Jack De Garis
Encyclopedia
Dried fruit
Dried fruit is fruit where the majority of the original water content has been removed either naturally, through sun drying, or through the use of specialized dryers or dehydrators. Dried fruit has a long tradition of use dating back to the fourth millennium BC in Mesopotamia, and is prized...
s industries in the Sunraysia
Sunraysia
Sunraysia is an area of northwestern Victoria and southwestern New South Wales in Australia, known for its sunshine, grapes and oranges. Its main centre is Mildura....
area around Mildura
Mildura, Victoria
Mildura is a regional city in northwestern Victoria, Australia and seat of the Rural City of Mildura local government area. It is located in the Sunraysia region, and is on the banks of the Murray River. The current population is estimated at just over 30,000.Mildura is a major agricultural centre...
in the 1920s.
Early years
De Garis went to Mildura State School where he was described as an above average student. However, he left at the age of nine to work in his father's businesses in Mildura. He returned to school for his secondary education at his father's urging, boarding at Wesley College, MelbourneWesley College, Melbourne
Wesley College, Melbourne is an independent, co-educational, Christian day school in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Established in 1866, the college is a school of the Uniting Church in Australia. Wesley is the largest school in Australia by enrolment, with 3,511 students and 564 full-time staff...
from 1899 to 1901 where he rose to become dux
Dux
Dux is Latin for leader and later for Duke and its variant forms ....
of his class.
Described as being short in stature, he capitalised on an affectionate smile and a magnetic personality. Nevertheless, he excelled in school cricket and football where his lack of height of 1.5 metre and weight of 43 kilograms (94.8 lb) confounded coaches and opposition players.
Career
De Garis' father, Elizee De GarisElizee De Garis
Elisha Clement "Elizee" De Garis was an Australian irrigationist.De Garis was born at Saint Martin on Guernsey in the Channel Islands to carpenter Elisha De Garis and Mary, née Roberts. In 1854 the De Garises migrated to Australia, settling in Adelaide and then Naracoorte...
, had established a successful market garden
Market gardening
A market garden is the relatively small-scale production of fruits, vegetables and flowers as cash crops, frequently sold directly to consumers and restaurants. It is distinguishable from other types of farming by the diversity of crops grown on a small area of land, typically, from under one acre ...
business in Mildura from about 1885. In 1908 the day-to-day business was left to Jack, and Elisha moved to Melbourne establish a selling agency for the business. Jack was just 17, but had a strong self-belief and effervescent charm. Theatrical entrepreneur Claude Kingston described him as the 'prince of ballyhoo'.
He expanded the business rapidly, in 1910 borrowing heavily to establish a packing shed Sarnia Packing Pty Ltd, which later became part of Sunbeam Foods Group. In 1913 he borrowed again to purchase the 10009 acres (4,050.5 ha) Pyap Village Estate at Pyap, near Loxton
Loxton, South Australia
Loxton is a town on the south bank of the River Murray in the Riverland region of South Australia. At the 2006 census, Loxton had a population of 3,431....
in South Australia
South Australia
South Australia is a state of Australia in the southern central part of the country. It covers some of the most arid parts of the continent; with a total land area of , it is the fourth largest of Australia's six states and two territories.South Australia shares borders with all of the mainland...
. The estate was moderately successful as a farm produce settlement for several years until about 1921 when it was broken up and sold to fund the Kendenup venture. £23,000 was raised from the sale.
In 1919, a shortage of shipping space hit the dried fruits industry which was at this time, highly dependent on British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
markets. Knowing of his ability to market, the Australian Dried Fruits Association funded him to undertake an Australia-wide American-style publicity campaign to increase domestic consumption. De Garis also expanded into book publishing as well as producing the Sunraysia Daily
Sunraysia Daily
The Sunraysia Daily is a daily newspaper in the north-western Sunraysia region of Victoria, Australia. From its first publication in 1920 up until 14 September 2007, it was published in broadsheet format, changing to tabloid-size the following day....
newspaper in Mildura which employed nearly 100 staff.
Also in 1919, an American con-man named George Henry Cochrane emerged in Mildura. Cochrane wrote for The Bulletin
The Bulletin
The Bulletin was an Australian weekly magazine that was published in Sydney from 1880 until January 2008. It was influential in Australian culture and politics from about 1890 until World War I, the period when it was identified with the "Bulletin school" of Australian literature. Its influence...
as Grant Hervey and had recently been released from prison for forgery and uttering. Cochrane presented himself to two thousand Mildura citizens, selling the idea that the town should secede from Victoria
Victoria (Australia)
Victoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Geographically the smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by New South Wales, South Australia, and Tasmania on Boundary Islet to the north, west and south respectively....
. He started receiving the ₤5 subscriptions before De Garis exposed his true identity and criminal record.
As part of his dried fruits marketing he travelled to Western Australia
Western Australia
Western Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east...
where in 1920 he purchased the 47000 acres (19,020.2 ha) property of the Hassell family at Kendenup
Kendenup, Western Australia
Kendenup is a small town in the Great Southern region of Western Australia, within the Shire of Plantagenet. It is south east of Perth and north of Mount Barker. The Great Southern Railway passes through the town, being one of the original stations on the line...
for the purpose of building a new settlement to grow apples, potatoes and farm produce. De Garis subdivided the land into blocks ranging from 10 acres (4 ha) to 60 acres (24.3 ha). He set up companies, the De Garis Kendenup (W.A.) Development Company and the Kendenup Fruit Packing Company which ran a dehydrating factory to process vegetables and fruit grown by the 350 settlers which he had encouraged into the area. In December 1921, De Garis was living there himself and the enterprise was underway — a townsite was established. However, the settlement had insufficient capital and eventually foundered, also because of the uneconomical small lot sizes allocated. De Garis travelled to the United States to raise urgently needed capital which was promised but did not eventuate. After two years only 30 settlers remained.
The collapse of the settlement was the subject of a 1923 Western Australian Royal Commission
Royal Commission
In Commonwealth realms and other monarchies a Royal Commission is a major ad-hoc formal public inquiry into a defined issue. They have been held in various countries such as the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and Saudi Arabia...
into Kendenup land schemes in which fraud had been alleged. He was later exonerated of the charges.
Artistic Endeavours
As part of his publicity campaign for the Australian Dried Fruits Assocoation, De Garis engaged the services of popular composer Reginald StonehamReginald Stoneham
Reginald Alberto Agrati Stoneham was an Australian composer and publisher of mostly topical songs, and a musical comedy F.F.F. He was perhaps Australia's leading exponent of jazz and ragtime piano styles in the first decades of the 20th century as both composer and performer...
to put tunes to promotional lyrics he had written. The resulting Sun-Raysed Waltz was published as sheet music. This collaboration must have enthused De Garis, as he and Stoneham then worked on an ambitious "mystery" musical comedy F.F.F., which had a short but successful season for Hugh D. McIntosh
Hugh D. McIntosh
Hugh Donald "Huge Deal" McIntosh was an Australian show-business entrepreneur born to parents of Scottish and Irish origin and modest means in Sydney's Surry Hills, then a ramshackle suburb with a reputation for crime and vice among the largely Irish immigrant population. His policeman father Hugh...
's Tivoli theatres in Adelaide, Perth
Perth, Western Australia
Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia and the fourth most populous city in Australia. The Perth metropolitan area has an estimated population of almost 1,700,000....
and Melbourne in late 1920.
Aviation
De Garis described himself as an aviatorAviator
An aviator is a person who flies an aircraft. The first recorded use of the term was in 1887, as a variation of 'aviation', from the Latin avis , coined in 1863 by G. de la Landelle in Aviation Ou Navigation Aérienne...
, however the reality was that he owned several aeroplanes and employed pilots and navigators to ferry him between Australian cities and his business interests. Nevertheless, in an era of pioneer aviation, his frequent involvement was considered relatively dangerous and at one stage he was asked by investors to refrain from use of aeroplanes for transport.
With his pilots, he set several interstate flying records.
His first plane was a Boulton Paul P.9
Boulton Paul P.9
-References:NotesBibliography...
90 hp which he acquired in June 1920 and was flown by pilot Lieutenant A.L. Lang. (AFC). Later in 1920 he purchased a Sopwith Gnu
Sopwith Gnu
-References:* A.J. Jackson, British Civil Aircraft since 1919 - Volume 3, Putnam, London 1988, ISBN 0 85177 818 6* The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Aircraft , Orbis Publishing....
for £1,800 after the P.9 had crashed; employing Lieutenant F.S. Triggs as his permanent pilot. He then also purchased an Airco DH.4.
His first major interstate flight was in the DH.4 from Melbourne to Perth, a distance of 2169 miles (3,490.7 km), landing at Belmont Park Racecourse
Belmont Park, Western Australia
Belmont Park Racecourse is one of the two major horse racing venues within the Perth, Western Australia metropolitan area, the other being Ascot Racecourse. The track has a circumference of 1,699 metres with a 333 metre straight...
on 2 December 1920 after 19 hours 10 minutes. One stretch of 1105 miles (1,778.3 km) was done in 8¾ hours. The mechanic was Sergeant Stoward and the flight was the first to cross Australia from east to west. The three aviators were given a mayoral reception on their arrival in Perth.
A few weeks later on 14 December they flew from Perth to Sydney, a distance of 2462 miles (3,962.2 km) in a time of 21½ hours.
Other notable flights were from Mildura to Sydney (5½ hours) to Brisbane (4 hours 50 minutes) in January 1921. On 16 January they attempted a one-day flight from Brisbane
Brisbane
Brisbane is the capital and most populous city in the Australian state of Queensland and the third most populous city in Australia. Brisbane's metropolitan area has a population of over 2 million, and the South East Queensland urban conurbation, centred around Brisbane, encompasses a population of...
to Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
, achieving it between 6:15 am and 7:20 pm with a flying time of 10½ hours. Stopovers were made in Grafton
Grafton
- Places :Australia* Grafton, New South WalesCanada* Grafton, New Brunswick* Grafton, OntarioEngland* Grafton, Cheshire* Grafton, Herefordshire* Grafton, North Yorkshire* Grafton, Oxfordshire* Grafton, Shropshire* Grafton, Wiltshire...
, Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
and Cootamundra.
Decline
The Kendenup collapse coincided with a number of other financial failures within his empire. With mounting debts, he faked his own suicideSuicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...
by drowning in Port Phillip
Port Phillip
Port Phillip Port Phillip Port Phillip (also commonly referred to as Port Phillip Bay or (locally) just The Bay, is a large bay in southern Victoria, Australia; it is the location of Melbourne. Geographically, the bay covers and the shore stretches roughly . Although it is extremely shallow for...
on 5 January 1925, having written almost seventy farewell letters. He became the subject of an eight-day nationwide search and was apprehended the following week on a boat bound for New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
. De Garis gassed himself and died the following year at his Mornington home on 17 August 1926 with debts of £420,000.
Shortly before he died, an autobiographical novel
Autobiographical novel
An autobiographical novel is a form of novel using autofiction techniques, or the merging of autobiographical and fiction elements. The literary technique is distinguished from an autobiography or memoir by the stipulation of being fiction...
Victories of Failure: A Business Romance (1925) was published in which he described his life and business career in great detail under the pseudonym of "K.J. Rogers".
De Garis married Rene née Corbould in September 1907 and they divorced in May 1923. The following month he married his former private secretary Violet née Austin with whom he had one daughter. De Garis is buried at Brighton Cemetery
Brighton Cemetery
Brighton Cemetery is located in the Melbourne suburb of Caulfield South, Victoria, but takes its name from Brighton, Victoria.The Cemetery pre-dates the Caulfield Roads Board - the first official recognition of the suburb of Caulfield. Opened in 1855 it became, together with St. Kilda Cemetery, an...
in Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
.
Further reading
- Dunstan, K., Ratbags (1980).
- Melbourne Punch 15 January 1925.
- The Age 18 & 19 August 1926.
- The Argus 18 August 1926.
- The Herald 13 & 14 January 1925, 17 & 19 August 1926.