Charles Thomas McGlew (1870–1931), a South Australian merchant and exporter, was the first to export barley from Australia.

Origins

Born at Redfern, Sydney, in 1870, he was a son of Cornelius Stanley McGlew (1839–1924), an English-born mining surveyor and inventor who discovered minerals in N.S.W. and Queensland, particularly

tin Tin is a chemical element with the symbol Sn (from la, stannum) and atomic number 50. Tin is a silvery-coloured metal. Tin is soft enough to be cut with little force and a bar of tin can be bent by hand with little effort. When bent, t ...

deposits, and whose name is perpetuated in McGlew Street,

Stanthorpe, Queensland Stanthorpe is a rural town and locality in the Southern Downs Region, Queensland, Australia. In the , Stanthorpe had a population of 5,406 people. The area surrounding the town is known as the Granite Belt. Geography Stanthorpe lies on the New ...

Standard Salt Company

As a youth he was apprenticed as a shipbroker for the

Orient Steam Navigation Company The Orient Steam Navigation Company, also known as the Orient Line, was a British shipping company with roots going back to the late 18th century. From the early 20th century onwards, an association began with P&O which became 51% shareholde ...

. He moved to South Australia in 1900 and commenced trading as a merchant and exporter. McGlew was a pioneer in the

salt Salt is a mineral composed primarily of sodium chloride (NaCl), a chemical compound belonging to the larger class of salts; salt in the form of a natural crystalline mineral is known as rock salt or halite. Salt is present in vast quantitie ...

industry in South Australia, having established in 1903 the Standard Salt Company which from 1912 operated a busy refinery at

Edithburgh Edithburgh is a small town on the south-east corner of Yorke Peninsula situated on the coastline of Salt Creek Bay, in the state of South Australia. Edithburgh is about west of Adelaide across Gulf St Vincent, but away by road. At the 2016 ...

, exporting to

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

among other places. In 1911 he purchased the rights to salt deposits at Esperance, W.A., establishing operations there also. This company was amalgamated with the Australian Salt Company in 1930.

War Service, 1916-20

In 1912, because of his export links, he was appointed Russian

Consul Consul (abbrev. ''cos.''; Latin plural ''consules'') was the title of one of the two chief magistrates of the Roman Republic, and subsequently also an important title under the Roman Empire. The title was used in other European city-states throug ...

for South Australia. In 1916, during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, at the age of 46 and despite having lucrative business interests, McGlew enlisted in the A.I.F. and was sent abroad as a

second lieutenant Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces, comparable to NATO OF-1 rank. Australia The rank of second lieutenant existed in the military forces of the Australian colonies and Australian Army until ...

with reinforcements of the 27th Battalion. He claimed that by volunteering his example secured 300 to 400 Russian recruits to the A.I.F. In France, a short term of service with the transport details of the battalion was terminated by exposure to

gas Gas is one of the four fundamental states of matter (the others being solid, liquid, and plasma). A pure gas may be made up of individual atoms (e.g. a noble gas like neon), elemental molecules made from one type of atom (e.g. oxygen), or ...

and the rigors of the French winter, from which he never properly recovered. His services were retained in munitions and arsenal base depots of England and the Australian Commonwealth repatriation office in London after the cessation of hostilities, and he was promoted to the rank of

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

before returning to Australia in 1920.

Grain and Wool Merchant

Returning from the war, McGlew expanded his commercial interests as a grain merchant, wool broker, and stock agent, opening branches in Melbourne, Perth, Brisbane, and London. A new company, McGlew & Co. Limited, was incorporated at

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

on 16 February 1924, he being the chairman. In the mid-1920s

barley Barley (''Hordeum vulgare''), a member of the grass family, is a major cereal grain grown in temperate climates globally. It was one of the first cultivated grains, particularly in Eurasia as early as 10,000 years ago. Globally 70% of barley pr ...

growers on

Yorke Peninsula The Yorke Peninsula is a peninsula located northwest and west of Adelaide in South Australia, between Spencer Gulf on the west and Gulf St Vincent on the east. The peninsula is separated from Kangaroo Island to the south by Investigator Strai ...

became dissatisfied with the service provided by

grain trade The grain trade refers to the local and international trade in cereals and other food grains such as wheat, barley, maize, and rice. Grain is an important trade item because it is easily stored and transported with limited spoilage, unlike other ...

rs, especially the

Adelaide Steamship Company The Adelaide Steamship Company was an Australian shipping company and later a diversified industrial and logistics conglomerate. It was formed by a group of South Australian businessmen in 1875. Their aim was to control the transport of goods b ...

. To compel change they formed two trading companies of their own and then sought McGlew's assistance to use a

cooperative A cooperative (also known as co-operative, co-op, or coop) is "an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly owned and democratically-control ...

similar to the

wheat pool A wheat pool is a co-operative that markets grain (mostly wheat) on behalf of its farmer-members. In Canada in 1923 and 1924, three wheat pools were created. They were farmer-owned co-operatives, created to break the power of the large for-pr ...

s of Canada and the

Cooperative Wheat Pool of Western Australia Cooperative Wheat Pool of Western Australia, commonly known as the Wheat Pool of Western Australia, is a cooperative of wheat growers in Western Australia. The cooperative was formed in 1922 and one of the inaugural trustees was Charles Walter Harp ...

. Together with the barley growers, in 1925 McGlew purchased and imported the 722-ton steamship ''Broadway''. McGlew used this ship to export the growers’ barley, for which he became known as the first person to export barley from Australia. Although uneconomical to continue beyond one season, this bold action was sufficient to bring about the market reforms desired by growers.

Liberty Motor Oil Company

Based on his experiences with motorised transport on the Western Front, in the late 1920s McGlew's company were Australian agents for the Atlantic Union Oil Company, leading to his establishment of the Liberty Motor Oil brand in 1930, with head office at 15 Waymouth Street, Adelaide. With great promise, the company advertised “Liberty oils for every use: Liberty Motor Oils, Liberty Agricultural Oils, Liberty Tractor Oils, Liberty Industrial Oils, Liberty Diesel Oils. Liberty Greases for every purpose.” However, by now McGlew was suffering much illness from the effects of gassing in the war and the Liberty Motor Oil Company collapsed soon after his death at North Adelaide on 28 December 1931, aged 63. He was interred at

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 site is located in Park 23 of the Adelaide Park Lands just south-west of the Adelaide city centre, between ...

. Oil stocks on hand were remaindered, mainly to

Riverland The Riverland is a region of South Australia. It covers an area of along the Murray River, River Murray from where it flows into South Australia from New South Wales and Victoria (Australia), Victoria downstream to Blanchetown, South Australia ...

motor dealers. His estate was valued for probate at £7,656.

Family

McGlew married Alice Walker, of Sydney, who survived him. Estranged in later life, they divorced in 1929.NSW State Records, Matrimonial Causes, No. 932/1929. Their daughter was the prominent medical practitioner and journalist Dr

Phyllis Cilento Phyllis Dorothy Cilento, Lady Cilento (née McGlew; 13 March 189426 July 1987) was an Australian medical practitioner, prominent medical journalist, and pioneering advocate of family planning in Queensland. In August 2018, about 900 staff at ...

, mother of actress and author

Diane Cilento Diane Cilento (2 April 1932 – 6 October 2011) was an Australian actress. She is best known for her film roles in '' Tom Jones'' (1963), which earned her an Academy Award nomination, '' Hombre'' (1967) and ''The Wicker Man'' (1973). She also r ...

, who married actor

Sean Connery Sir Sean Connery (born Thomas Connery; 25 August 1930 – 31 October 2020) was a Scottish actor. He was the first actor to portray fictional British secret agent James Bond on film, starring in seven Bond films between 1962 and 1983. Origina ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McGlew, Charles Thomas Australian businesspeople Businesspeople from Adelaide 1870 births 1931 deaths Burials at West Terrace Cemetery