supported early closing, anti-sweatshop
legislation, and old-age pensions. When the issue of Federation
became important towards the end of the century it was Deakin, a journalistic protégé of Syme's, who became the leader of the movement in Victoria. The ten Victorian delegates elected to the 1897 Federal Convention were the ten on the Age 'ticket'. During the first federal parliament Syme fought for comparatively high protective duties, but his influence did not extend to any great extent beyond Victoria and he was for the time unsuccessful. In later years, however, considerable increases in duties were made. In the last years of his life Syme wrote about the faults of party government. Some of these he had drawn attention to in chapter VII of his Representative Government in England ... (London, 1881). Syme's suggested remedies have failed, however, to obtain much support. Syme died at his home Blythswood in Kew
near Melbourne on 14 February 1908. Syme married in 1859 Annabella Johnson who survived him with five sons and two daughters. Syme is buried at Kew Cemetery
.
's theory of natural selection
from an evolutionist position. Syme's last volume, The Soul: A Study and an Argument (1903), discusses the nature of life, instinct, memory, mind, and survival after death. As for philanthropic activities, Syme paid the expenses of a rifle team to Bisley, Surrey
and financed expeditions to New Guinea
and Central Australia
. In 1904 he gave £3000 to the University of Melbourne
to endow the Syme Prize
for research in biology, chemistry, geology and natural philosophy. The introduction of linotype machine
s threw many of Syme's compositers out of work, he ensured that they were provided for. The older men were pensioned off and others were set up in business or placed on the land.
Syme was hailed on his death as "one of the greatest men in colonial history," by his friend then Prime Minister Alfred Deakin. It was intended that Syme would be knighted for "services to the Commonwealth- Civil Division" in the 1909 New Years Honours list. However, given that Syme died in 1908, this award was never given, the decision having been taken not to award it posthumously.
A knighthood for services to the Commonwealth was later presented to Sir Geoffrey Syme- David's son. A final recognition of a great family's contribution to Australia. The "Age" was headed by George Francis Syme, Sir Geoffrey Syme and then Oswald Syme before eventually being passed to Ranald McDonald.
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
-Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n newspaper proprietor of The Age
The Age
The Age is a daily broadsheet newspaper, which has been published in Melbourne, Australia since 1854. Owned and published by Fairfax Media, The Age primarily serves Victoria, but is also available for purchase in Tasmania, the Australian Capital Territory and border regions of South Australia and...
and regarded as "the father of protection
Protectionism
Protectionism is the economic policy of restraining trade between states through methods such as tariffs on imported goods, restrictive quotas, and a variety of other government regulations designed to allow "fair competition" between imports and goods and services produced domestically.This...
in Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
" who had immense influence in the Government of Victoria
Government of Victoria
The Government of Victoria, under the Constitution of Australia, ceded certain legislative and judicial powers to the Commonwealth, but retained complete independence in all other areas...
.
Early life and family
Syme was born at North BerwickNorth Berwick
The Royal Burgh of North Berwick is a seaside town in East Lothian, Scotland. It is situated on the south shore of the Firth of Forth, approximately 25 miles east of Edinburgh. North Berwick became a fashionable holiday resort in the 19th century because of its two sandy bays, the East Bay and the...
in Scotland, the youngest of the seven children and fourth son of George Alexander Syme (18?–1845), a parish schoolmaster, whose father had been a don at Edinburgh University. Syme's wife, David's mother, was Jean née Mitchell.
George Syme was a radical in church and state, his income was comfortable yet moderate, but it was stretched to provide for his large family and send three of his sons to universities (which he successfully did, while providing David with a relentlessly demanding education himself.) David Syme's childhood was one of study with little companionship with other boys of his own age. George Syme was not physically unkind to his sons, but Syme would write later "It was difficult to understand my father's attitude to we boys. He had naturally a kind disposition; he was a devoted husband and no-one ever asked him for help that he did not freely give … but his affection for us never found expression in words".
Syme married Annabella Garnett-Johnson, of the Lancashire Garnett family of Waddow Hall, Clitheroe, England. Annabella was connected through her Garnett relation to Vice Admiral Sir George Tryon
George Tryon
Vice-Admiral Sir George Tryon, KCB was a British admiral who died when his flagship HMS Victoria collided with HMS Camperdown during manoeuvres off Tripoli, Lebanon.-Early life:...
, who was in turn a direct descendant of King Henry VII. Annabella's great-grandson Ranald McDonald married the Honourable Patricia Tryon, descended from Sir George. Thus, the two are distant cousins.
David Syme was 17 years old when his father died and he continued his classical studies with some doubt to his future. Syme had thoughts of qualifying for the ministry but revolted from the Calvinistic
Calvinism
Calvinism is a Protestant theological system and an approach to the Christian life...
teaching of the day; his brothers George and Ebenezer
Ebenezer Syme
Ebenezer Syme was a Scottish-Australian journalist, proprietor and manager of The Age.Syme was born at North Berwick, Scotland, third son of George Alexander Syme, schoolmaster, and his wife Jean, née Mitchell. Ebenezer Syme's younger brother was David Syme...
had renounced the Church of Scotland
Church of Scotland
The Church of Scotland, known informally by its Scots language name, the Kirk, is a Presbyterian church, decisively shaped by the Scottish Reformation....
.
Syme studied under James Morison at Kilmarnock for two years, attended some classes at Heidelberg
Heidelberg
-Early history:Between 600,000 and 200,000 years ago, "Heidelberg Man" died at nearby Mauer. His jaw bone was discovered in 1907; with scientific dating, his remains were determined to be the earliest evidence of human life in Europe. In the 5th century BC, a Celtic fortress of refuge and place of...
and returned to Scotland obtaining a position about 1850 as a proofreader's assistant on a Glasgow
Glasgow
Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
newspaper. With low pay and little prospect of advancement, Syme sailed for San Francisco
San Francisco, California
San Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...
by way of Cape Horn
Cape Horn
Cape Horn is the southernmost headland of the Tierra del Fuego archipelago of southern Chile, and is located on the small Hornos Island...
in 1851 and arrived after a voyage of five months to search for gold but had little success.
Australia
Early in 1852 Syme sailed for AustraliaAustralia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
in a badly provisioned vessel, and arrived at Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
in a half-starved condition.
Syme took the first steamer for Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
and walked to Castlemaine
Castlemaine, Victoria
Castlemaine is a city in Victoria, Australia, in the Goldfields region of Victoria about 120 kilometres northwest by road from Melbourne, and about 40 kilometres from the major provincial centre of Bendigo. It is the administrative and economic centre of the Shire of Mount Alexander. The...
. Syme had some success there and at the Bendigo
Bendigo, Victoria
Bendigo is a major regional city in the state of Victoria, Australia, located very close to the geographical centre of the state and approximately north west of the state capital Melbourne. It is the second largest inland city and fourth most populous city in the state. The estimated urban...
, Wangaratta
Wangaratta, Victoria
Wangaratta is a cathedral city of almost 17,000 people in the northeast of Victoria, Australia, about from Melbourne along the Hume Highway, with Benalla to the southwest, and Albury-Wodonga to the northeast. It is located at the junction of the Ovens and King rivers which flow from the...
, Ballarat
Ballarat, Victoria
Ballarat is a city in the state of Victoria, Australia, approximately west-north-west of the state capital Melbourne situated on the lower plains of the Great Dividing Range and the Yarrowee River catchment. It is the largest inland centre and third most populous city in the state and the fifth...
and Beechworth
Beechworth, Victoria
Beechworth is a well-preserved historical town located in the north-east of Victoria, Australia, famous for its major growth during the gold rush days of the mid-1850s...
diggings. In 1855, at Mount Egerton
Mount Egerton, Victoria
Mount Egerton is a town in Victoria, Australia. The town is located in the Shire of Moorabool Local Government Area, north west of the state capital, Melbourne. At the 2006 census, Mount Egerton had a population of 215....
, Syme and his partner almost obtained a fortune, but their claim, which afterwards became very valuable, was jumped by other men and they were unable to obtain recompense.
The Age
Towards the end of 1855 Syme returned to Melbourne and became a road contractor.Syme's brother, Ebenezer, was editing the The Age newspaper and when it was threatened with failure bought it for £2000 in June 1856.
David Syme, who had saved some money while on the diggings joined his brother as partner in The Age on 27 September 1856. The paper struggled on for 18 months, when finding it could not support the two proprietors David obtained other employment. Ebenezer retired in 1859 and David Syme, with some reluctance, returned to the business. On 13 March 1860 Ebenezer died, and finding it was difficult to sell The Age Syme decided to abandon his contracting and carry on the paper.
The task of running the newspaper was a difficult one, and only the fact that the proprietor was willing to work 15 hours a day made success possible. The original policies of The Age included manhood suffrage, the opening of the lands for selection by the people, no compensation for the squatters, and compulsory, free and secular education. When protection was added to the program great opposition was raised. Opponents felt that these policies would greatly harm the colony. The opposition to The Age was carried even to the extent of boycotting its advertising. Various abortive amending land acts became law between 1860 and 1869, but in the latter year an act was passed which embodied most of the principles for which Syme had fought. A tremendous flow of population came into Victoria
Victoria (Australia)
Victoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Geographically the smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by New South Wales, South Australia, and Tasmania on Boundary Islet to the north, west and south respectively....
between 1850 and 1860 due to the Victorian gold rush
Victorian gold rush
The Victorian gold rush was a period in the history of Victoria, Australia approximately between 1851 and the late 1860s. In 10 years the Australian population nearly tripled.- Overview :During this era Victoria dominated the world's gold output...
and towards the end of the decade there was some unemployment.
Protectionism
Syme felt that manufacturing industries should be established in Victoria and that this could only be done by bringing in trade protection. Syme persuaded able men like Sir James McCullochJames McCulloch
James McCulloch is also the name of the cashier of the Baltimore branch of the Second National Bank of the United States. This James McCulloch was not involved in the McCulloch vs. Maryland U.S. Supreme Court case....
and Sir Graham Berry
Graham Berry
Sir Graham Berry KCMG , Australian colonial politician, was the 11th Premier of Victoria. He was one of the most Radical and colourful figures in the politics of colonial Victoria, and made the most determined efforts to break the power of the Victorian Legislative Council, the stronghold of the...
and protectionism became the settled economic policy of the colony; consequently many factories were established.
Syme was a driving force for the introduction of such policies, which accompanied a great increase in economic activity. As a comparison, the neighbouring colony of New South Wales
New South Wales
New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
retained a policy which was practically free trade for most of the period before federation, and appears to have been as steadily prosperous as Victoria. Protectionism in Victoria was bitterly opposed and dispute led to great contests between the Victorian Legislative Assembly
Victorian Legislative Assembly
The Victorian Legislative Assembly is the lower house of the Parliament of Victoria in Australia. Together with the Victorian Legislative Council, the upper house, it sits in Parliament House in the state capital, Melbourne.-History:...
and the Victorian Legislative Council
Victorian Legislative Council
The Victorian Legislative Council, is the upper of the two houses of the Parliament of Victoria, Australia; the lower house being the Legislative Assembly. Both houses sit in Parliament House in Spring Street, Melbourne. The Legislative Council serves as a house of review, in a similar fashion to...
. The struggle went on for years, but Syme's belief that the people as a whole should rule, rather than any one section of them, was finally established, and for a long period The Age became the predominant factor in Victorian politics. In its early days there was difficulty in getting competent journalists, the best of them was G. Paton Smith who was editor for some years. After Smith left, Syme took the editorial chair until Arthur Lloyd Windsor became editor in 1872 and held the position until 1900. Possibly Syme's most able assistant was Charles Henry Pearson
Charles Henry Pearson
Charles Henry Pearson was a British-born Australian historian, educationist, politician and journalist. According to John Tregenza, "Pearson was the outstanding intellectual of the Australian colonies...
who began writing leaders around 1875.
Victoria's first protectionist tariff had been a very moderate one and McCulloch was not willing to increase it. Though Syme thought highly of McCulloch's ability, he opposed him and transferred his support to Graham Berry. Parliament was not stable and more than once ministries were formed consisting partly of freetraders and partly of protectionists. This did not satisfy Syme and in 1877 his advocacy brought in Berry with a large majority and popularity to the The Age. The Legislative Council, however, rejected Berry's tariff and fresh constitutional difficulties arose. The governor, Sir George Bowen, was placed in a difficult position, and took the unprecedented step of asking Syme's advice. Syme's reply was that the governor should act in conformity with the opinions of the law officers of the crown. This Bowen did but Syme thought the advice was bad and told the premier so. Berry then asked Syme for his advice and took it. It is evident that Syme at this time had very great influence within the colony. Constitutional difficulties continued for some time, but at last the Legislative Council was reformed, by increasing the number of eligible voters and by other changes in its constitution to make it more democratic.
Syme had supported Berry in the fight for protection and during the constitutional struggle, but was not satisfied with him as an administrator. Although opposed to James Service
James Service
James Service , Australian colonial politician, was the 12th Premier of Victoria, Australia.-Biography:Service was born in Kilwinning, Ayrshire, Scotland, and as a young man worked in a Glasgow tea importing business, Thomas Corbett and Company...
, Syme recognised that Service had the very qualities Berry lacked. Syme therefore supported the coalition ministry formed in 1883 which did good work for three years. There was a general feeling of confidence, a tendency to over-borrow money and to spend huge sums on railways and other public works. This led to the mining and land booms which really burst in 1889, although the full effects were not realized until the bank crisis
Australian banking crisis of 1893
The 1893 banking crisis occurred in Australia when several of the commercial banks of the colonies within Australia collapsed.During the 1880s there was a speculative boom in the Australian property market...
of 1893. In 1891 The Age began a series of articles alleging bad management and incompetence on the part of the railway commissioners. This led at last to an action for libel being brought against The Age by the chief commissioner, Richard Speight. Other articles attacked the civil service generally. At the first trial of the railway libel case begun on 1 June 1893 the jury disagreed, and the second trial which began on 17 April 1894 and lasted for 105 days resulted in a verdict for the defendant on nine out of the ten counts, and on the tenth count the damages were assessed at one farthing. Speight, however, was ruined and Syme had to pay his own costs which amounted to about £50,000. As an example of the power some felt was exercised by Syme at this time, the leading counsel for the plaintiff, when addressing the jury, stated that "no government could stand against The Age without being shaken to its centre".
Syme had early realized that agriculture would need development in Victoria and twice sent J. L. Dew to America to study irrigation and agricultural methods. Syme also sent Alfred Deakin
Alfred Deakin
Alfred Deakin , Australian politician, was a leader of the movement for Australian federation and later the second Prime Minister of Australia. In the last quarter of the 19th century, Deakin was a major contributor to the establishment of liberal reforms in the colony of Victoria, including the...
to India to report on irrigation there. As a result the development of irrigation began which after some early failures was to be successfully extended in later years. Syme also supported early closing, anti-sweatshop
Anti-sweatshop
Anti-Sweatshop refers to campaigning movements to improve the conditions of workers in Sweatshops, i.e. manufacturing places characterized by low wages, poor working conditions and often child labor...
legislation, and old-age pensions. When the issue of Federation
Federation of Australia
The Federation of Australia was the process by which the six separate British self-governing colonies of New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria and Western Australia formed one nation...
became important towards the end of the century it was Deakin, a journalistic protégé of Syme's, who became the leader of the movement in Victoria. The ten Victorian delegates elected to the 1897 Federal Convention were the ten on the Age 'ticket'. During the first federal parliament Syme fought for comparatively high protective duties, but his influence did not extend to any great extent beyond Victoria and he was for the time unsuccessful. In later years, however, considerable increases in duties were made. In the last years of his life Syme wrote about the faults of party government. Some of these he had drawn attention to in chapter VII of his Representative Government in England ... (London, 1881). Syme's suggested remedies have failed, however, to obtain much support. Syme died at his home Blythswood in Kew
Kew, Victoria
Kew is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 6 km east from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Boroondara. At the 2006 Census, Kew had a population of 22,516....
near Melbourne on 14 February 1908. Syme married in 1859 Annabella Johnson who survived him with five sons and two daughters. Syme is buried at Kew Cemetery
Boroondara General Cemetery
Boroondara General Cemetery, often referred to as Kew cemetery, is one of the oldest cemeteries in Victoria, Australia. The cemetery, located in Kew, a suburb of Melbourne, is listed as a heritage place on the Victorian Heritage Register.-History:...
.
Legacy
Syme wrote several books while owner of The Age: the first, Outlines of an Industrial Science, (London, 1876) is largely a vindication of protection and is also a plea for the extension of the activities of the state. Next appeared Representative Government in England ..., a study of the history of parliament in England. His next book On the Modification of Organisms (Melbourne, 1890), is a criticism of DarwinCharles Darwin
Charles Robert Darwin FRS was an English naturalist. He established that all species of life have descended over time from common ancestry, and proposed the scientific theory that this branching pattern of evolution resulted from a process that he called natural selection.He published his theory...
's theory of natural selection
Natural selection
Natural selection is the nonrandom process by which biologic traits become either more or less common in a population as a function of differential reproduction of their bearers. It is a key mechanism of evolution....
from an evolutionist position. Syme's last volume, The Soul: A Study and an Argument (1903), discusses the nature of life, instinct, memory, mind, and survival after death. As for philanthropic activities, Syme paid the expenses of a rifle team to Bisley, Surrey
Bisley, Surrey
Bisley is a large village in Surrey, England, which is notable for rifle shooting. Bisley's immediate neighbours are West End, Chobham and Knaphill.- History :...
and financed expeditions to New Guinea
New Guinea
New Guinea is the world's second largest island, after Greenland, covering a land area of 786,000 km2. Located in the southwest Pacific Ocean, it lies geographically to the east of the Malay Archipelago, with which it is sometimes included as part of a greater Indo-Australian Archipelago...
and Central Australia
Central Australia
Central Australia/Alice Springs Region is one of the five regions in the Northern Territory. The term Central Australia is used to describe an area centred on Alice Springs in Australia. It is sometimes referred to as Centralia; likewise the people of the area are sometimes called Centralians...
. In 1904 he gave £3000 to the University of Melbourne
University of Melbourne
The University of Melbourne is a public university located in Melbourne, Victoria. Founded in 1853, it is the second oldest university in Australia and the oldest in Victoria...
to endow the Syme Prize
David Syme Research Prize
The David Syme Research Prize is an annual award administered by the University of Melbourne for the best original research work in biology, physics, chemistry or geology, produced in Australia during the preceding two years, particular preference is given to original research to enhance industrial...
for research in biology, chemistry, geology and natural philosophy. The introduction of linotype machine
Linotype machine
The Linotype typesetting machine is a "line casting" machine used in printing. The name of the machine comes from the fact that it produces an entire line of metal type at once, hence a line-o'-type, a significant improvement over manual typesetting....
s threw many of Syme's compositers out of work, he ensured that they were provided for. The older men were pensioned off and others were set up in business or placed on the land.
Syme was hailed on his death as "one of the greatest men in colonial history," by his friend then Prime Minister Alfred Deakin. It was intended that Syme would be knighted for "services to the Commonwealth- Civil Division" in the 1909 New Years Honours list. However, given that Syme died in 1908, this award was never given, the decision having been taken not to award it posthumously.
A knighthood for services to the Commonwealth was later presented to Sir Geoffrey Syme- David's son. A final recognition of a great family's contribution to Australia. The "Age" was headed by George Francis Syme, Sir Geoffrey Syme and then Oswald Syme before eventually being passed to Ranald McDonald.
External links
- Sir Geoffrey Syme David Syme's son Sir Geoffrey Syme, Managing Editor of The Age 1908-42. Also has a detailed page on David Syme's life