Item 2 - Parliamentary Report on the Furneaux Islands

Colonel John E. C. Lord (1870 -1949) had a long and distinguished civil and military career, and served nearly 34 years as head of the Police Department. He was the son of Richard David Lord, and was born at Brighton, Tasmania, on May 8, 1870, of a pioneer family. He spent the early years of his life in the Midlands sheep country. He came to Hobart at the age of 15, and, entering the Public Service as a cadet, was posted to the Stores Department in July, 1886, as a clerk to the Commissioner of Police. Promotion to chief clerk and secretary to the commissioner followed. In 1908 Col. Lord was commissioned by the Government to report on the Furneaux Group of islands embracing the condition of the islands and the regulation of the half-caste reserve, with suggestions for future administration. The report became a parliamentary paper widely read and referred to. He was also commander of the Tasmanian 40th Battalion, known as the 'Fighting Fortieth'. Soldiers attached to it were trained at the Claremont military camp near Hobart before sailing for England and eventually the French-Belgian border, which they reached on 24 November 1916. for more information see Mercury Newspaper obituary 29/10/1949 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/26657591