John Lorenzo Young


John Lorenzo Young was an English-Australian educationalist and founder of the Adelaide Educational Institution.

Early life

Young was born in London, a son of John Tonkin Young, a builder from Veryan, Cornwall.
He was educated at the Communal College of Boulogne, under Professor Opel at Wiesbaden, in 1842 at the College for Civil Engineers in Putney, and at King's College London from 1843 to 1845, where John Howard Clark, editor of The Register, was a fellow student. Another reference says this fellow-student was Clark's brother A. Sidney Clark.

Career

He worked in Cornwall on railway and mining construction then left for Adelaide on the ship Panama, arriving on 31 October 1850. A fellow passenger was W. W. R. Whitridge, with whom he was to strike a lasting friendship. He joined the rush to the Victorian goldfields but soon returned.
In 1851, he became second master at the newly established South Australian High School, but by the end of the year the venture had failed. Andrew Garran, who later published Garran's Book Almanack, was also involved in the project.
In December 1851, Young travelled overland to the Mount Alexander goldfields, returning to Adelaide on board the Elizabeth a few months later. He returned to the goldfields aboard the brig Louisa on 8 March and on 30 July arrived back in Adelaide aboard the Reliance. A letter later appears in the Register signed by Young and some passengers, referring to 'mutinous conduct' of the crew and commending the captain's efforts.
In 1852, Young was persuaded to open his own school at the rear of the old chapel in Ebenezer Street off Rundle Street East, and soon moved to larger premises in Stephens Place. His brother, Oliver Young, held classes for some time, and acted headmaster in 1860 while J. L. Young was away on recuperation leave, but returned to Cornwall in 1866. Oliver never married.

Family

On 29 October 1855, John married first cousin Martha Paynter Young. Their children included:
  • first son Arago was born early in 1857 but died at Glenelg on 7 March 1859.
  • Algernon Sidney Young was born at their home in North Terrace. He was a noted player with the Norwood Football Club.
  • John Hampden Young was born at North Terrace
  • Bertha Young was born at Parkside, as were all succeeding children. She died in England.
  • Edith Young
  • Ellen Young died in England.
  • Abraham Lincoln Young
  • John Howard Young died in Otago, New Zealand. His will, dated 1924, by its omissions, indicates an antipathy to his father and siblings.
  • Emily Young
  • Roland Hill Young died in Perth, Western Australia.
None of Young's children had an academic career.
In 1861, he built the large two-storey Young House in Parkside, which was used both as his private residence and as a student boarding house. He then commissioned architects Wright and Hamilton to design and oversee building of a schoolhouse next door.. In 1871 he was able to relinquish the Freeman Street premises.
Young retired in 1880 and closed the school, intending to join his wife and family, who were visiting brother Oliver and their father in Veryan, Cornwall. A testimonial was held 17 December 1880 by his old scholars, and he was presented with a purse of sovereigns. His 16-room residence, with schoolhouse and various other houses on Young Street, after several auction attempts in February 1881, was eventually purchased by Alfred Allen Simpson. The two Parkside buildings at 61–71 Young Street were sold by Alfred A., Fred N. and Violet Laura Simpson to Mr. C. O. A. Lapidge in 1922. "Young House" has since been demolished but the heritage-listed schoolhouse still stands.
He left for England on the steamer John Elder in 1881, but died on 26 July 1881 while crossing the Red Sea and was buried at sea. Martha returned to Adelaide, at first living in Kent Town then settled in Glenelg. She died 6 April 1887 aged 57.
Fred W. Sims, formerly Deputy Registrar of Companies in the Supreme Court, wrote in The Advertiser:

The Death of John Lorenzo Young

John Lorenzo Young died in 1881 during a sea voyage to Britain. A recollection of his death and burial appears in a collection of letters by Timothy Coop and Henry Exley, published in 1882. The letter reads as follows;

Recognition