George Sydney Aldridge (23 July 1847 – 21 August 1911) was a South Australian businessman, a longtime president of 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 Austra ...

History

Aldridge was born in London, the son of George Aldridge Sr. (ca.1817 – 12 December 1879), and brought to South Australia by his parents when only a few months old. He was educated at St. Peter's College when

Archdeacon Farr The Ven. George Henry Farr, M.A., LL.D. (2 July 1819 – 7 February 1904) was a British born Australian Anglican priest; headmaster of St. Peter's College from 1854 to 1879. History Farr was born in Tottenham, London, a son of John Farr, and was ...

was head master, and was a brilliant student, gaining the highest marks at the competitive examination when Sir R. G. MacDonnell, Governor of South Australia, was president of the board of governors. After leaving college Aldridge worked in various business houses as a clerk and accountant. In 1868 he joined G. W. Goyder's expedition to the

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory ...

. Three years afterwards he joined the mining boom in the Northern Territory with J. le M. F. J. Servante and Wickliffe Snow, where they discovered the Woolwonga Mine, which they worked successfully for 12 months, then Aldridge went on to the Sandy Creek diggings and was doing well until an attack of malaria forced him to return to Adelaide. He next went into partnership with his old school friend

Theodore Bruce Theodore Bruce (5 April 1847 – 2 July 1911) was an auctioneer, politician and Mayor of Adelaide 1904–1907. History Theodore Bruce was born in Leeds, Yorkshire, a son of William Bruce, a large woollens manufacturer. A grandfather, Edward ...

, as auctioneers. Next he, Bruce and W. T. Perrers (1849–1897) founded a brewery in

Port Augusta Port Augusta is a small city in South Australia. Formerly a port, seaport, it is now a road traffic and Junction (rail), railway junction city mainly located on the east coast of the Spencer Gulf immediately south of the gulf's head and about ...

. In 1888 Aldridge became a member of the Stock Exchange, and succeeded founding president Henry Bellingham (1807–1889), a position he held with distinction for 14 years, encompassing both the

Broken Hill Broken Hill is an inland mining city in the far west of outback New South Wales, Australia. It is near the border with South Australia on the crossing of the Barrier Highway (A32) and the Silver City Highway (B79), in the Barrier Range. It is ...

and

Kalgoorlie 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 includ ...

booms. The Stock exchange was closed as a mark of respect as soon as his death was announced, and again on the day of his funeral.

Family

G. S. Aldridge married Marion McFie (c. 1860 – 9 July 1953) on 20 October 1880. They had no children. She was active in patriotic charities, notably the

Cheer-Up Society The Cheer-Up Society was a South Australian patriotic organisation founded during The Great War, whose aims were provision of creature comforts for soldiers in South Australia. Much of their activity was centred on the Cheer-up Hut, which they buil ...

during

WWI 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 ...

James Henry Aldridge James Henry "Jim" Aldridge (4 July 1849 – 11 November 1929) was a horse breeder and hotelier in South Australia. He founded the Richmond Park Stud in the Adelaide suburb of Richmond. J. H. Aldridge, as he was generally known, or "Jim" to his f ...

(4 July 1849 – 11 November 1929), hotelier and horse racing aficionado, was a brother.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Aldridge, George Sydney People educated at St Peter's College, Adelaide 19th-century Australian businesspeople 20th-century Australian businesspeople Australian auctioneers 1847 births 1911 deaths