Page:History of Adelaide and vicinity.djvu/563

 ADKLAIUE AND VICINITY
 * )37

M Mr. R. Barr Smith R. R. HARR SMITH was born in the parish of Lochwinnoch, in the County of Renfrewshire, Scotland, in 1824. I->om school he proceeded to Glasgow University. After leaving the University, he followed various commercial pursuits in the city of Glasgow, and subsequently came to Melbourne. Early in 1855 he came to South Australia, and joined the firm of Elder & Co., then compo.sed of Mr. Thomas Elder and Mr. George Elder. On the with- drawal of Mr. George Elder in 1856, Messrs. Edward Stirling and John Taylor were admitted as partners, business being carried on under the style of Elder, Stirling, & Co., until 1863, when Messrs. Stirling and Taylor having retired, Mr. Thomas Elder and Mr. R. Barr Smith continued the business under the name of Elder, Smith, & Co., until 1888, when it was transferred to Elder, Smith, & Co., Limited. In the early periods of the Province's growth there existed a wide field for enterprise, of which the firm of Elder, .Smith, & Co. availed itself. Its members, seeing that careful operations would give a remunerative return to their capital, developed and extended their business of mercan- tile, pastoral, and financial agents. Shipping agencies, charters, and imports became portions of their business undertakings, and, with the capital thus accumulated, large financial operations were entered upon. The history of the Wallaroo and Moonta Copper Mines is inseparably connected with the firm of which Mr. Barr Smith was partner. When the Wallaroo Mine was discovered, the prospectors needed money for development. They entered into negotiations with the firm, who advanced capital for working purposes, and for this financial assistance many of the shares of the company became the property of Mr. R. Barr Smith and his partners. After a time, when the shafts had found their way deeper I J P/wiu