Politician and Pioneer of Australian Agriculture. He opened up large areas of South Australia for commercial farming. He studied medicine at the Ecole de Medecine, Paris, before immigrating to South Australia in 1839, working his passage as assistant surgeon aboard the "Buckinghamshire". He soon acquired a few acres of land, on which he grew wheat and maize. He also practiced briefly as a doctor, but soon devoted himself entirely to agriculture, setting up a successful sheep farming business with his brother, john, in 1842. The business grew rapidly, and by the time the partnership was dissolved in 1870 the brothers owned over 2000 square miles of land and were the largest exporters of wool from South Australia. In 1860 he entered politics, representing Flinders in the House of Assembly, where he advocated the extension of roads, railways and bridges and introduced a bill to allow squatters to buy their leases on terms. He later brought 18,000 acres of land near Mount Cambier, where he became the chief founder of Christ Church. He returned to England in 1866, but made frequent visits to Australia, and in 1879 proposed a scheme for encouraging young British "capitalist-bachelors" to settle in the Northern Territories. He later made an unsuccessful attempt to enter British politics, and died age 80 in 1894.
Politician and Pioneer of Australian Agriculture. He opened up large areas of South Australia for commercial farming. He studied medicine at the Ecole de Medecine, Paris, before immigrating to South Australia in 1839, working his passage as assistant surgeon aboard the "Buckinghamshire". He soon acquired a few acres of land, on which he grew wheat and maize. He also practiced briefly as a doctor, but soon devoted himself entirely to agriculture, setting up a successful sheep farming business with his brother, john, in 1842. The business grew rapidly, and by the time the partnership was dissolved in 1870 the brothers owned over 2000 square miles of land and were the largest exporters of wool from South Australia. In 1860 he entered politics, representing Flinders in the House of Assembly, where he advocated the extension of roads, railways and bridges and introduced a bill to allow squatters to buy their leases on terms. He later brought 18,000 acres of land near Mount Cambier, where he became the chief founder of Christ Church. He returned to England in 1866, but made frequent visits to Australia, and in 1879 proposed a scheme for encouraging young British "capitalist-bachelors" to settle in the Northern Territories. He later made an unsuccessful attempt to enter British politics, and died age 80 in 1894.
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