ROSS, John Lidgate (1831-1869) — Melbourne & Sydney
Engraver & lithographer. Produced Map of the New Zealand gold fields 1861; New map of Gipps Land 1864 — “A fine map of Gipps Land is in course of preparation, the compiler and artist being Mr. Lidgate Ross, a gentleman well known in professional circles here, and not unacquainted with your province. Mr. Ross possesses peculiar advantages of genius and education for a labor of this description, and has availed himself not only of all the records possessed by the Government on the subject, but also of the knowledge of experienced bushmen. The result is that the errors of the one are corrected by the other, and we shall in the course of a month have a true and correct map of Gipps Land. It will be mounted both for the pocket and the wall, and its price will be moderate (Gippsland Guardian, 31 Jan 1862); Map of Port Jackson and city of Sydney shewing the adjacent municipalities 1865 — “Mr. John L. Ross has just published a new and beautifully got up map of Port Jackson and the City, with the adjacent municipalities. The manifest want of such a map, in conjunction with a geographical outline of Port Jackson and its numerous bays and inlets, has long been felt by the mercantile and shipping community” (Sydney Morning Herald, 27 May 1865); Braddock & Baly, County of Camden, New South Wales 1866; Map of Ballarat and Sebastopol 1868. Worked on many of the sheets of the Geological Survey of Victoria 1860-1869.
Born in Edinburgh 27 Dec 1831, the son of John Ross (1801?-1875), a grocer and dealer in spirits, and his wife Janet (Jane) Lidgate (1803?-1845), who had married in 1829. He was employed by ‘W. & A. K. Johnstone’ (see BME 2011) and recorded as an engraver in Edinburgh, living with his father, step-mother and a younger brother in 1851. He joined the Ordnance Survey at Phoenix Park, Dublin, 1 Mar 1852, before marrying Jane Borthwick (1832-1871) at Edinburgh 3 Jan 1853. A son, also John Lidgate Ross (1854-1924), was born the following year, but his wife was subsequently admitted to a mental asylum for the remainder of her days and the child brought up by his grandfather while Ross emigrated to Australia alone, arriving there 18 Jun 1856, when he was employed as an engraver by the Lands Department. He transferred to the Geological Survey of Victoria 1 Jan 1858. He was retrenched in Mar 1861, but continued to engrave as a freelance for the Survey at £20 per plate. He served as president of the Lithographic and Engraving Association 1859-1860. He became an assistant draughtsman in the Roads & Bridges Department 7 Oct 1861, but had moved to Sydney by Aug 1864. Declared insolvent in 1866. Recorded as a map engraver in the New South Wales Police Gazette 26 Sep 1866, having been robbed of a few shillings, an old pair of spectacles, two pipes, and some papers “whilst drunk and asleep on George-street” late at night. He moved to Ballarat in 1868 and died there of consumption 1 Nov 1869 aged thirty-eight.
95 Bourke Street West, Melbourne — 1861
Cleveland Street, Redfern, Sydney — 1866
Manly Beach, Sydney — 1866
Census 1851. DAAO. Darragh. NLA. Tooley. Trove.