John Shillito Jessop

John Shillito Jessop was born in 1840 at Whitby, Yorkshire. He was educated at private schools at Whitby and Pollington, and at the Snaith Grammar School. He came to Australia in 1859, landing in Melbourne, and moving to Queensland in 1864.

John Jessop was an Alderman in the Dalby Town Council for fifteen years and served as Mayor in 1873. He was also a member of the Queensland Legislative Assembly and was returned unopposed for Dalby in 1881. He was re-elected in 1883, and also in 1888, but at the general election in 1893 he was defeated by J. T. Bell.

During the term of his Parliamentary career, John Jessop served the country well, and for some time held the position of Chairman of the Committees in the Assembly.

John Jessop was a member of the local divisional board at Dalby from its formation, and was president of the Northern Downs Jockey Club, and other local institutions. He was also a large selector and had an interest in multiple properties which suffered through the 1882 and 1886 droughts.

John Jessop died in 1895 at the age of 54 years, and would be remembered as a very popular, cheerful, and warm-hearted man.