Mr. John Hy. Cawthorn, Farmer and Orchardist, "High Arundel", Wattle Grove, near Port Cygnet, is a native of Tasmania, having been born at Macquarie Plains in 1840, and is the eldest son of the late Mr. Henry David Cawthorn, and grandson of the late Mr. John Henry Cawthorn, who came to Tasmania in 1818.
The subject of this sketch was educated at the late Mr. Robert Giblin's school, now Pressland House, Hobart, and on completing his studies went in for farming pursuits on his mother's property at "Arundel",Macquarie Plains.
In 1879 Mr. Cawthorn took up the present property, which comprises 133 acres, 14 acres of which are laid out in small fruits and general orchard. He grows an excellent class of Sturmers, pearmains, French crabs, and other kinds of apples,whilst a few varieties of pears are also produced. In small fruits, such as apricots, plums, and currants, Mr. Cawthorn has a splendid lot. He has also a small nursery, and grows bothdwarf and standard trees. As a shipper of fruit to the Sydney market he has been very successful.
As a public man he has done much to promote the interests of the distinct, being at the present time a member of the Port Cygnet Branch Board of Agriculture. Mr. Cawthorn has been a member of the Port Cygnet Road Trust and Fruit Board, but owing to living at some distance from the place of meeting he has been compelled to relinquish these positions.
He was married in 1869 to Miss Martha A. Cockerill, daughter of Mr. Henry M. Cockerill, and has a family of eight living. One of his sons, Mr. W. S. Cawthorn, is captain of the s.s. "Pilot", trading between Strahan and Kelly's Basin.