John Brodie Spence (15 May 1824 – 7 December 1902) was a prominent Scottish-born banker and politician in the early days of

South Australia 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 ...

. He was a brother of the reformer

Catherine Helen Spence Catherine Helen Spence (31 October 1825 – 3 April 1910) was a Scottish-born Australian author, teacher, journalist, politician, leading suffragist, and Georgist. Spence was also a minister of religion and social worker, and supporter of ...

. Spence was born in Melrose,

Scottish Borders The Scottish Borders ( sco, the Mairches, 'the Marches'; gd, Crìochan na h-Alba) is one of 32 council areas of Scotland. It borders the City of Edinburgh, Dumfries and Galloway, East Lothian, Midlothian, South Lanarkshire, West Lothi ...

to David Spence (1790–1846), solicitor and first Town Clerk of

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 ...

, and Helen Brodie Spence (1791–1887). He arrived in South Australia on 31 October 1839 on the ''Palmyra'' with his mother. Other children of David and Helen on the passenger list were his sisters Catherine, Jessie, Helen and Mary and brother William. His father arrived earlier (13 October 1839) on the ''Dumfries''. The family was struggling to make ends meet, so after some seven months, he and his brother went farming, without much success, and he moved to Adelaide in 1845, joining either the Bank of Adelaide or the Bank of South Australia, where he remained for seven years. He was afterwards for five years official assignee and curator of intestate estates, then in 1856 accountant in the Railway Department, and from 1859 to 1864 Official Assignee and Curator of Intestate Estates. but left that office for the management of the English and Scottish Bank (soon to become English, Scottish and Australian Chartered Bank) which he held till 1878. Between around 1879 and 1881 he was involved with

Arthur Harvey Arthur Harvey (September 26, 1895 – March 22, 1976) was an American businessman best known as the namesake of the Harvey Park neighborhood of Denver. Early life and World War I Harvey was born in Edom, Texas. At age 16 he left school to do man ...

in land development at The Grange and East Adelaide. He was elected a member of the legislative council in 1881, second on the poll with

Henry Ayers Sir Henry Ayers (now pron. "airs") (1 May 1821 – 11 June 1897) was the eighth Premier of South Australia, serving a record five times between 1863 and 1873. His lasting memorial is in the name Ayers Rock, also known as Uluru, which was en ...

, W. C. Buik, James Rankine, John Pickering, and R. A. Tarlton. He was Chief Secretary in the Downer Government from June to October 1885, when he retired to take the position of Commissioner of Public Works. In June 1886 he again took office as chief secretary, retiring the following month. On 5 February 1896, he was appointed one of the first five trustees of the

State Bank A state bank is generally a financial institution that is chartered by a federated state, as opposed to one regulated at the federal or national level. State banks differ from a reserve bank in that it does not necessarily control monetary policy ...

, and was chairman of the board at the time of his death.

Family

His parents were David Spence (1790–1846) and Helen Spence (née Brodie) (1791–1887). Their children were: *Agnes Spence (9 February 1818 – c. 1835) *Jessie Spence (1821 – 21 November 1888) married Andrew Murray (c. 1814 – 7 October 1880) on 2 November 1841. He was businessman then journalist for the ''South Australian'' and later the Melbourne ''Argus'' and ''Economist''. *William Richard Spence (13 December 1822 – 1903 New Zealand ) *John Brodie Spence (1824 – 7 December 1902) married Jessie Cumming (1830 – 31 January 1910) on 22 April 1858. Their home was "Fenton", Glenelg. They had three daughters: :*Lucy Spence (1 March 1859 – 10 June 1951) married James Percy Morice on 20 March 1886. She was awarded the

MBE Mbe may refer to: * Mbé, a town in the Republic of the Congo * Mbe Mountains Community Forest, in Nigeria * Mbe language, a language of Nigeria * Mbe' language, language of Cameroon * ''mbe'', ISO 639 code for the extinct Molala language Molal ...

for her work with the free kindergarten movement. She was also one of the founders of the

Mothers and Babies' Health Association Helen Mary Mayo, (1 October 1878 – 13 November 1967) was an Australian medical doctor and medical educator, born and raised in Adelaide. In 1896, she enrolled at the University of Adelaide, where she studied medicine. After graduating, May ...

in Adelaide. :*Agnes Helen Spence (19 December 1863 – 27 August 1949) :*Margaret Ethel Spence (26 August 1865 – ) married George A. Stephen on 18 August 1887 *

(31 October 1825 – 3 April 1910) *David Spence, jnr. (1827–1890) stayed in Scotland for his education, emigrated in 1846. Never married. *Mary Brodie Spence (c. 1830 – 22 November 1870) married William John Wren (c. 1829 – 6 February 1864) on 19 December 1855. Wren was with legal firm Bartley, Bakewell, & Stow, then solicitor in partnership with

James Boucaut Sir James Penn Boucaut (;) (29 October 1831 – 1 February 1916) was a South Australian politician and Australian judge. He was a member of the South Australian House of Assembly on four occasions: from 1861 to 1862 for City of Adelaide, from ...

as Boucaut & Wren.

References

, - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Spence, John Brodie Members of the South Australian Legislative Council Australian bankers Australian real estate businesspeople 1824 births 1902 deaths 19th-century Australian politicians People from Melrose, Scottish Borders Scottish emigrants to colonial Australia 19th-century Australian businesspeople

Family

Further reading

References