MAXWELL, JOHN HENRY (1885-1954), ranger, stockman and horseman, was born on 27 January 1885 at Tuggeranong, New South Wales, son of Thomas Philip Maxwell, station hand, and Mary Wall. Jack grew up in the Queanbeyan area and was later employed by Thomas Franklin to help to manage Brindabella station, where Maxwell developed his skills as cattleman and horseman. Here, too, he met Ivy Violet Franklin, a cousin of the author Miles Franklin. Ivy and Jack married with Presbyterian forms on 16 August 1911 at Queanbeyan. Following Thomas Franklin's death in 1925, the Maxwells moved to Queanbeyan.

About 1927 Maxwell was appointed by the Commonwealth government to be its first ranger in the rugged upper Cotter River valley, to help safeguard Canberra's water supply catchment. Responsible for an area of 98,842 acres (40,000 ha), he patrolled on horseback, policing the prohibition on grazing (though travelling stock were ...

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Source:

Australian Dictionary of Biography