John Tebbutt - Early Life

Early Life

Tebbutt was born at Windsor, New South Wales, the only son of John Tebbutt, then a prosperous store keeper. His grandfather, John Tebbutt, was one of the early free settlers in Australia; he arrived at Sydney about the end of 1801. Tebbutt was educated first at the Church of England parish school, then at a private school kept by the Rev. Mathew Adam of the local Presbyterian church, and finally at a small but excellent school under the Rev. Henry Tarlton Stiles, where he had a sound training in Latin, Greek, French, and mathematics. His first teacher, Mr Edward Quaife, was interested in astronomy, and in later years encouraged his former pupil in his study of this science.