James Grey Moseley CMG (April 1848 - 10 July 1937) was an Australian politician who represented the South Australian House of Assembly seat of Flinders from 1910 to 1933. He was part of the Liberal Union, Liberal Federation and Liberal and Country League. [1]
Moseley was born in Gawler, a son of Alice Moseley, née Maynard (c. 1819 – 25 April 1895) and Henry Jackson Moseley (c. 1819 – 6 July 1894), who emigrated with two brothers aboard Tam O'Shanter which arrived in 1836 as part of the First Fleet of South Australia, and is remembered for building the Pier Hotel, Glenelg.
He was educated at J(ames) Mordey Mitchell's Glenelg Educational Institution, [2] and on leaving was drawn to pastoral development, and around 1867, with his brother Thomas (1845–1896) left home with a combined capital of £800, which they put into a property, which might have been Coondambo Station, [3] some 180 miles (290 km) north-west of Port Augusta. They were defeated by drought and lost everything, and returned to Adelaide. Minutes of Evidence in the report of the 1927 Royal Commission into the Pastoral Industry, taken Monday June 14, 1926 (Parliament House, Adelaide) state that James Moseley said that he and his brother had an interest in the establishment of the opening of Wilcherry, north of Kimba, South Australia, and that 'we spent £800 on it, but prices were so low that we could not carry on, and we went to work again. The next venture was Coondambo.'
For a time he managed Yadlamalka and Black Point stations, and in 1880, having raised sufficient capital, returned to Coondambo, [4] and went into partnership with the owner Robert Bruce (c. 1835 – 4 November 1908). They were the first in northern South Australia to employ wire netting to keep out wild dogs and the rabbit pest, which they exterminated by fencing off the watercourses and waiting for a heatwave. He was also the first to sink a well in the north-west country. [5] They sold Coondambo by auction at White's Rooms in 1879, realizing a substantial profit, then Moseley took up Yadlamalka Station, of 11,000 acres (45 km2), which he purchased in 1888. [2]
Shortly after 1900 Moseley took over the neglected Yardea, Paney, Pondana, Yarloo and Carcuppa stations in the Gawler Ranges, turning them from degraded land overrun with rabbits into a profitable sheep run. He ringed the properties with 150 miles (240 km) of wire netting fencing, in conjunction with Andrew Tennant's adjacent Thurlga Station, which he later purchased. [2] Within twenty years had disposed of them at a substantial profit. He was also the first pastoralist to pipe water into the sheep runs.
In 1910 he left the land and was elected to the House of Assembly seat of Flinders, which encompassed Eyre Peninsula, which he knew well, and was regularly returned until he retired 22 years later. He was known as a stalwart fighter for the "man on the land", particularly those in the outback. He was known as the father of the Tod River scheme for his promotion of that reservoir. [3]
His remains were interred at the Mitcham General Cemetery.
Moseley married twice and had a son James Moseley of Keith and four daughters. They had a home at Prescott Terrace, Rose Park. [3]
European rabbits were first introduced to Australia in the 18th century with the First Fleet, and later became widespread, because of Thomas Austin. Such wild rabbit populations are a serious mammalian pest and invasive species in Australia causing millions of dollars' worth of damage to crops. Their spread may have been enhanced through the emergence of strong crossbreeds.
Sir Richard Butler was an Australian politician. He was a member of the South Australian House of Assembly from 1890 to 1924, representing Yatala (1890–1902) and Barossa (1902–1924). He served as Premier of South Australia from March to July 1905 and Leader of the Opposition from 1905 to 1909. Butler would also variously serve as Speaker of the House of Assembly (1921–1924), and as a minister under Premiers Charles Kingston, John Jenkins and Archibald Peake. His son, Richard Layton Butler, went on to serve as Premier from 1927 to 1930 and 1933 to 1938.
Sir Philip Albert Martin McBride, was an Australian politician. He was a United Australia Party member of the Australian House of Representatives for Grey from 1931 to 1937 and the Australian Senate from 1937 to 1944, and a Liberal Party of Australia member of the House of Representatives for Wakefield from 1946 to 1958. He served as a minister in both of Robert Menzies' governments, as Minister for the Army and Minister for Repatriation (1940), Minister for Supply and Development and Minister for Munitions (1940–1941), Minister for the Interior (1949–1950), and Minister for Defence (1950–1958).
Adelaide Educational Institution was a privately run non-sectarian academy for boys in Adelaide founded in 1852 by John Lorenzo Young.
He avoided rote learning, punishment and religious instruction, but taught moral philosophy, physiology, political economy and mechanical drawing ... (and) surveying on field trips.
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William Tennant Mortlock was a South Australian grazier and politician.
William James Browne,, generally referred to as Dr. Browne, was a grazier and pastoralist in South Australia who was born and died in England. His brother, John Harris Browne, was a noted explorer and pastoralist in the same colony.
Arcoona or Arcoona Station is a pastoral lease that operates as a sheep station.
Quinyambie or Quinyambie Station is a pastoral lease currently operating as a cattle station.
Wooltana Station, most commonly known as Wooltana, is a pastoral lease that operates as a sheep station in outback South Australia. It lies on what were formerly the lands of the Pilatapa.
Yardea Station is a pastoral lease in the Australian state of South Australia that operates as a sheep station, now within the Gawler Ranges National Park. Paney Station became part of Yardea Station in 1904.
Nilpena Station is a pastoral lease that operates as a cattle station in the northern Flinders Ranges in South Australia.
Sir John James Duncan was a politician in the colony and State of South Australia.
John Lindsay was a South Australian businessman and politician.
John Edward Pick was an Australian pastoralist and politician. He represented the South Australian House of Assembly multi-member seat of Burra Burra from 1915 to 1918. He was sometimes referred to as "the grand old man of the north-west".
Rodney Cockburn was a South Australian journalist, author of a popular reference book on South Australian place names.
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Henry Jackson Moseley was a builder and publican in the very early days of the British colony of South Australia.
Richard Smith was a partner and managing director of the Adelaide, South Australia, firm of George P. Harris, Scarfe & Co., later known as Harris Scarfe. His son Harold Law-Smith was prominent in the history of the company.