RAINE, JOHN (1786?-1837), speculator and merchant, was the brother of Captain
Thomas Raine. He was educated at Westminster School and articled to solicitors in
Chancery Lane, London. Bearing a letter of recommendation from Lord Erskine, he
arrived at Hobart Town with his wife, mother and brother in November 1819 in the
Regalia, of which he said he was the 'principal freighter'. He went on to Sydney
and there chartered the ship and equipped her for whale fishing from the Derwent.
After the partial failure of this enterprise he sent her to Macquarie Island to
collect sea-elephant oil, which in August 1821 he took to England in her, together
with sixty-one bales of wool, the first exported from Van Diemen's Land, where up
to this time it had been badly neglected. Before leaving he had begun to run
voyages with passengers and merchandise between Sydney and Hobart, and these he
carried on with several ships until his death. He also received a grant of 2000
acres (809 ha) in the Derwent valley.
View the full record at
Australian Dictionary of Biography
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