Johannes Heyer was born at Germantown (Grovedale) near Geelong in Victoria. He was dux of Geelong College in 1887 and in 1889 was awarded a scholarship to Ormand College, University of Melbourne where he studied modern languages (B.A, 1892; M.A 1894) and later theology. He studied theology in Edinburgh and Leipzig before returning to Australia, where he was licensed to preach the Gospel by the Presbytery of Geelong in 1897. Heyer was ordained as a minister of the Presbyterian Church in 1900 and was called to the parish of Yarra Glen and Healesville in 1900. It was at this time that photograph of William Barak was taken. Subsequently Heyer was minister of St John's Presbyterian Church, Hobart where he remained until his retirement in 1923. A man of outstanding and varied talents, Heyer was a scholar, theologian, historian, poet, organist, composer and photographer. He wrote church histories and theological pamphlets and made the important and comprehensive study The Presbyterian pioneers of Van Diemen's Land (1935). He died suddenly, collapsing at the wheel of his car in 1945.
