136 



©bxtuaru. 



R. M. Johnston, I.S.O., F.S.S. 



Robert Mackenzie Johnston was born at Connage, 

 Inverness-shire, Scotland, in 1845. Of hnmble parentage, 

 but possessed with a. keen desire for knowledge, he left Jiome 

 early in life in order to make his way in tlie world. He 

 obtained employment in the Scottish Railways, and while 

 there devoted his spare time to study. As a young man. 

 he resolved to come to Australia, and eventually arrived 

 after an adventurous passage. He crossed to Tasmania in 

 1870, and was employed organising the accountants and 

 audit branch of the Launceston and Western Railway. In 

 1872 he transferred to the Government service, and in 1880 

 was appointed chief clerk in the Auditor-General's office, 

 and two years later he obtained the position of .Registrar- 

 General and Government Statistician, which position he 

 held until his death. 



On S3ve!ral occasions Mr. Johnston had opportunities 

 for impToving his position by obtaining high appoint- 

 ments on the Mainland, but he preferred to remain in 

 Tasmania. 



In addition to his official duties, Mr. Johnston served 

 the State in many ways. In 1882 he was appointed a 

 Commissicaier to inquire and report upon the fisheries of 

 Tasmania, and was also a member of the several boards 

 relating to fisheries. In 1888, the Government published 

 Mr. Johnston's standard work, "A Systematic Account of 

 the Geology of Tasmania." 



Mr. Johnston was President of Section F, "Economic 

 and Social Science and Statistics, " at the meeting of the 

 Australian Association for the Advancement of Science in 

 1890, was an honorary fellow of the Royal Statistical 

 Society, a fellovv' of the Royal Geographical Society of Aus- 

 tralia, a fellow of the- Linnean Society of London, and for 

 many years One of the most prominent members of the 

 Royal Society of Tasmania. 



List of Papers contributed to the Royal Society of 

 Tasmania by R. M. Johnston, I.S.O., F.S.S. 



1871. 



1. Regarding the composition and extent of certain Ter- 

 tiary beds in and around Launceston. 



1874. 



2. The Launceston Tertiarv Basin. 



