Isadore Samuel Emanuel (4 February 1860 – 5 January 1954) was a pastoralist and businessman in

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

Early life

Emanuel was born in

Goulburn Goulburn ( ) is a regional city in the Southern Tablelands of the Australian state of New South Wales, approximately south-west of Sydney, and north-east of Canberra. It was proclaimed as Australia's first inland city through letters pate ...

in 1860, the son of Solomon Emanuel, Jr. who was a pastoralist and merchant. His grandfather was Samuel Emanuel who had been elected as a member of the Legislative Assembly in New South Wales for the seat of Argyle in 1862. Both Isadore and his brother, Sydney Phillip, were employed in a Sydney livery stable that was a part of the family business. The

Kimberley Kimberly or Kimberley may refer to: Places and historical events Australia * Kimberley (Western Australia) ** Roman Catholic Diocese of Kimberley * Kimberley Warm Springs, Tasmania * Kimberley, Tasmania a small town * County of Kimberley, a ...

district in

was opened up for settlement in 1880 and their father joined with Michael and

Patrick Durack Patrick Durack (March 1834 – 20 January 1898) was a pastoral pioneer in Western Australia. His family were struggling tenant farmers from Magherareagh near Scarriff in County Clare, Ireland, who moved from Ireland to New South Wales in 1853. ...

in seeking large areas of land for settlement along the

Ord River The Ord River is a river in the Kimberley region of Western Australia. The river's catchment covers . The lower Ord River and the conjunction with Cambridge Gulf create the most northern estuarine environment in Western Australia. The Ord ...

Western Australia

In 1881, after the completion of a reconnaissance of the area, the Emanuels resolved to focus on the

Fitzroy River Fitzroy or FitzRoy may refer to: People As a given name *Several members of the Somerset family (Dukes of Beaufort) have this as a middle-name: **FitzRoy Somerset, 1st Baron Raglan (1788–1855) ** Henry Charles FitzRoy Somerset, 8th Duke of Beau ...

valley area in the West Kimberley area. Isadore arrived in 1884 with a flock of 2,860 sheep and established the

sheep station A sheep station is a large property ( station, the equivalent of a ranch) in Australia or New Zealand, whose main activity is the raising of sheep for their wool and/or meat. In Australia, sheep stations are usually in the south-east or sout ...

Noonkanbah Station Noonkanbah Station (or just Noonkanbah) is a pastoral lease, both a cattle and sheep station, on the Fitzroy River between Camballin and Fitzroy Crossing in the south central Kimberley region of Western Australia. The station was pegged out ...

, and the cattle runs,

Gogo Station Gogo or Gogo Station and sometimes referred to as Margaret Downs is a pastoral lease that has operated as a cattle station. It is located about south of Fitzroy Crossing and north east of Yungngora in the Kimberley region of Western Australia ...

and Lower Liveringa Station. The Emanuels profited by employing competent managers and earned good returns. By 1894 they established a company with

Alexander Forrest Alexander Forrest Order of St Michael and St George, CMG (22 September 1849 – 20 June 1901) was an explorer and surveying, surveyor of Western Australia, and later also a member of parliament. As a government surveyor, Forrest explored many ...

, called Forrest, Emanuel and Company, creating an effective monopoly in the live cattle trade between

Derby Derby ( ) is a city and unitary authority area in Derbyshire, England. It lies on the banks of the River Derwent in the south of Derbyshire, which is in the East Midlands Region. It was traditionally the county town of Derbyshire. Derby gai ...

and the southern port of

Fremantle Fremantle () () is a port city in Western Australia, located at the mouth of the Swan River in the metropolitan area of Perth, the state capital. Fremantle Harbour serves as the port of Perth. The Western Australian vernacular diminutive for ...

with the Emanuels acting as agents in the Kimberley. The brothers expanded their pastoral interests by acquiring

Meda Meda may refer to: Places * Meda de Mouros, a parish in Tábua Municipality, Portugal * Medas, a parish in Gondomar Municipality, Portugal * Meda-Ela, Sri Lanka * Međa (Leskovac), village in the municipality of Leskovac, Serbia * Meda, Lombardy ...

and Jubilee Downs Stations. Following the death of Forrest in 1901, the Emanuels bought his share of the company. At this stage the Emanuels entered into a business partnership in 1902 with

Sidney Kidman Sir Sidney Kidman (9 May 18572 September 1935), known as Sid Kidman and popularly named "the Cattle King", was an Australian pastoral farming, pastoralist and entrepreneur who owned or co-owned large areas of land in Australia in his lifetime. ...

and acquired a property in the neighbouring

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 ...

Victoria River Downs Station Victoria River Downs Station, also known as Victoria Downs and often referred to as The Big Run, is a pastoral lease that operates as a cattle station in the Northern Territory of Australia. Location It is located about south east of Timb ...

. The property occupied an area of and was regarded as one of the largest cattle stations in the world. The Emanuels now controlled a huge area of land in the Kimberley region of Western Australia and Northern Territory with either wholly or partly owned by the brothers. They also held large investments in the meat trade and were briefly the subject of a royal commission as the leaders of a meat ring. In 1909 Kidman and the Emanuels sold Victoria River Downs for £170,000, for which they had paid £20,000, to Bovril Australian Estates. Emanuel died in London in 1954, leaving an estate worth £721,563, of which assets to the value of £290,897 were in Western Australia.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Emanuel, Isadore 1860 births 1954 deaths Australian pastoralists People from Western Australia People from New South Wales Businesspeople from New South Wales