John Giles Price (20 October 1808 – 27 March 1857), was a colonial administrator in Australia. He served as the Civil Commandant of the convict settlement at Norfolk Island from August 1846 to January 1853, and later as Inspector-General of penal establishments in Victoria, during which he was "stoned to death" by angry and disgruntled prisoners. Price had aristocratic connections which aided him in securing the position. Although he was initially seen as restoring order after an incompetent predecessor, Price scoffed at the idea of rehabilitation for convicts. An enthusiasm for flogging for trivial breaches of discipline and extreme corporal punishments of his own devising led to his regime being denounced. He left to farm, but was given responsibility for another prison in which his strongly punitive measures provoked a violent reaction.
Biography
Early life John Giles Price was born in October 1808 at Trengwainton, Cornwall, the fourth son of Sir Rose Price (1st Baronet) and his wife Elizabeth, daughter of Charles Lambart (and sister of Frances, wife of the second Earl Talbot). His family had been major slave-owners in Jamaica during the eighteenth century; John's father Rose Price was the grandson of Sir Charles Price, at one time probably the richest man on the island, owning 1,800 slaves and 26,000 acres of sugar cane. Price studied at Charterhouse public school and Brasenose College, Oxford without taking a degree. Price’s father owned extensive landed estates in Cornwall and Jamaica. Sir Rose Price died in September 1834 and his will was disputed by Charles, the eldest surviving son, subsequent to which the whole of the estate was submitted for arbitration to the Court of Chancery. As the third eldest surviving son, John Price became dissatisfied with the delay in resolving his inheritance and the uncertainty of his prospects. He determined “to make an independent start in the world” and successfully applied for an amount of one thousand pounds from the estate in order that he might “carve out his own fortunes”. Price decided to use these funds to become a landholder in the Australian colony of Van Diemen’s Land.
Van Diemen's Land John Giles Price arrived at Hobart Town in May 1836 bearing letters of introduction from influential relatives. The temperate rainforests in the region near the mouth of the Huon River “attracted his attention to their luxuriant growth, and the quality of their timbers”. Price purchased land on the Huon River, about 30 miles south-west of Hobart (near the present town of Franklin) and remote from the more settled districts. With the convict labour assigned to him he began felling timber. Price prepared boards of the local conifer, now known as Huon pine (Lagarostrobos franklinii), to be tested by a Scottish shipwright who confirmed their “future value for ship-planking”. By 1838 Price had a timber gang at work on his estate. Around the same time, Price was leasing land in Lindisfarne, a suburb on the eastern shore of the River Derwent where he was growing crops, building a residence for himself, and operating a lime quarry, presumably the one at in the adjacent suburb of Geilston Bay which was referred to as "Mr. Price's quarry" in several contemporary references (e.g. this 1843 account, which locates the quarry at "James's Bay", an old name for Geilston Bay). In June 1838 Price married Mary, eldest daughter of Major James Franklin (1st Bengal Cavalry) and the niece of Sir John Franklin, Lieutenant-Governor of Van Diemen's Land from 1836 to 1843. The couple eventually had eight children (four boys and four girls), two of whom died as children. In January 1839 Price was appointed Assistant Police Magistrate and Muster Master of convicts at Hobart Town. Soon after his appointment Price attracted controversy when he observed a man, who was driving a horse and cart, applying the whip in a severe manner to the animal. The man was summoned for the offence to appear at the Police Office where Price “acted as accuser, witness, and judge”. A newspaper report of the case commented that the actions of the Assistant Police Magistrate indicated “a degree of imprudence, and savours a little of the love of shewing power – a weakness which beginners ought to contend against”. By August 1841 Price had been appointed to the position of Police Magistrate. In November 1842 the Colonial Times newspaper, referring to John Price, stated that “the severity with which the holders of tickets-of-leave are treated by the Police Magistrate of Hobart Town has long been a matter of painful notoriety”. Towards the end of his tenure on the Bench of Magistrates Price was described as “our active and well-drilled and drilling Police Magistrate”. In April 1846 Price applied for a leave of absence for reasons of health, with Dr. Bedford warning that "he should absent himself from business or else he will be laid up seriously". The leave was granted but circumstances intervened before Price could take advantage of it. On 6 July 1846 John Price was appointed Civil Commandant of the Norfolk Island penal settlement, to replace Major Joseph Childs who had been suspended after a serious mutinous disturbance on the island. In mid-July 1846 a testimonial was presented to John Price, including a subscription of £150 contributed by the "influential gentlemen" of Hobart Town, in “admiration of the manner in which he had performed his duties”.
Civil Commandant on Norfolk Island John Price and his family sailed for Norfolk Island on 22 July 1846. One of John Price's first duties was to arrange for the trial of 26 convicts alleged to have been involved in murders during the 'cooking pot uprising' of 1 July 1846 at the end of Childs' administration. Twelve convicts were hanged in October, and five others shortly after. The executions broke the power of the feared 'Ring' clique of inmates. Price was a tall burly man who affected an extravagant style of dress and used underworld slang. He openly announced his intention was to break the inmates and went among them with few guards to emphasise his dominance, although he also carried two pepper-box pistols.
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