Page:History of West Australia.djvu/618

208 When the Western Australian Turf Club was in low water a few years ago Mr. Parker, with others, came forward and assisted it out of serious difficulties. He also undertook the management of the racecourse, of which he is one of the trustees, and which is prettily situated on the banks of the Swan, and is laid down in grasses. As a committeeman he has had much to do with the constitution of the club, and he took an important part in drafting the rules. In the capacity of steward, a position he at present holds, he is called upon to discharge many onerous duties, which his knowledge of sport enables him to do in the most satisfactory manner. He is also trustee of the York Racecourse.

In his love for sport Mr. Parker is a typical Australian, but at the same time he does not allow it to interfere with his professional work. Mr. Parker was married, in 1881, to the eldest daughter of Mr. Worsley Clifton, late Collector of Customs, and has two children.

There is hardly any branch of sport in which Mr. Parker has not been an adept and even now, as a horseman, he is one of Western Australia's best amateur riders. He trained the winner of the first Perth Cup, and owned several famous horses. Mr. Parker's roll call of friends and well-wishers is a long one. His popularity is distributed over every circle, whether in the sporting world, the professional sphere of wig and gown, or in the quieter walks of social life.

HE world is growing alive to the fact that industry alone is the fort for national safety and security. The great powers, dynasties, and republics have spent their best energies in devising destructive tools for the speedy slaughtering of rebellious foes, and have spent millions in reaching their infernal results. Let us hope that a reaction may soon set in against these enormous expenditures, and that a stimulus may thus be given to constructive salutary policies.

Mineral resources are important factors in the growth of the British Empire, and among these the gold mining industry takes its place in the front rank. In Western Australia we can proudly boast of retaining in our midst mining men of singular activity and intelligence, who cannot be surpassed for their enthusiastic, progressive mining endeavours. That radiant skill is diffused over the many fields of the colony; Hannan's is fortunate in its goodly number, and in that number we note the conspicuous part played by the subject of this biographical sketch, Mr. Thomas Frederick Brimage.

Mr. Brimage was born in London in 1866, and proceeded to South Australia with his parents in 1873. His father was a man of some prominence in that colony, and was a master mariner in the Civil Service. On leaving school Master Thomas entered the mechanical and civil engineering departments of the Civil Service of South Australia, and remained for ten years in the Government employ. His aptitude for engineering science raised him to a good position among his compeers. His skill and mathematical gifts were soon recognised.

After these ten years of wealthy experience he left for Western Australia in 1893 to make his mental acquisitions subserve some individual enterprise in this fast rising colony. He practised his profession in Coolgardie, and amassed to himself a wide clièntele. When Hannan's became the favourite theatre for debutants and actors, many people migrated from Coolgardie, and among them was Mr. Brimage. After paying a visit to the surrounding fields, and having examined several claims, he, knowing their value, proceeded to buy. Several good claims were purchased in quick succession, and syndicates, hearing of his speculative successes, determined to have him as their representative. In this latter capacity he acquired several wealthy leases for his companies.

Mr. Brimage is general manager of the Hannan's Great Northern—a valuable property, belonging to a large English company, known as the Prospecting and General Development Company of Western Australia Limited. The property, which had been extensively developed, was floated in London as the Kalgoorlie and Mount Sir Samuel Proprietary. Its yield of gold since then has been the creditable average of one and a half ounces to the ton. Mr. Brimage was appointed some time ago consulting engineer to the Ballarat and Prince Oscar gold mines at White Feather and the Outridge Boulder, Mount Sylvia, and Hannan's Pride of the Valley, at Kalgoorlie.

These many important trusts have been ably discharged by him. Careful and vigilant attention to disinterested duties, and a consummate exercise of cautious judgment on matters of investment and speculation, have rendered him a most capable and fortunate representative. He has been instrumental in swelling