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{{Short description|Commissioner for Great Britain in New Guinea from 1884-1885}}
{{Infobox military person
| name          = Sir Peter Scratchley
| image         = Sir Peter Scratchley, c. 1882 slnsw pxa 1023.jpg
| caption       = Sir Peter Scratchley, c. 1882
| birth_date    = {{Birth date|1835|08|24|df=yes}}
| death_date    = {{Death date and age|1885|12|02|1835|08|24|df=yes}}
| birth_place   = [[Paris]], France
| death_place   = Near the [[Territory of Papua]]
| placeofburial = Old Charlton cemetery, England
| placeofburial_label = 
| placeofburial_coordinates = <!-- {{Coord|LAT|LONG|display=inline,title}} -->
| nickname      =
| birth_name    =
| allegiance    = {{flag|United Kingdom}}
| branch        = [[British Army]]
| serviceyears  = 1854–1882<ref name=adb/><ref name=dab/>
| rank          = [[Major-general (United Kingdom)|Major General]]
| servicenumber =
| unit          =
| commands      =
| battles       = [[Crimean War]]<br/>[[Indian Rebellion of 1857]]
| awards        = [[Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George]]
| relations     =
| laterwork     = Special Commissioner for Great Britain in New Guinea
}}
[[Major-general (United Kingdom)|Major General]] '''Sir Peter Henry Scratchley''' {{postnominals|country=GBR|size=100%|KCMG}} (24 August 1835 – 2 December 1885) was special commissioner for [[Great Britain]] in [[Papua (Australian territory)|New Guinea]] 1884–1885 and defence adviser for [[Australia]].<ref name=adb/>

==Biography==
[[File:StateLibQld 1 143683 Governor Blackall (ship).jpg|thumb|right|''Governor Blackall'', {{circa|1870}}.]]
[[File:Sir Peter Scratchley's Camp, Aroa River, Redscar Bay (1885) J. W. Lindt State Library Victoria.jpg|thumb|right|Sir Peter Scratchley's Camp, Aroa River, Redscar Bay (1885) J. W. Lindt State Library Victoria H42424]]
Scratchley was born in [[Paris]], the thirteenth child of Dr James Scratchley, who was a soldier in the [[Royal Artillery]], and his wife Maria, ''née'' Roberts.<ref name=adb/> He was educated in Paris and attended the [[Royal Military Academy, Woolwich|Royal Military Academy at Woolwich]]. After graduating he began his career as an Officer in the [[Royal Engineers]]. Scratchley served in the [[Crimea]] and [[Indian Mutiny]] and in October 1859 was made a captain. He then had several tours of duty in the [[Australia]]n colonies advising on defence. In 1860 he was sent to [[Victoria (Australia)|Victoria]] to plan a system of defence for that colony, but after working on this for over three years his plan was not adopted as a whole. Scratchley had, however, constructed batteries around the coast of [[Port Phillip]] by expending a comparatively small sum.<ref name=adb>{{Australian Dictionary of Biography|last=Joyce|first=R. B.|authorlink=|year=1976|id=A060113b|title= Scratchley, Sir Peter Henry (1835–1885)|accessdate=2010-01-15 }}</ref><ref name=dab>{{Dictionary of Australian Biography|First=Peter|Last=Scratchley|shortlink=0-dict-biogSa-Sp.html#scratchley1 |accessdate=2010-01-15 }}</ref>

Following the withdrawal in 1870 of British garrison troops from Australia, Major General Sir [[William Jervois]] and then Lieutenant Colonel Scratchley were commissioned by a group of colonies to advise on defence matters. They inspected each colony's defences and produced the [[Jervois-Scratchley reports]] of 1877. Not surprisingly given their engineering backgrounds and the fear in the colonies of potential enemy fleets, the reports emphasised fortifications against naval attack. The Jervois-Scratchley reports formed the basis of defence planning in Australia and [[New Zealand]] for the next 30 years.<ref name=dab/>

Among his achievements in Australia were:
* Founding of the Corps of Engineers in [[Victoria, Australia|Victoria]] in 1860
* The fort on [[Bare Island (New South Wales)|Bare Island]], Botany Bay, New South Wales<ref name=SHR>{{cite NSW SHR|5045621|Bare Island Fort|fn=S92/00980|accessdate=8 October 2014}}</ref>
* [[Fort Scratchley]], Newcastle, New South Wales
* [[Fort Lytton National Park|Fort Lytton]], Brisbane, Queensland
* [[Fort Glanville Conservation Park|Fort Glanville]], South Australia — assisted by [[Alexander Bain Moncrieff]]
* [[Fort Queenscliff]], Queenscliff, Victoria

Scratchley retired with the honorary rank of [[Major-General]] on 1 October 1882, but was still employed as defence adviser for Australia by the Colonial Office. He was appointed special commissioner for Great Britain in New Guinea in 1884, and arrived there in August 1885. [[Port Moresby]] was made the seat of government, questions of land tenure and the cultivation of the land were examined, and good relations were established with many of the natives and with the missionaries. Scratchley soon contracted [[malaria]] and died at sea on aboard the ''Governor Blackall'' on 2 December 1885. He was buried in [[Melbourne]] and then reinterred to the Old Charlton cemetery in [[England]]. He left a widow, two daughters and a son.<ref name=dab/>

==Honours==
Scratchley was created a [[Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George]] in June 1885.<ref name = adb/>

Scratchley Road in [[Port Moresby]], [[Mount Scratchley]] in the [[Owen Stanley Range]] near [[Kokoda]] in Papua New Guinea, and [[Fort Scratchley]] in Newcastle are named in his honour.<ref name = adb/>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
*{{cite book |author=Kinloch Cooke, C |title=Peter Scratchley. Australian Defences and New Guinea |quote=Compiled from the papers of the late Major-General Sir Peter Scratchley |publisher=Elibron Classics }}

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{{S-ttl|title=[[Special Commissioner of British New Guinea]]|years=1884–1885}}
{{S-aft|after=[[Hugh Hastings Romilly]]<br/>(acting)}}
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[[Category:1835 births]]
[[Category:1885 deaths]]
[[Category:British Army personnel of the Crimean War]]
[[Category:British military personnel of the Indian Rebellion of 1857]]
[[Category:British people in colonial Australia]]
[[Category:Royal Engineers officers]]
[[Category:Knights Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George]]
[[Category:Governors of the Territory of Papua]]