Page:History of Adelaide and vicinity.djvu/512

 4Sfi ADELAIDE AND VICINITY Captain William Henry Morish THE mines of Cornwall arc, and have been for scores of years, an important factor in the progress of that Western County of England, and in order to maintain this prosperity, the study of mineralised deposits, as well as the j^ractice of mining, is a sine qua uou in Cornish homes. Thus from his earliest days the young Cornishman becomes conversant with the ways of mining and mining procedure, and in the hard school of practical experience acquired his knowledge of the science of recovering mineral treasure from the bowels of the earth. Where the benefit of Cor- nish mining to Australia lies, is in the fact that so many of the sons of the westernmost county of England have come to the colonies. Captain William Henry Morish was born at Truro, Corn- wall, in 1844. True to the traditions of his surroundings, he engaged in mining at an early age, and when 16 years old he left for South Wales, where for two years he labored in the coal and iron mines in that part of the old country. He then resolved to come to South Australia. After his arrival in the Province, he was employed in the Wallaroo mines, where he spent his 21st birthday. When he had been two years at work Bond c- Co., Photo jj-, ^]^(. copper mines of the Peninsula, he, like so many others, decided to try his luck at gold-mining in Victoria. He spent nearly 20 years of his life on the famous goldfields of Ballarat and Bendigo ; and soon gaining distinction in the mining world, he acted as manager of a large number of well-known mines in the Ballarat district. Thence he went to Cobar, New South Wales, and there acted as underground manager of the Great Cobar Copper Mining Company. He remained at Cobar till 1886, when he proceeded to Broken Hill as manager of the Broken Hill South and Central Mines. Captain Morish was eminently successful in his management of these mines. A man of remarkably shrewd judgment, he early invested in the Great Barrier silver mines, and in 1888, having acquired a fortune, he retired from