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James Cowan (21 April 1848 – 21 July 1890),
flour miller A miller is a person who operates a mill, a machine to grind a grain (for example corn or wheat) to make flour. Milling is among the oldest of human occupations. "Miller", "Milne" and other variants are common surnames, as are their equivalents ...
and
investor An investor is a person who allocates financial capital with the expectation of a future Return on capital, return (profit) or to gain an advantage (interest). Through this allocated capital most of the time the investor purchases some specie ...
, had been a member of the
South Australian House of Assembly The House of Assembly, or lower house, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of South Australia. The other is the Legislative Council. It sits in Parliament House in the state capital, Adelaide. Overview The House of Assembly was creat ...
for the Yatala for only 2 months when he was killed in an accident at a railway crossing. Cowan was an early investor in
BHP BHP Group Limited (formerly known as BHP Billiton) is an Australian multinational mining, metals, natural gas petroleum public company that is headquartered in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The Broken Hill Proprietary Company was founded ...
. The property associated with ''Erindale'', Cowan's residence at Burnside, was sub-divided after his death into a new suburb which was also named Erindale.


Early life

Cowan who was born in
County Tyrone, Ireland County Tyrone (; ) is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of the thirty-two traditional counties of Ireland. It is no longer used as an administrative division for local government but retains ...
(now
Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...
), was the third son of John Cowan, a ploughman and shepherd, and his wife Margaret, née Lammey. Cowan, his parents and four other siblings immigrated to South Australia (SA), arriving in
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 3 August 1852. The family initially settled in
North Adelaide North Adelaide is a predominantly residential precinct and suburb of the City of Adelaide in South Australia, situated north of the River Torrens and within the Adelaide Park Lands. History Surveyor-General Colonel William Light of the colo ...
where Cowan attended the
North Adelaide Grammar School North Adelaide Grammar School, later Whinham College was a private school operated in North Adelaide, South Australia by John Whinham (3 August 1803 – 13 March 1886) and his family. History John Whinham The founder of the school was born at S ...
. When he reached the age of 14, he left to assist with his father's businesses in
Two Wells Two Wells is a town approximately north of the Adelaide city centre in South Australia adjacent to Port Wakefield Road and passed by the Adelaide-Port Augusta railway line. The first settlers in the area used two aboriginal wells in the area a ...
(39 km north of Adelaide).


Business career

After starting his working life as a farmer, grazier and machinist in the mid-1860s, Cowan began a career as a flour miller. He later purchased the Two Wells mill and later expanded his operations to include mills at
Gladstone William Ewart Gladstone ( ; 29 December 1809 – 19 May 1898) was a British statesman and Liberal politician. In a career lasting over 60 years, he served for 12 years as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, spread over four non-conse ...
,
Quorn Quorn is a brand of meat substitute products, or the company that makes them. Quorn originated in the UK and is sold primarily in Europe, but is available in 14 countries. The brand is owned by parent company Monde Nissin. Quorn is sold as b ...
, Mallala and
Allendale North Allendale North (also known as Allendale) is a locality in the Australian state of South Australia about north of the town of Kapunda. History Allendale North was surveyed in 1859. The post office was opened in 1861. The wheatsheaf pub was bu ...
and wharfs at
Port Pirie Port Pirie is a small city on the east coast of the Spencer Gulf in South Australia, north of the state capital, Adelaide. The city has an expansive history which dates back to 1845. Port Pirie was the first proclaimed regional city in South ...
and
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 ...
. He later merged all of these assets with those of others to form the South Australian Milling Company in which he was a major shareholder. The economic depression that affected South Australia in the early 1880s forced Cowan to assign his estate. About 1885, his fortunes improved when he became one of the early investors in
BHP BHP Group Limited (formerly known as BHP Billiton) is an Australian multinational mining, metals, natural gas petroleum public company that is headquartered in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The Broken Hill Proprietary Company was founded ...
via the agency of his wife's brothers-in-law, William Wilson and S. Wilson. He was able to resume investing with a focus on agriculture and mining. At the time of his death, his portfolio included J. Hill & Company (coaching), the Australian Refining and Smelting Company, the Hamley Copper Mining Company, the Moonta and Wallaroo Copper Mining Company, the Bridgeport Coal Company, the General Electric Supply Company of Australia, Ballarat Tramway Company as well as a number of farms and other property holdings.


Political career

Cowan had considered requests to stand for election to parliament at the two previous general elections. When the 1890 election was announced, Cowan nominated for the Electorate District of Yatala whose previous members included his eldest brother,
Thomas Thomas may refer to: People * List of people with given name Thomas * Thomas (name) * Thomas (surname) * Saint Thomas (disambiguation) * Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church * Thomas the A ...
. On 23 April 1890, he and William Gilbert were elected to the two vacancies for Yatala. Just after 5.00 pm on 21 July 1890, Cowan and his fellow passenger, Mark Bullimore, the local branch manager of the General Electric Supply Company of Australia, were both killed when a train collided with his horse-drawn buggy at the intersection of
Grand Junction Road Grand Junction Road is the longest east–west thoroughfare in the Adelaide metropolitan area, traversing through Adelaide's northern suburbs approximately 8 kilometres north of the Adelaide city centre. Route Travelling from the Port Adelaide r ...
and the main railway line running north from Adelaide in the suburb of Dry Creek. His funeral at Payneham on 23 July 1890 was attended by a large number of mourners including his extended family, friends and business associates, and members from both houses of the
South Australian Parliament The Parliament of South Australia is the bicameral legislature of the Australian state of South Australia. It consists of the 47-seat House of Assembly ( lower house) and the 22-seat Legislative Council (upper house). General elections are h ...
. The vacancy in Yatala caused by Cowan's death was filled by Richard Butler who had unsuccessfully stood earlier in 1890.


Personal life

Cowan married Sarah Ann Warren, the eldest daughter of Henry Warren & Annie Topham at
Two Wells Two Wells is a town approximately north of the Adelaide city centre in South Australia adjacent to Port Wakefield Road and passed by the Adelaide-Port Augusta railway line. The first settlers in the area used two aboriginal wells in the area a ...
on 27 November 1873. They had eight children including
Darcy Rivers Warren Cowan Sir Darcy Rivers Warren Cowan (8 August 1885 – 9 June 1958) was an Australian medical practitioner and advocate of effective treatment of tuberculosis. Family The sixth of seven sons of James Cowan and Sarah Ann (née Warren) and brother of ...
, who is notable as a medical practitioner, and Gladys Rosalind Lewis, OBE who is notable both for her marriage to
Essington Lewis Essington Lewis, CH (13 January 18812 October 1961) was a prominent Australian industrialist. He was the Director-General of the Department of Munitions during World War II. Biography Early life Essington Lewis was born in Burra, South Aust ...
and her community service. After his death, Cowan's widow and eight children remained at the property in the Adelaide suburb of Burnside that he had purchased in 1889 and had renamed ''Erindale''. In 1912, the property was sold and sub-divided into a new suburb which was named Erindale.Warburton; Elizabeth, (1981), ''The Paddocks Beneath: a history of Burnside from the beginning'', The Corporation of the City of Burnside, South Australia, pages 16 and 17. ()


See also

*
Crown Point Station Crown Point Station is a pastoral lease that operates as a cattle station in the Alice Springs region of the Northern Territory. Description It is situated north west of Aputula and east of Kulgera. The ephemeral Finke River flows throu ...
* Members of the South Australian House of Assembly, 1890–1893 *
Political families of South Australia This is a list of related persons who have held positions in the two South Australian houses of parliament or represented South Australia in Canberra. It includes some notes on people with identical surnames but no clear family connection. :Note: ...
*
Railway accidents in South Australia This article lists significant fatal, injury-only, and other accidents involving railway rolling stock, including crashes, fires and other incidents in the Australian state of South Australia. The first known incident in this list occurred in 187 ...


References


Further reading

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cowan, James Members of the South Australian House of Assembly Australian flour millers and merchants Railway accident deaths in Australia Road incident deaths in South Australia 1848 births 1890 deaths People from County Tyrone 19th-century Australian politicians 19th-century Australian businesspeople Politicians from Adelaide Irish emigrants to colonial Australia