Leopold Fabius Dietegen Fane de Salis, (26 April 1816 – 20 November 1898) was a Tuscan-born Australian pastoralist and politician. Born in

Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico an ...

Jerome, 4th Count de Salis-Soglio Jerome de Salis, Count de Salis-Soglio, DL, JP, FRS (14 February 1771 – 2 October 1836), ''Illustris et Magnificus'', was an Anglo-Grison noble and Irish landowner. Life Jerome, Count de Salis-Soglio, was the eldest surviving son of Pet ...

and Henrietta Foster, he attended

Eton College Eton College () is a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI under the name ''Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore'',Nevill, p. 3 ff. intended as a sister institution to King's College, C ...

and studied sheep farming at

Jedburgh Jedburgh (; gd, Deadard; sco, Jeddart or ) is a town and former royal burgh in the Scottish Borders and the traditional county town of the historic county of Roxburghshire, the name of which was randomly chosen for Operation Jedburgh in s ...

in Scotland. In 1840 he migrated to

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

, where he formed a partnership to run a station at

Junee Junee () is a medium-sized town in the Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia. The town's prosperity and mixed services economy is based on a combination of agriculture, rail transport, light industry and government services, and in par ...

. In the same decade, in 1842, 1844 and 1848, his highly capable next elder brother

William William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Engl ...

also sailed to Australia. They did much business together. In 1844 he married Charlotte Macdonald, with whom he had four children, two of whom (

George George may refer to: People * George (given name) * George (surname) * George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George * George Washington, First President of the United States * George W. Bush, 43rd Presid ...

and

Leopold Leopold may refer to: People * Leopold (given name) * Leopold (surname) Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional characters * Leopold (''The Simpsons''), Superintendent Chalmers' assistant on ''The Simpsons'' * Leopold Bloom, the protagonist o ...

) would later become politicians themselves. In 1855 he sold out and bought the Cuppacumbalong station at

Tharwa Tharwa (postcode 2620) is a township within the District of Paddys River, Australian Capital Territory, south of Canberra, the capital city of Australia. At the , Tharwa had a population of 81. The village is located on the banks of the Mur ...

, later purchasing further property on the

Murrumbidgee River The Murrumbidgee River () is a major tributary of the Murray River within the Murray–Darling basin and the second longest river in Australia. It flows through the Australian state of New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory, desce ...

. In 1864 he was elected to the

New South Wales Legislative Assembly The New South Wales Legislative Assembly is the lower of the two houses of the Parliament of New South Wales, an Australian state. The upper house is the New South Wales Legislative Council. Both the Assembly and Council sit at Parliament Ho ...

for

Queanbeyan Queanbeyan ( ) is a city in the south-eastern region of New South Wales, Australia, located adjacent to the Australian Capital Territory in the Southern Tablelands region. Located on the Queanbeyan River, the city is the council seat of the ...

, but he did not re-contest in 1869. In 1872 he was appointed to the

New South Wales Legislative Council The New South Wales Legislative Council, often referred to as the upper house, is one of the two chambers of the parliament of the Australian state of New South Wales. The other is the Legislative Assembly. Both sit at Parliament House in th ...

. Around this time he also acquired property in

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

, all of which he lost in the 1890s depression. His daughter Nina married

William Farrer William James Farrer (3 April 184516 April 1906) was a leading English Australian agronomist and plant breeder. Farrer is best remembered as the originator of the "Federation" strain of wheat, distributed in 1903. His work resulted in significa ...

in 1882 and they lived at

Lambrigg, Tharwa Lambrigg is an historical property close to Tharwa in the Australian Capital Territory which is listed by the ACT Heritage Council as a place of historical significance. It was the residence of William James Farrer who made a major contribution ...

, a property given them by De Salis. In 1893 he went to England in 1893, particularly to settle his affairs in Middlesex. In 1898 he resigned from the Council and declared himself bankrupt with debts over £100,000. He died at Lambrigg on .

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Desalis, Leopold Fane 1816 births 1898 deaths Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly Members of the New South Wales Legislative Council People educated at Eton College British people of Swiss descent People from County Louth

Italian emigrants to Australia 19th-century Anglo-Irish people 19th-century Australian politicians Burials in the Australian Capital Territory 19th-century Australian businesspeople