Page:History of Adelaide and vicinity.djvu/421

 MrD^°^" ADELAIDE AND VICINITY 395 himself as a timber merchant, and quickly obtained a lar^re connection. Almost from the first he interested himself in the welfare of Port Adelaide, and subsequently he turned his attention to the politics of the Province. In 1855 the people of that seaport aoitated for a corporate municipality, and Mr. Bower was one of a deputation which urocd the demand upon the Governor, Sir Richard MacDonnell. The town was accordin_(/ly incorporated, and Mr. Bower became a member of the original Council, occupying the position from 1855 to 1858. During the early "fifties" he twice visited the Victorian goldfields, and in 1858 made a long holiday tour to the old country. In i86r he returned to .South Australia and was engaged in business for some time at Wallaroo. He remained on the Peninsula for about 10 years, and then once more took up his residence at Port Adelaide. He again became a member of the Port Municipal Council, and in 1877 occupied the mayoral chair. He first entered Parliament in 1865, when he was elected to the Assembly for the huge constituency which embraced Port Adelaide and Wallaroo. He represented the Port and Wallaroo Electorate for some 10 years, and then, upon a sub-division of electorates, he was returned for the District of Port Adelaide. In Parliament he supported a progressive policy, and encouraged developmental works with much earnestness. He was instrumental in getting important works undertaken at Port Adelaide, and in securing substantial benefits for his district. He held office in the Bray Government as Commissioner of Public Works, and was for a considerable period a member of the Civil Service Commission — a body which .saved the country many thousands of pounds. His name was familiar to all old residents, and he was esteemed as a worthy and public-spirited citizen. Many years ago he retired into private life, and he enjoyed a well - earned cessation from work until his death, in July, 1898. Being of a charitable nature, his gifts were commensurate with his wealth. At Wallaroo he presented the Moonta people with a block of land and a building to be used as an institute of an instructive and educational nature. He laid the foundation stone of the Moonta Institute. He subsequently donated ^500 to establish an institute at Port Adelaide, and laid the foundation stone of the pre.sent institute there. He also placed in the hands of a trust at Port Adelaide a block of land for the benefit of sailors, and several Diamond Jubilee Cottages now stand upon it. The land was valued at ^200, and he supplemented it by a cash donation of ^800. Mr. Bower made .several other gifts to the public. He sought to encourage self-imjjrovement in the people, and was a staunch believer in the establishment of public libraries in centres of population. In every respect he was a colonist of the solid old stamp of ingenuous, energetic, liberal-handed men. He devoted his time, his talents, and his purse to the people of South Australia. At the time of his death he was President of the Woodville Mechanics' Institute and of the Port Adelaide Institute. He was for many years a member of the Board of Governors of the Institutes of the Province. The South Australian Register, dated July 7, 1898, in a highly appreciative leader, commenting on his death, said : — " Blessed is the man whose death the poor will mourn. This beatitude may be appropriately expre.ssed in any judicious reference to the late Mr. David Bower, who died at Woodville yesterday. Quiet, self-possessed, unemotional, plain, matter-of-fact, unpretentious — he was nevertheless a conspicuously u.seful.and, in a very real sen.se, patriotic colonist." AA2