Page:History of Adelaide and vicinity.djvu/308

 282 ADELAIDE AND VICINITY The late Sir Thomas Elder, G.C.M.G. THE late Sir Thomas Elder was born at Kirkcaldy, Scotland, in 1818. Leaving school as a youth, he received a thorough education in mercantile pursuits, Latterly he represented, with his father (the late Georoe Fllder), the firm of A. L. Elder and Co.. established by his brother (A. L. Elder) in Adelaide in 1841. This business was the forerunner of Elder, Smith, & Co., now one of the largest commercial houses in Aus- tralia. Sir Thomas came to .South Australia as a partner in the original firm, which, after some changes, resolved itself into Elder, Smith, & Co., Mr. R. Barr Smith early joining .Sir Thomas in the sole proprietary. Thus early the firm launched out into almost every department of colonial industry — especially the pastoral, which was thoroughly and vigorously de- veloped. Millions and millions of acres were leased, and many thousands of pounds were spent in sinking wells and tanks, in both of which Mr. Thomas Elder was the pastoralist most largely en- gaged, and in tank-sinking by machinery he was the pioneer in South Australia. After exploring parties had penetrated the interior wilderness and reached the ocean in North Australia, he took up areas reckoned in thousands of uuryea, Photo square miles. On many of these isolated stations moderate fortunes were expended, but substantially the pastoral investments were remunerative, and helped to build up the large capital so meritoriously earned. At Paratoo 3,cxx) square miles were occupied ; at Beltana, 900 square miles ; and at Umberatana, Mount Lyndhurst, and Blanchewater, 3,000 square miles. Sir Thomas was a large supporter of the agricultural and horticultural industries, and his gardens at Birksgate, Glen Osmond, and Mount Lofty were models of their kind. The success of the copper mines at the Kapunda and the Burra gave Sir Thomas great faith in the mineral resources of the Province, and in connection with the Wallaroo