Page:History of Adelaide and vicinity.djvu/331

 ADELAIDE AND VICINITY 305 The late Hon. Sir John Cox Bray, K.C.M.G. No South Australian will readily forget the name at the head of this sketch, nor the amiable face shown in the accompanying portrait. Sir John Bray was a politician of high reputation, and there was that about his demi.se which appealed to the hearts of the people. After an exile, in obedience to duty, of over two years' duration in London, where he .served as Agent-General of the Province, he was returning to his native land, and had accomplished part of the voyage, when death over- took him. The clima.x was so unexpected and pathetic that the people of South Australia were moved to emotional grief. In recent times the coimterpart of the sur[)ri.se and sorrow was ex- perienced when the late Hon. David Hews, the Minister of Education, tlied suddenly in Melbourne. •Sir John Bray was a son of the Province. His father, the late Mr. Thomas Cox Bray, arrived in .South Australia in the "thirties,' when the peoj)le were sowing in tribulation the seeds of pros])erity. Like his contemporaries, Mr. T. C. Bray felt the brunt of the colonising delays of 1837-8, and of the financial storms of 1841-2. He carried on business in Hindley Street, then the "hub" of Adelaide, for many years, and gained a ■in PLngland. After being articled to the law, he was admitted to practice in 1870, joining Mr. J. B. -Sheridan in partnership. With the changes .so characteristic of Australian llegal houses, the firm subsequently became Bray, Eoster, & Hackett, then Bray & Hackett, [the latter gentleman being Mr. J. T. Hackett, B.A. The.se two lawyers were associated together until 1891. Although -Sir John Bray never practised very actively in the courts, [he had an important general connection. He was recognised as a good lawyer, and the Ipractice of the firm was reliable. hammer & Co., Fhotu
 * meritorious position in the Province. -Sir John Bray was born in Adelaide in 1842, received
 * his preliminary education at St. Peter's College, Adelaide, and finished his scholastic career