John Rae (1813-1900) - Sydney Street View 1846



John Rae (1813-1900), public servant, author, artist and photographer, was born in Aberdeen in 1813. After an early career in the law, he came to Australia in 1839 as secretary and accountant to the North British Australasian Loan and Investment Company. 

In 1843 Rae became the first full-time town clerk of Sydney, a position he held until 1857. From 1853 to 1857 he served as one of the three city commissioners. In 1857 he took up an appointment as secretary to the railway commissioners and went on to become commissioner for railways, 1861-1878, and under-secretary for public works, 1861-1889. He retired from the public service in 1893. 

Rae wrote and published several books including 'The Book of Isaiah, Rendered into English Blank Verse' and 'Gleanings from My Scrapbook', a collection of verse. He also edited and published a biography of railway engineer John Whitton. Rae is best known for writing the letterpress for John Skinner Prout's 'Sydney Illustrated', published in parts from 1842 to 1843, and in one volume in 1844.

Rae was a talented, mostly self-taught, amateur artist. He painted watercolours of Sydney streets and, in 1850, recorded the turning of the first sod for the first railway. His photographic work included large panoramas of Sydney, Wollongong, Newcastle and part of the Murray Valley.

Sources:
  1. Sydney Street View 1846; John Rae (1813-1900); Courtesy: Mitchell Library, State Library of New South Wales
  2. John Rae, Letterbook 1840-1856Courtesy: Mitchell Library, State Library of New South Wales

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