Alexander Hay (South Australian politician)
Encyclopedia
Alexander Hay was a South Australian merchant, pastoralist
and politician.
, arriving in May 1839. After working for only two years for the South Australia Company, he could afford to purchase his own land to farm at Gumeracha
. He soon acquired or invested in extensive pastoral land holdings throughout south-eastern Australia. He opened a grocery and hardware store on Rundle Street
in the Adelaide city centre
, specialising in supplying tools and equipment to the new copper mines and the booming building industry. He also became a proprietor of the newspaper, the South Australian Register
, a director of two insurance companies, two banks, a gas company and a wharf company. He served as vice-president of the Adelaide Zoo
, president of the YMCA
, an Adelaide City Councillor, and founded the Caledonian Society. He was married to Agnes Kelly in Adelaide in 1845, with whom he had eight children (only four survived to adulthood, a son and three daughters).
in the South Australian House of Assembly
. He almost became Premier in 1868, after a collapse in support from farmers resulted in the dissolution of the existing ministry. The Governor invited Hay, as the leader of the liberal land reformers and the only candidate with a clear policy, to form a ministry, but Hay refused. He was asked again the following month, and accepted but was unsuccessful in securing sufficient support.
Except for a five-year break between 1861 and 1866 during which he took his family on a trip to England and had his Beaumont
home, "Linden", rebuilt, he served the Parliament until 1890, being elected to the Legislative Council in 1873.
He is remembered for his commonsense, his support of industry, farmers, and young entrepreneurs, and his steadfast support of free primary education
. He is particularly noteworthy for his role as proposer and chairman of the Select Committee on Education in 1868, which recommended a secular and compulsory system (which became law seven years later). He was also a noted supporter of an Adelaide to Darwin railway
.
Agnes Hay died in 1870 and was buried in West Terrace Cemetery
. Hay married Agnes Grant Gosse in 1872, with whom he soon had four more children.
at Victor Harbor
in 1879. In 1881, the Mount Breckan mansion, one of the largest residences in Australia at that time, was completed.
Hay died at Mount Breckan in January 1898.
in the Adelaide Hills
. She had arrived in South Australia in September 1840. In 1845 (aged 27) she married Alexander Hay. Within a short time they had eight children. As was very common in those days, four of their children died before their third birthday. Agnes Hay died on 3 August 1870, aged only fifty-three. She was buried at the West Terrace Cemetery
where four of her children had already been buried.
Their children were:
Agnes was the eldest daughter of Dr William Gosse (1812–1883) and Agnes nee Grant (1811–1891). Their six children were:
As well as being Hay's second wife, and having the benefits of the Gosse family heritage, Agnes Grant Hay was an author. Her works include:
Works written about her include:
Hay and his second wife soon had an additional four children:
Pastoralism
Pastoralism or pastoral farming is the branch of agriculture concerned with the raising of livestock. It is animal husbandry: the care, tending and use of animals such as camels, goats, cattle, yaks, llamas, and sheep. It may have a mobile aspect, moving the herds in search of fresh pasture and...
and politician.
Early career
Born in Dunfermline, Scotland, as a young man he gained free passage to South Australia when working as a "wharfer"Stevedore
Stevedore, dockworker, docker, dock labourer, wharfie and longshoreman can have various waterfront-related meanings concerning loading and unloading ships, according to place and country....
, arriving in May 1839. After working for only two years for the South Australia Company, he could afford to purchase his own land to farm at Gumeracha
Gumeracha, South Australia
Gumeracha is a town near Adelaide, South Australia, located on the Adelaide-Mannum Road. It is located in the Adelaide Hills Council local government area. At the 2006 census, Gumeracha had a population of 731.-History:...
. He soon acquired or invested in extensive pastoral land holdings throughout south-eastern Australia. He opened a grocery and hardware store on Rundle Street
Rundle Street, Adelaide
Rundle Street is a street in the East End of Adelaide, South Australia. It runs from Pulteney Street in the west to East Terrace, where it becomes Rundle Road. Its former western extent, which ran to King William Street, was closed in 1972 to form the pedestrian street of Rundle Mall...
in the Adelaide city centre
Adelaide city centre
The Adelaide city centre is the innermost locality of Greater Adelaide, known by locals simply as "The City" or "Town". The locality is split into two key geographical distinctions: the city "square mile", bordered by North, East, South and West Terraces; and that part of the Adelaide Parklands...
, specialising in supplying tools and equipment to the new copper mines and the booming building industry. He also became a proprietor of the newspaper, the South Australian Register
South Australian Register
The Register, originally the South Australian Gazette and Colonial Register, was the first South Australian newspaper. It was first published in London in June 1836 and folded almost a century later in February 1931....
, a director of two insurance companies, two banks, a gas company and a wharf company. He served as vice-president of the Adelaide Zoo
Adelaide Zoo
Adelaide Zoo is Australia's second oldest zoo, and the only major metropolitan zoo in Australia to be owned and operated on a non-profit basis. It is located in the parklands just north of the city centre of Adelaide, South Australia. It is a full institutional member of the Zoo and Aquarium...
, president of the YMCA
YMCA
The Young Men's Christian Association is a worldwide organization of more than 45 million members from 125 national federations affiliated through the World Alliance of YMCAs...
, an Adelaide City Councillor, and founded the Caledonian Society. He was married to Agnes Kelly in Adelaide in 1845, with whom he had eight children (only four survived to adulthood, a son and three daughters).
Political career
In 1857, Hay was elected to the seat of GumerachaElectoral district of Schubert
Schubert is an electoral district of the House of Assembly in the Australian state of South Australia. It is named after Max Schubert, the winemaker of Grange Hermitage...
in the South Australian House of Assembly
South Australian House of Assembly
The House of Assembly, or lower house, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of South Australia. The other is the Legislative Council. It sits in Parliament House in the state capital, Adelaide.- Overview :...
. He almost became Premier in 1868, after a collapse in support from farmers resulted in the dissolution of the existing ministry. The Governor invited Hay, as the leader of the liberal land reformers and the only candidate with a clear policy, to form a ministry, but Hay refused. He was asked again the following month, and accepted but was unsuccessful in securing sufficient support.
Except for a five-year break between 1861 and 1866 during which he took his family on a trip to England and had his Beaumont
Beaumont, South Australia
Beaumont is a suburb of Adelaide in the City of Burnside. Founded as a purpose-built village by Sir Samuel Davenport in 1848, it initially struggled due to high land prices in the area. However, with Adelaide's inevitable expansion residents eventually settled...
home, "Linden", rebuilt, he served the Parliament until 1890, being elected to the Legislative Council in 1873.
He is remembered for his commonsense, his support of industry, farmers, and young entrepreneurs, and his steadfast support of free primary education
Primary education
A primary school is an institution in which children receive the first stage of compulsory education known as primary or elementary education. Primary school is the preferred term in the United Kingdom and many Commonwealth Nations, and in most publications of the United Nations Educational,...
. He is particularly noteworthy for his role as proposer and chairman of the Select Committee on Education in 1868, which recommended a secular and compulsory system (which became law seven years later). He was also a noted supporter of an Adelaide to Darwin railway
Adelaide-Darwin railway
The Adelaide–Darwin railway is a north-south transcontinental railway in Australia, between the cities of Adelaide, South Australia and Darwin, Northern Territory...
.
Agnes Hay died in 1870 and was buried in West Terrace Cemetery
West Terrace Cemetery
The West Terrace Cemetery is South Australia’s oldest cemetery, first appearing on Colonel William Light’s 1837 plan of Adelaide. The 27.6 hectare site is located in the south-west corner of the Adelaide central business district, between West Terrace, Anzac Highway, Sir Donald Bradman Drive and...
. Hay married Agnes Grant Gosse in 1872, with whom he soon had four more children.
Later life
Hay began building a summer residenceSummer house
A summer house or summerhouse has traditionally referred to a building or shelter used for relaxation in warm weather. This would often take the form of a small, roofed building on the grounds of a larger one, but could also be built in a garden or park, often designed to provide cool shady places...
at Victor Harbor
Victor Harbor, South Australia
Victor Harbor is a city located on the coast of the Fleurieu Peninsula, about 80 km south of Adelaide, South Australia. The city is the largest population centre on the peninsula, with an economy based upon agriculture, fisheries and various industries...
in 1879. In 1881, the Mount Breckan mansion, one of the largest residences in Australia at that time, was completed.
Hay died at Mount Breckan in January 1898.
Children
Alexander had twelve children, eight between 1846 and 1858 by his first wife Agnes, née Kelly (1818–1870, married 1845), and four between 1873 and 1877 by his second wife Agnes Grant, née Gosse (1837–1909, married 1872).Agnes Kelly
Agnes Kelly (1818–1870) was a bonnet maker in BalhannahBalhannah, South Australia
Balhannah is a town in the Adelaide Hills about 30 km southeast of Adelaide, the capital of South Australia. It was established in 1839 as a farming community. The fruit cold store built in 1914 was one of the first in Australia and is still in use. It is on the main interstate railway between...
in the Adelaide Hills
Adelaide Hills
The Adelaide Hills are part of the Mount Lofty Ranges, east of the city of Adelaide in the state of South Australia. It is unofficially centred on the largest town in the area, Mount Barker, which has a population of around 29,000 and is also one of Australia's fastest growing towns.- History :The...
. She had arrived in South Australia in September 1840. In 1845 (aged 27) she married Alexander Hay. Within a short time they had eight children. As was very common in those days, four of their children died before their third birthday. Agnes Hay died on 3 August 1870, aged only fifty-three. She was buried at the West Terrace Cemetery
West Terrace Cemetery
The West Terrace Cemetery is South Australia’s oldest cemetery, first appearing on Colonel William Light’s 1837 plan of Adelaide. The 27.6 hectare site is located in the south-west corner of the Adelaide central business district, between West Terrace, Anzac Highway, Sir Donald Bradman Drive and...
where four of her children had already been buried.
Their children were:
- Peter (1846–1848)
- Agnes (1848–1849)
- Margaret (1849–1916)
- Susan (1850–1851)
- Mary (1852–1891)
- Agnes (Aggie) Hay (1854–1933), a daughter of Alexander and first wife Agnes née Kelly, married William Christie Gosse on 22 December 1874. William Christie Gosse was the brother of Alexander's second wife Agnes Grant Hay née Gosse)
- Aggie and William had 3 children:
- William Hay Gosse MC (1875–1918) was killed in action in France. He married Muriel, née Davidson, who died in 1920. Their son George GosseGeorge GosseGeorge Gosse GC, a mine clearance specialist in the R.A.N.V.R was awarded the George Cross for the heroism he displayed between the 8 May and 19 May 1945 in Bremen Harbour in Germany...
(1912–1964) was awarded the George CrossGeorge CrossThe George Cross is the highest civil decoration of the United Kingdom, and also holds, or has held, that status in many of the other countries of the Commonwealth of Nations...
in 1946; - Sir James Hay Gosse (1876–1952) married Joanna Lang, daughter of Tom Elder Barr SmithTom Elder Barr SmithThomas Elder Barr Smith was a South Australian pastoralist and philanthropist, and the son of Robert Barr Smith.In 1917 his estate was subdivided to form the Adelaide suburb of Torrens Park....
- they had a daughter and four sons; and - Edith Agnes Gosse (1878-)
- James (1855–1908)
- Helen (1858–1861)
Agnes Grant Gosse
Agnes Grant Gosse (1837–1909) married Alexander Hay in March 1872 (aged 35). He had been introduced to Agnes Gosse at a function in 1867 at which the Gosse family had also been present.Agnes was the eldest daughter of Dr William Gosse (1812–1883) and Agnes nee Grant (1811–1891). Their six children were:
- Agnes Grant Gosse (1837–1909) - married Alexander Hay - 4 children
- William Christie Gosse (1842–1881) - in 1874 married Aggie Hay (1854–1933), his sister's step-daughter - 3 children
- Mary - married Alexander Melville
- Charles Gosse (1849–1885) studied medicine - married Mary, daughter of Hon. G.C. HawkerGeorge Charles HawkerGeorge Charles Hawker was an Australian settler and South Australian politician.-Early life:Hawker was born in London, the second son of Admiral Edward Hawker and his first wife Joanna Naomi, née Poore. He was educated partly on the continent, and entered Trinity College, Cambridge, in 1836 George...
- David - married Emily Fenn
- Henry - married Elizabeth Clark
As well as being Hay's second wife, and having the benefits of the Gosse family heritage, Agnes Grant Hay was an author. Her works include:
- Archibald Menzies, mystic / by Agnes Hay Grant, London : John Milne, 1908 NLA catalogue entry
- Malcolm Canmore's pearl / by Agnes Grant Hay, 1907
- After-glow memories / by Anglo-Australian, London : Methuen & Co., 1905 NLA catalogue entry
- Ober-Ammergau, and its great passion drama of 1900, 1902–1903
- Footprints: A Memoir of the Late Alexander Hay, one of the Fathers and Early Colonists of South Australia / by his widow. London : Elliot Stock, 1899. NLA catalogue entry
Works written about her include:
- A lady at sea : the adventures of Agnes Grant Hay / by Anthony Laube, 2001
Hay and his second wife soon had an additional four children:
- Gertrude (1873–1952)
- Alexander (1874–1901)
- William Gosse Hay (1875–1945) was an author.
- Helen (1877–1909), the youngest daughter, and her mother, second wife Agnes Grant née Gosse, were lost at sea on the ill-fated SS Waratah.
External links
- Images of Alexander Hay held in the Mortlock Library: