Page:History of Adelaide and vicinity.djvu/450

 424 ADELAIDP: and vicinity The Dunn Family late Mrs. Paltridge, in 1846. Finally the parents came to South Australia, and the father lived to the ripe age of 82, while the mother died at 83. John Dunn, sen., landed from the Lysander at Glenelg on September 6, 1840. He looked about him before setting- out in any particular occupation, and meanwhile was employed by Messrs. Borrow & Goodiar. Eventually, in 1841, he purchased some land near his brother's property at Hay Valley, in the vicinity of Mount Barker. He cleared and tilled several acres of ground, which he sowed with wheat. After his first harvesting, he determined to combine with agriculture his favorite occupation of milling, and with his own hands he accordingly erected a wind-mill, the remains of which are standing to-day. Located in the Hay 'alley, this contrivance managed in its time to grind a deal of corn, and though it ground slowly, it did its work well. But it was too slow, so Mr. Dunn .sold it, and in 1844 he erected a steam mill at Mount Barker. Year by year passed in quiet toil. The Province was recovering from the financial collapses of the early " forties," and was gradually becoming the granary of Australia. The Onkaparinga district and the country around supplied the chief proportion of the output ; and so prosperous was the neighborhood, that population was attracted and substantial buildings were erected. Meanwhile Mr. John Dunn's Hour, with that of the Ridleys, Harts, and Magareys, had become the most popular brand in South Australia and the other colonies. In order the more effectually to master the intricacies of machinery, Mr. Dunn associated himself with the late Mr. Ridley, and helped to construct the well-known Ridley reaper, which he at once put to work on Mr. D. MacFarlane's land at Mount Barker. During the first 20 years the milling operations flourished, and the Dunn mills became the most important in the Province. In place of the primitive wind-mill, there were now i i steam fiourmills, which at the several periods of erection were fitted with the most advanced milling machinery. Four hundred men were engaged to conduct them, apart altogether from the extensive business of shipping wheat to Europe (which the firm combined with its milling business), and the numerous agencies established outside the Province. In 1890 no less than 75,000 tons of wheat and flour were exported in one year by the firm, and its product circulated in Queensland, New South Wales, Western Australia, the Pacific Islands, .South Africa, the United Kingdom, and other places. From the beginning the business of Mr. Dunn thrived, and the trade was extensive. He continued to be sole proprietor of the firm until 1852, when he admitted his son, John Dunn, jun., into partnership, and with him into the firm came the late Mr. W. H. Dunn, the late Mr. W. Hill (brother-in-law), and the late Mr. G. Shorney. Mr. W. H. Dunn retired in 1875, and started farming in the North; while Mr. Hill died in 1885, and Mr. Shorney in 1891. Three grandsons — Messrs. F. W., A. C., and E. A. A. Dunn - were given each an interest of their father's share in the business towards the end of the " eighties" ; and in 1889 the venerable founder retired from the firm, leaving John Dunn, jun., sole owner of the great house. That Mr. John Dunn, the elder, was enterprising and shrewd, the large dimensions of his business amply testified. During his early sojourn at Hay Valley he had evinced a sincere interest in the welfare of that district, and was distinguished as an earnest supporter of Methodism. At the first election following the granting of a Responsible Constitution to South Australia, on February 9, 1857, he was returned with