Departures of note

John Alexander Gunn, a pastoralist in New South Wales, devoted his leisure to scientific investigation and developed a vaccine against anthrax, which he patented and named after himself. In October 1898, he hosted Beatrice and Sydney Webb at his farm, Borombola, near Wagga Wagga, and showed them his laboratory. Beatrice Webb described him as 'an unusually interesting man' with a 'speculative intelligence and a keen commercial instinct', noting his objection to government regulation and the requirement of a licence for his experimental work.

Born in Buninyong, Victoria, in 1860, Gunn was the eldest of ten children; his father was a Scottish migrant. Around 1878 he moved to New South Wales, becoming a successful manager of stations in various districts. He collaborated with John McGarvie Smith to improve his anthrax vaccination and also worked on rabbit control. From 1906 to 1910 he served on the Kyemba Shire Council, twice as president, and in 1908 he was appointed to the New South Wales Legislative Council, a position he held until his death in Sydney in 1910.