Person

Elder, Thomas (1818 - 1897)

GCMG

Born
5 August 1818
Kirkcaldy, Fife, Scotland
Died
6 March 1897
Mount Lofty, South Australia, Australia
Occupation
Business executive, Philanthropist and Pastoralist

Summary

Thomas Elder was a business man and pastoralist who, with his partners, invested in copper mines and large pastoral leases which brought them considerable wealth. He was a great enthusiast for exploration and financed a number of expeditions through outback South Australia and Western Australia. These included the journeys of Peter Warburton (1873 - 1873) and Ernest Giles (1875), and the Elder Scientific Exploring Expedition (1891 - 1982). He imported and bred camels to use as transport in outback Australia. A hundred of them were used in building the overland telegraph line from Adelaide to Darwin in 1872 and he also lent camels and drivers to expeditions of discovery. Elder's considerable philanthropy extended to public institutions in South Australia, particularly the University of Adelaide. He was a founding Member of the South Australian Branch of the Royal Geographical Society of Australasia in 1885.

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Details

Chronology

1854
Life event - Migrated to Australia
1863 - 1869
Career position - Member of the Legislative Council, Parliament of South Australia
1871
Career event - Elected as a Member, Adelaide Philosophical Society
1871 - 1878
Career position - Member of the Legislative Council, Parliament of South Australia
1878
Award - Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George (KCGM)
1885 - 1897
Career position - Founding Member, Royal Geographical Society of Australasia, South Australian Branch
1887
Award - Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George (GCMG)
1891 - 1892
Life event - Financed the Elder Scientific Exploring Expedition

Related Corporate Bodies

Related Events

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Archival resources

State Library of South Australia, Mortlock Library of South Australiana

  • Correspondence re a proposed Antarctic expedition, 1890 - 1897, D 7520(L); State Library of South Australia, Mortlock Library of South Australiana. Details

Published resources

Book Sections

  • Gosse, Fayette, 'Elder, William (1804-1882), Alexander Lang (1815-1885), George (1816-1897), businessmen and Sir Thomas (1818-1897), businessman, pastoralist and public benefactor' in Australian dictionary of biography, volume 4: 1851 - 1890 D-J, Douglas Pike, ed. (Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, 1972), pp. 133-134. http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A040135b.htm. Details

Resources

See also

Rosanne Walker and Helen Cohn

Created: 25 May 2001, Last modified: 8 April 2022

EOAS ID: biogs/P003514b.htm

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