• Title
  [Portrait of Midshipman Robert Johnston], 1810 / drawn by Robert Dighton
• Creator
  Robert Dighton, 1752-1814
• Call number
  ML 1515
  
• Level of description
  fonds
• Date
  
  1810
• Type of material
  Graphic Materials, Drawings
• Reference code
  9623536
• Physical Description
  1 drawing - 51 x 40 cm. - watercolour
  
• ADMINISTRATIVE/ BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY
  
  Robert Johnston was born in Sydney on March 3, 1792. He was the second son of Lieutenant-Colonel George Johnston of the New South Wales Corps who, 18 year later, would play a leading role in the deposition of Governor William Bligh. In 1797 Robert accompanied his father to England and was placed in a school in Surry. In 1807 he was the first native born Australian to join the Royal Navy. He was a Volunteer of the First Class (issued with a midshipman’s uniform but paid as an able seaman). Over the next 13 years he served on a number of ships including the Semiramis, Norge, Neptune and Menelaus, rising to the rank of lieutenant. He served in a number of notable actions including the Battle of Corunna, the storming of Cadiz, and the capture of Washington. In 1816 he obtained leave of absence and sailed to Sydney. In 1818 he joined Sir John Jamison’s expedition to ascertain the source of the Warragamba River. In November 1821 he accompanied Governor Macquarie on a voyage of inspection to Port Macquarie and Newcastle. On their return, on instructions from the governor, Johnston sailed on board the cutter Snapper on a voyage of discovery along the coast during which he discovered and named the river Clyde. Following his father’s death in 1823 he decided to remain in New South Wales, achieving considerable success in pastoral and agricultural pursuits. He was promoted to the rank of commander in 1865 and died in 1882, aged 92.
  
  Reference:
  Library correspondence file.
• Collection history
  "The Library holds a portrait of George Johnston also painted by Dighton in 1810 and it can be assumed that both portraits were commissioned as a pair. They are of similar size and have backgrounds appropriate to each man’s career - a naval ship for Robert and a military encampment for George. The paintings were intended as a commemoration of the Johnston family confirming their position in the higher levels of colonial society". -- Mitchell Correspondence File. Provinance: Ruth Simon, ca. 1990; Oztraliana (Trevor Kennedy) purchased from the Day Gallery Blackheath, 2018
• Scope and Content
  A watercolour portrait of Robert Johnston by Robert Dighton. Johnston is depicted wearing the uniform of a midshipman and it was painted in 1810 at a time when his father George Johnston was also in England. On the 24 January 1810 he was appointed to the captured Danish Ship HMS Norge.
  
  He is depicted on land, pointing into the unknown, and in the background a ship, probably HMS Norge, is sitting in the shallows. After this portrait Johnston would spend the next two years at sea aboard the Norge and the Neptune.
• Access Conditions
  
  Access via appointment
• Copying Conditions
  Out of copyright:
  Please acknowledge:: Mitchell Library, State Library of New South Wales
• Related Material
  Lt. Col. George Johnston, 1810 / watercolour portrait by R. Dighton (832553)
• Signatures / Inscriptions
  
  Signed and dated lower right, 'Dighton 1810'.
• Subject
  Johnston, Robert, 1792-1882
  Portraits, Australian--19th century.
  Midshipmen.
  Military uniforms.
  Great Britain. Royal Navy--Pictorial works.
  
• Open Rosetta viewer
  IE18490895

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