George Sutherland

Born in Dumbarton, Scotland, on October 1, 1855, he moved to Australia with his family as a child and was educated in Sydney and Melbourne. He studied history and political economy at the University of Melbourne, then taught for a time before turning to journalism.

Most of his working life was spent in newspapers. He joined the South Australian Register in 1881 and built a reputation as a versatile, highly cultivated journalist who could write on almost any subject. His books ranged widely, including The History of Australia with his brother Alexander Sutherland, Tales of the Goldfields, Australia or England in the South, and The South Australian Company.

He was also drawn to invention and what he called "technological journalism," writing about new machinery and future possibilities in works such as Twentieth Century Inventions. A Forecast (1901). He later returned to Melbourne to work for The Age and died there in 1905. His family included several notable figures, among them the educator Alexander Sutherland, the painter Jane Sutherland, and his daughter Margaret Sutherland, who became a distinguished composer.