Page:History of Adelaide and vicinity.djvu/518

 492 ADELAIDE AND VICINITY Mr. Alexander Borthwick Murray THE name of Murray is among the best known and respected in South Austraha. Ahiiost since the establishment of the Province, members of the family have been prominently associated with its pastoral pursuits, and their stud sheep have formed the nucleus of many flocks in neighboring colonies, such as in Western Australia, New Zealand (North, South, and West), Queensland, New South Wales, and also in the Cape of Good Hope. The industry and knowledge of Mr. A. B. Murray, in particular, has proved of paramount advantage to colonial sheep- breeders. Mr. Alexander Borthwick Murray is a native of Langshall Burn, in the parish of Eskdale Moor, Dumfriesshire, Scotland, where he was born on Feb- ruary 14, 1 8 16. In his early youth he became associated with sheep-breeding and rearing, and, when 1 7 years old, went to the Highlands of Scotland, where he was engaged in acclimatising the Cheviot sheep in the mountainous repfionsof Inverness and Rosshire. He thus obtained considerable knowledge of woolgrowing, and was better fitted by experience than most early colonists to take up pastoral pursuits in Aus- tralia. In May, 1839, he left his native land in the ship Lady Lillford, antl arrived at Holdfast Bay on September 27, 1839. At this time the Province Hammer & Co., Photo had entered upon its first large boom, caused principally by the public works expenditure initiated by Colonel Gawler. That Governor infused great vitality into local affairs, and fitted out expeditions to explore the country north, south, and east. He also established a system of special surveys, under which i)urchasers of land could select a large area, of which each person might eventually acquire the freehold of 4,000 acres. Land speculation consequently became general, and very considerable areas were taken up in 1839-40, the ruling desire of the people being to actjuire land. Mr. Murray, when in Scotland, had promi.sed a distant relative, Sir James Malcolm, to manage for 12 months a property the latter had acquired at Barossa ; and he immediately set about fulfilling this engagement. He culled the sheep, cleared them of