John Munro Bruce (10 October 1840 – 4 May 1901) was an Australian businessman. He was born in Ireland to Scottish parents and arrived in the

colony of Victoria In modern parlance, a colony is a territory subject to a form of foreign rule. Though dominated by the foreign colonizers, colonies remain separate from the administration of the original country of the colonizers, the '' metropolitan state'' ...

at the age of 18. He became the managing director and eventual majority shareholder in Paterson, Laing & Bruce, one of

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

's leading softgoods firms. He also held a number of civic positions, including as the founding club captain of the

Royal Melbourne Golf Club Royal Melbourne Golf Club is a 36-hole golf club in Australia, located in Black Rock, Victoria, a suburb southeast of Melbourne. Its West and East courses are respectively ranked number 1 and 6 in Australia. The West course is ranked in the t ...

. His son

Stanley Bruce Stanley Melbourne Bruce, 1st Viscount Bruce of Melbourne, (15 April 1883 – 25 August 1967) was an Australian politician who served as the eighth prime minister of Australia from 1923 to 1929, as leader of the Nationalist Party. Born ...

became prime minister of Australia.

Early life

Bruce was born in Brooklawn,

County Leitrim County Leitrim ( ; gle, Contae Liatroma) is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Connacht and is part of the Northern and Western Region. It is named after the village of Leitrim. Leitrim County Council is the local authority for the ...

, Ireland, the son of Mary (née Munro, Monro or Monroe) and George Williamson Bruce. His family was Scottish, originating in

East Ayrshire East Ayrshire ( sco, Aest Ayrshire; gd, Siorrachd Àir an Ear) is one of thirty-two council areas of Scotland. It shares borders with Dumfries and Galloway, East Renfrewshire, North Ayrshire, South Ayrshire and South Lanarkshire. The headquar ...

. After his father's early death, Bruce was sent to Scotland to attend

Madras College Madras College, often referred to as Madras, is a Scottish comprehensive secondary school located in St Andrews, Fife. It educates over 1,400 pupils aged between 11 and 18 and was founded in 1833 by the Rev. Dr Andrew Bell. History Madras ...

in St Andrews. He rejoined his mother in

Newry Newry (; ) is a City status in Ireland, city in Northern Ireland, divided by the Newry River, Clanrye river in counties County Armagh, Armagh and County Down, Down, from Belfast and from Dublin. It had a population of 26,967 in 2011. Newry ...

in 1853 and was apprenticed to Henry Hawkins & Co., a linen firm. He was largely self-educated, as was his brother William Duff Bruce who became a civil engineer in India.

Business career

With few prospects in Ireland, Bruce decided to immigrate to Australia after completing his apprenticeship. He arrived in Melbourne in December 1858 aboard the ''Ellen Stuart''. He joined Laing & Webster in 1860, and was a partner by 1868. In 1878, he joined a softgoods firm which became Paterson, Laing & Bruce, with himself as managing partner. By 1883 its warehouse was the largest in Victoria. Bruce served as the president of the Warehousemen's Association and the Softgoods Association. He led the business through the depression associated with the

Australian banking crisis of 1893 The 1893 banking crisis in the Australian colonies involved the collapse of a considerable number of commercial banks and building societies, and a general economic depression. It occurred at the same time as the US Panic of 1893 (1893–1897). ...

, but lost much of his personal fortune. In 1897, Bruce bought out his partners with the aid of the

Bank of New South Wales The Bank of New South Wales (BNSW), also known commonly as The Wales, was the first bank in Australia, being established in Sydney in 1817 and situated on Broadway. During the 19th century, the bank opened branches throughout Australia and N ...

, which loaned him £100,000. He subsequently floated Paterson, Laing & Bruce as a

limited liability company A limited liability company (LLC for short) is the US-specific form of a private limited company. It is a business structure that can combine the pass-through taxation of a partnership or sole proprietorship with the limited liability of ...

with himself as chairman of the board and majority shareholder. In 1899, he acquired two other existing businesses in other cities – Lark Sons & Co. in Sydney and R. Lewis & Sons in Hobart – and expanded the company's warehouse on

Flinders Lane Flinders Lane is a minor street and thoroughfare in the central business district of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The laneway runs east–west from Spring Street to Spencer Street in-between Flinders and Collins Streets. Originally laid ou ...

Marriage and family life

Bruce married Mary Ann Henderson on 28 May 1872. The couple had five children together: Mary (b. 1873), Ernest John Webster (b. 1874), William Crawford (b. 1876), Robert Laing (b. 1878), and Stanley Melbourne (b. 1880). His youngest son became the eighth prime minister of Australia. Stanley remembered his father as aloof and stern with his children, although with a charming, genial, and urbane public persona. In 1883, Bruce purchased of land in Toorak. He built a thirty-room

Italianate The Italianate style was a distinct 19th-century phase in the history of Classical architecture. Like Palladianism and Neoclassicism, the Italianate style drew its inspiration from the models and architectural vocabulary of 16th-century Italian ...

mansion named Wombalano, at a cost of £20,000. According to ''

The Australasian The ''Australasian Post'', commonly called the ''Aussie Post'', was Australia's longest-running weekly picture magazine. History and profile Its origins are traceable to Saturday, 3 January 1857, when the first issue of ''Bell's Life in Victoria ...

'' in 1891, it was positioned "on the crown of the hill at Toorak, commanding one of the finest panoramas in the neighbourhood of Melbourne". The property contained a lengthy carriage-drive, tennis court, stables, coach-house, and gardens. In the summer the family retreated to a "country residence" at

Scoresby Scoresby may refer to: People * William Scoresby (1789–1857), British Arctic explorer, scientist and clergyman * William F. Scoresby (1840–1884), New York politician * William Scoresby Routledge (1859–1939), British ethnographer, anthropolo ...

. Bruce sold Wombalano due to financial difficulties in the early 1890s.

Public life

Bruce was a commissioner of the

Melbourne Harbor Trust The Melbourne Harbor Trust was established in 1877 to improve and operate port facilities for the growing city of Melbourne. It was superseded by the Port of Melbourne Authority in 1978 and later by the Port of Melbourne Corporation. Creation ...

from 1883 to 1890, and was a delegate to intercolonial commerce conferences in 1883 and 1888. He was president of the YMCA and the Melbourne Hospital, and a commissioner of the Melbourne Centennial Exhibition in 1888. He had some interest in politics, supporting the government formed by

Duncan Gillies Duncan Gillies (14 January 1834 – 12 September 1903), was an Australian colonial politician who served as the 14th Premier of Victoria. Gillies was born at Overnewton near Glasgow, Scotland, where his father had a market garden. He was sent ...

and Alfred Deakin after the 1886 general election. Bruce had learned golf in Scotland and brought clubs with him to Australia after one of his business trips. He subsequently played a leading role in the formation of the Melbourne Golf Club in 1891, becoming the inaugural club captain.

Death

Bruce died in Paris on 4 May 1901 while returning from a business trip to London. He suffered fatal injuries after falling from a window at the Hôtel Régina. A police investigation concluded that he had committed suicide due to business difficulties and health problems. He had been suffering from liver disease and diabetes. His family did not make the cause of death public and instead attributed it to "wear and tear on his own and the community's behalf". Bruce had been preceded in death by his second son William, who in 1899 jumped in front of a train while undergoing treatment at an asylum in Sydney. His oldest son Ernest shot himself in an English convalescent home in 1919.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bruce, John 1840 births 1901 deaths Irish people of Scottish descent Irish emigrants to colonial Australia Australian people of Scottish descent Australian business executives Businesspeople from Melbourne People from County Leitrim Australian businesspeople in retailing People educated at Madras College Suicides by jumping in France Parents of prime ministers of Australia 1901 suicides 19th-century Australian businesspeople 19th-century Australian politicians