Sir George Brookman KBE (15 April 1850 – 20 June 1927) was a

South Australian South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

businessman who made a fortune from a gold discovery in Western Australia, and is remembered as a generous benefactor of the South Australian School of Mines and Industries and the

University of Adelaide The University of Adelaide (informally Adelaide University) is a public research university located in Adelaide, South Australia. Established in 1874, it is the third-oldest university in Australia. The university's main campus is located on ...

History

Brookman was born 15 April 1850 in

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, the eldest son of

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Benjamin Brookman (16 September 1826 – 11 June 1917) and his wife Jane née Wilson (d. 1 March 1881). The family emigrated to South Australia in 1852 on the ''Water Lily'', arriving at

Port Adelaide Port Adelaide is a port-side region of Adelaide, approximately northwest of the Adelaide CBD. It is also the namesake of the City of Port Adelaide Enfield council, a suburb, a federal and state electoral division and is the main port for the ...

on 5 May and settled in Prospect. After completing his education at the schools of James Bath and E. C. Mitton,R. M. Gibbs
'Brookman, Sir George (1850–1927)'
Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, accessed 2 December 2012. he found employment with grocery firm D & J Fowler. Then, with fellow-employee William Finlayson jun., he took over Fowler's retail arm in King William Street. He set himself up as a stock and share broker and earned a position in the

Adelaide Stock Exchange The Royal Institution of Australia (RiAus) is a national scientific not-for-profit organisation with a mission to "bring science to people and people to science". It opened in October 2009. Concept The concept of a Royal Institution of Austral ...

in 1890. In 1893 he founded, with brother

William Brookman William Gordon Brookman (8 August 1859 – 5 January 1910) was an Australian mining entrepreneur and politician. He made a fortune in the Western Australian gold rush of the 1890s, and later served as Mayor of Perth from 1900 to 1901 and as a m ...

and Sam Pearce, the Coolgardie Gold Mining and Prospecting Co. Ltd. syndicate which financed the exploration and proving of a mining lease "Ivanhoe" in

Kalgoorlie, Western Australia Kalgoorlie is a city in the Goldfields–Esperance region of Western Australia, located east-northeast of Perth at the end of the Great Eastern Highway. It is sometimes referred to as Kalgoorlie–Boulder, as the surrounding urban area inclu ...

, in what was later dubbed the "Golden Mile" and made its backers incredibly wealthy. The syndicate owed its success to dogged determination in the face of criticism from experts, as the mineral was in a form that had not been encountered before and through "Brookman's extraordinarily skilful financial transactions and able administration". e stood successfully for the Central District vacancy in South Australia's Legislative Council in 1901 caused by the resignation of

Charles Kingston Charles Cameron Kingston (22 October 1850 – 11 May 1908) was an Australian politician. From 1893 to 1899 he was a radical liberal Premier of South Australia, occupying this office with the support of Labor, which in the House of Assembly ...

, who took up a seat in the new Federal Parliament. He was re-elected, but did not stand for the elections of 1910.

Business Activities

*In 1896 he commissioned a four-storey block of offices " Brookman Building" at 35

Grenfell Street, Adelaide Grenfell Street () is a major street in the north-east quarter of the Adelaide city centre, South Australia. The street runs west-east from King William Street to East Terrace. On the other side of King William Street, it continues as Currie S ...

, previously the site of the Commercial Hotel. The architect was Alfred Wells. *He was chairman from 1898 to 1922 of the South Australian Electric Light and Motive Power Company and its successor, the Adelaide Electric Supply Company. *He was a director of the Bank of Adelaide. *He was a director of the Mintaro Slate Company.

Public works

*He was a member of the North Adelaide Congregational Church, and for many years Finance Secretary of the Congregational Union. *He gave £15,000 towards the eventual £50,000 cost of the School of Mines and Industries building on the Frome Road corner of North Terrace. The School had been housed in the

Jubilee Exhibition Building The Jubilee Exhibition Building in Adelaide, South Australia, was built to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Queen Victoria's accession to the throne on 20 June 1837. The jubilees of her Coronation on 28 June 1838, and of the Proclamation of Sou ...

(which was adjacent on the west side, and is now the site of the University of Adelaide's Ligertwood and Napier buildings), but had long since outgrown the space available to it. :A feature of the building is the great stained-glass windows in Brookman Hall, locally produced by E. F. Troy, celebrating the British Empire, and those to the south of the building, adjacent the stairway, made by the firm of H. L. Vosz, depicting British scientists and technologists

Watt The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of power or radiant flux in the International System of Units (SI), equal to 1 joule per second or 1 kg⋅m2⋅s−3. It is used to quantify the rate of energy transfer. The watt is named after James Wa ...

, Newton, Stephenson, Bessemer,

Kelvin The kelvin, symbol K, is the primary unit of temperature in the International System of Units (SI), used alongside its prefixed forms and the degree Celsius. It is named after the Belfast-born and University of Glasgow-based engineer and ph ...

, Faraday,

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and

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. *He gave practical support to the

and was for many years a member of its council. *He was also strongly associated with the Adelaide Children's Hospital. *He was involved with various patriotic movements, especially during the

Great War 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 ...

: the State Repatriation Board, the Red Cross Society, the Anzac Hospitality Committee, and other organisations with similar aims.

Recognition

*The large assembly hall of the

School of Mines A school of mines (or mining school) is an engineering school, often established in the 18th and 19th centuries, that originally focused on mining engineering and applied science. Most have been integrated within larger constructs such as miner ...

building, for which he contributed so generously, was named for him, as colloquially has the building itself. *He was knighted ( KBE) on 19 October 1920 for his "Services during the War" to the State, the Commonwealth, and the Empire.

Family

Parents

George's mother Jane died on 1 March 1881. His father, Benjamin (ca.1827 – 11 June 1917), then married Charlotte Elizabeth Ragless (ca.1847 – 1945) on 27 September 1883. Charlotte Elizabeth was the eldest daughter of John Ragless (ca.1815 – 27 May 1899) Their home was "Kelvin Lodge", (perhaps 3 Daphne St.) Prospect. After the death of her husband, Charlotte Elizabeth lived with her daughter Charlotte Evelyn "Lottie" Botten.

Siblings

;Children of Benjamin and Jane included: *George Brookman (15 April 1850 – 20 June 1927), the subject of this article *Benjamin (Joseph) (ca.1855 – 22 May 1932) married Lillian Alice Augusta (August?) Hassall ( – 13 May 1930) on 29 January 1878. *William Gordon (ca.1860 – 5 January 1910) *James ( – ) moved to California *Lillian ( – ) married Benjamin Edward Ragless (3rd son of John Ragless, born ca.1851) on 12 December 1878 *Katherine Isabella "Kate" Brookman ( – 2 November 1893) married John White of Kent Town on 24 August 1882 (son Howard Gordon White born 24 October 1893). ;Children of Benjamin and Charlotte Elizabeth included: *John Ragless Brookman (5 June 1885 – 1971) married Elsie Elizabeth Parker (ca.1885 – 10 June 1919) on 22 March 1910 *Charlotte Evelyn "Lottie" ( – 13 June 1945) married Norman Leonard Botten ( – ) on 26 December 1914

Family of George Brookman

He married Eliza Martha Marshall (10 February 1859 – 26 January 1931) at

St Kilda, Victoria St Kilda is an inner seaside suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 6 km (4 miles) south-east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Port Phillip local government area. St Kilda recorded a population of 19, ...

on 13 February 1878.
Their children included: *Alice May Brookman (18 May 1879 – ) married (Sir)

Thomas George Wilson Sir Thomas George Wilson (March 27, 1876 – March 15, 1958) was an Australian obstetrician and gynaecologist. He was a founding fellow of Royal Australasian College of Surgeons, the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists and State Nu ...

M.B. on 4 June 1902. They divorced in 1920. *George Wilson Brookman (11 August 1881 – ) married Mary "Polly" Shiels on 23 August 1915 *(Harry) Norman Brookman (22 January 1884 – 26 April 1949) married Ada Mary Dorothy "Nan" Burden (24 April 1889 – 1975) on 6 March 1912. Nan was the elder daughter of Fred Burden. :*Their son,

David Norman Brookman David Norman Brookman (24 March 1917 – 22 May 2000) was a politician in the State of South Australia. History David Brookman was born in Melbourne the son of Norman Brookman (1884–1949), and his wife Ada Mary Dorothy "Nan" Brookman, née Bu ...

(24 March 1917 – 22 May 2000) was elected to the

House of Assembly House of Assembly is a name given to the legislature or lower house of a bicameral parliament. In some countries this may be at a subnational level. Historically, in British Crown colonies as the colony gained more internal responsible gover ...

seat of Alexandra in 1948 for the LCL and held it until 1973. *Howard Brookman (6 June 1886 – ) Their home was either "Craigmellon" at 3 Edwin Terrace, Gilberton, or "Ivanhoe" at 9 Edwin Terrace.Heritage Plan Amendment Reports
''Walkerville News'', April–June 2007, The Corporation of the Town of Walkerville, pg.3 He died on 27 June 1927 at "Blair Athol", Avenel Gardens, Medindie. – Death notice of George Brookman. He was survived by his wife, his daughter, and two of his sons.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Brookman, George Settlers of South Australia Australian mining entrepreneurs Australian philanthropists Members of the South Australian Legislative Council 1850 births 1927 deaths Australian Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire Scottish emigrants to colonial Australia Businesspeople from Adelaide