Robert Kay (19 June 1825 – 24 April 1904) was one of the founders of the

Library A library is a collection of materials, books or media that are accessible for use and not just for display purposes. A library provides physical (hard copies) or digital access (soft copies) materials, and may be a physical location or a vir ...

Art Gallery An art gallery is a room or a building in which visual art is displayed. In Western cultures from the mid-15th century, a gallery was any long, narrow covered passage along a wall, first used in the sense of a place for art in the 1590s. The lon ...

and

Museum A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make these ...

Adelaide, South Australia Adelaide ( ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater A ...

, and the originator of the

circulating library A circulating library (also known as lending libraries and rental libraries) lent books to subscribers, and was first and foremost a business venture. The intention was to profit from lending books to the public for a fee. Overview Circulating li ...

. At his death he was general director and secretary of the Public Library, Museum, and Art Gallery of South Australia.

History

Robert Kay was born in

Newcastle on Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne ( RP: , ), or simply Newcastle, is a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. The city is located on the River Tyne's northern bank and forms the largest part of the Tyneside built-up area. Newcastle is als ...

and educated at the Grammar School in that town, then went to work as accountant at the iron works of which his father was manager and part owner. At the age of 24 he inherited his father's share of the business, which he sold and left for Australia on the ''Ascendant'', arriving in South Australia in January 1851. He worked for a time as gold assayer before trying his luck on the gold fields of

Mount Alexander Mount Alexander is a mountain located approximately 125 km north-west of Melbourne, near the town of Harcourt. It rises 350 metres above the surrounding area to a level of 744 metres above sea level. Being a prominent local landmark, ...

, but soon returned to the Assay Office, where he was employed making gold tokens which at that time were used as currency. In 1853 he married and took up a farm in Woodside, and was soon elected to the Onkaparinga district council and served for a time as chairman. Three years later he returned to the city, where he was employed as accountant and cashier for the firm of Herford and Boucaut, living at Norwood. They later lived at Trinity Street,

College Town A college town or university town is a community (often a separate town or city, but in some cases a town/city neighborhood or a district) that is dominated by its university population. The university may be large, or there may be several sma ...

. On 1 June 1859 he has appointed secretary to the Board of Governors of the South Australian Institute (which then consisted of (later Sir)

Samuel Davenport Sir Samuel Davenport (5 March 1818 – 3 September 1906) was one of the early settlers of Australia and became a landowner and parliamentarian in South Australia. Davenport was fourth son of George Davenport, a wealthy English banker, an ...

, the Rev. Dean Farrell,

John Howard Clark John Howard Clark (15 January 1830 – 20 May 1878) was editor of ''The South Australian Register'' from 1870 to 1877 and was responsible for its ''Echoes from the Bush'' column and closely associated with its ''Geoffry Crabthorn'' persona. ...

and (later the Hon.)

Lavington Glyde Lavington Glyde (24 April 1823 – 31 July 1890) was a Treasurer of South Australia. Glyde was born on 24 April 1823 in Exeter, Devon. England, and emigrated to South Australia in 1847. Ten years later he entered the South Australian Legisla ...

). With 200 books he instituted what became the Adelaide Circulating Library, exchanging boxes of books with the various Institutes in the suburbs and districts further out. This system was soon adopted by the other States of Australia and overseas. In 1860 the Library was housed in the Institute Buildings, North-terrace, and under Kay's direction the first of the present Library Buildings were opened in 1884. (In 1873 the foundations of the western wing of a proposed new block were laid, but there the matter ended until 1876, when fresh plans were drawn, and another set of foundations put in. Again the work went no further until 1879 when the west wing was finally commenced. The earlier work was condemned, and had to be removed before the Public Library could be started.) The Museum followed in 1895, and the art collection, which was housed in the Jubilee Exhibition Building, finally had its own premises around 1900. Kay was still director when he died.

Other interests

Kay was a member of the Unitarian Church,

Wakefield Street Wakefield Street is a main thoroughfare intersecting Adelaide city centre, the centre of the South Australian capital, Adelaide, from east to west at its midpoint. It crosses Victoria Square, Adelaide, Victoria Square in the centre of the city, ...

, and when younger was involved in the

South Australian Militia Until Australia became a Federation in 1901, each of the six colonies were responsible for their own defence. From 1788 until 1870 this was done with British regular forces. In all, 24 British infantry regiments served in the Australian colonies ...

. He was a capable musician, and until deafness set in was a violinist with the Philharmonic Society Orchestra and sang in the church choir.

Family

In 1853 he married Ann "Annie" Catcheside (1826 – 9 May 1886); they had five daughters, notable for the influential Misses Kay's School, which they conducted at the family home, 10 Trinity Street, College Town c. 1888 – December 1904. A stained-glass window to her memory, depicting the

Good Shepherd The Good Shepherd ( el, ποιμὴν ὁ καλός, ''poimḗn ho kalós'') is an image used in the pericope of , in which Jesus Christ is depicted as the Good Shepherd who lays down his life for his sheep. Similar imagery is used in Psalm 23 ...

, was installed in the Unitarian Church, Wakefield Street. It was incorporated into the Norwood meeting-house in the early 1970s. *Florence Kay (1854 – 19 March 1935), occasionally, as "F. Kay", credited in art examination results, the only sister so mentioned. Her work was shown at School of Design exhibitions. *Sarah Kay (1855 – 23 May 1938) *Christina/Christine? Kay (1858 – 26 October 1942) *Margaret Kay (1859 – December 1941) *Mary Alice Kay (1861 – 1931) :Margaret Overbury (sister of Mary Anstie Overbury) taught at their school for six years. His brother William Kay J.P. (1829–1889) preceded him as a migrant to South Australia, arriving in 1850. He also briefly farmed at Woodside, perhaps together, and was a member of the same church. He was MLA for East Adelaide 1875–1878, was a founder of the Unitarian church in Adelaide, and on the boards of several prominent companies.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kay, Robert Australian librarians Settlers of South Australia 1825 births 1904 deaths Public servants of South Australia 19th-century Australian public servants