John McGarvie

Who was John McGarvie?

John McGarvie was a Scottish-born Australian Presbyterian minister and writer.

McGarvie was born in Glasgow, Scotland, and was educated at Glasgow University, where he graduated.

In 1825 the Rev. John Dunmore Lang appealled for a minister for the church at Portland Head on the Hawkesbury River, New South Wales; McGarvie was chosen and arrived in Sydney in the Greenock on 22 May 1826 after a six-month voyage from Leith. Met on arrival by Reverend Lang, McGarvie went straight to Portland Head as the first Presbyterian minister of the Ebenezer Church, remaining until 1830.

In 1829 McGarvie contributed a series of biographical articles to the Sydney Gazette with a number of his poems under such pseudonyms as 'M., Ananbaba', 'A.B., Marramatta' and 'C.D., Warrambamba'. When the Sydney Herald commenced in 1831, with his brother William as one of its three original proprietors, he contributed the editorials, and continued as leader writer for a significant period. McGarvie was one of the founders in 1826 of the Sydney Dispensary and was its honorary secretary from 1836 until his death. He was also a founder of the Sydney School of Arts.