Samuel Gordon (Australian politician)
Samuel Gordon | |
|---|---|
| Personal details | |
| Born | Samuel Deane Gordon 12 October 1811 Ballynahinch, Downshire, Ulster, Ireland |
| Died | 24 July 1882 (aged 70) Double Bay, New South Wales, Australia |
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Samuel Deane Gordon (12 October 1811 – 24 July 1882) was an Australian merchant, pastoralist and politician. He was a member of the New South Wales Legislative Council between 1861 and 1882. He was also a member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly for three terms from 1856 until 1860.
Early life
[edit]Gordon was the son of an Irish farmer, David Gordon and his wife Mary Deane. Gordon was educated in private schools in Ireland.[1][2]
He emigrated to Sydney in 1829 and worked in a number of mercantile houses before commencing his own company, which was involved in trade between Van Diemen's Land and New South Wales. In 1840 Gordon established a large store in Liverpool, founded a brewery and acquired 50,000 acres of pastoral land on the Murrumbidgee River. In 1848, Gordon sold his assets in Liverpool at a great profit and became a wine and spirits merchant in Sydney.[1]
During his later life, in partnership with Edward Flood, he gained control over 460 square miles (1,200 km2) of pastoral land in Queensland. He was also the director of a number of colonial companies including English, Scottish & Australian Bank. Gordon was involved in numerous local organisations including the Presbyterian Church, St Andrew's College, Sydney and the YMCA.
Colonial Parliament
[edit]In 1856 Gordon was elected as one of the three members for Durham in the first New South Wales Legislative Assembly.[3] Gordon was a supporter of John Dunmore Lang, Charles Cowper and John Robertson particularly in questions of constitutional reform, education and land reform.[1] He retained the seat at the 1858 election.[4] The seat was abolished in 1859 and Gordon stood unsuccessfully for The Williams,[5] and Morpeth in the 1858 elections, however he regained a seat in the Legislative Assembly at the 1859 Illawarra by-election.[6] He declined to stand for the seat at the 1860 election,[7][8] but accepted Cowper's invitation to join the Legislative Council as a life-time appointment in 1861.[2] He expressed a desire to reform the council into an elective house.[1]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d Rutledge, M. "Gordon, Samuel Deane (1811-1882)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Canberra: National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. ISBN 978-0-522-84459-7. ISSN 1833-7538. OCLC 70677943. Retrieved 1 January 2011.
- ^ a b "Mr Samuel Deane Gordon (1811–1882)". Former members of the Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 19 June 2019.
- ^ Green, Antony. "1856 Durham". New South Wales Election Results 1856-2007. Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 21 March 2015.
- ^ Green, Antony. "1858 Durham". New South Wales Election Results 1856-2007. Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 12 June 2019.
- ^ Green, Antony. "1859 The Williams". New South Wales Election Results 1856-2007. Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 19 June 2019.
- ^ Green, Antony. "1859 Illawarra by-election". New South Wales Election Results 1856-2007. Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 19 June 2019.
- ^ "To Samuel D Gordon Esq". Sydney Morning Herald. 4 December 1860. p. 3. Retrieved 19 June 2019 – via Trove.
- ^ "Nomination for the electoral district of Illawarra". Sydney Morning Herald. 14 December 1860. p. 3. Retrieved 19 June 2019 – via Trove.
