Samuel Deane Gordon (12 October 1811 – 24 July 1882) was an Australian merchant, pastoralist and politician. He was a member of 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 ...

between 1861 and 1882. He was also a member of 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 three terms from 1856 until 1860.

Early life

Gordon was the son of an Irish farmer, David Gordon and his wife Mary Deane. Gordon was educated in private schools in Ireland. He emigrated 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 ...

in 1829 and worked in a number of mercantile houses before commencing his own company, which was involved in trade between

Van Diemen's Land Van Diemen's Land was the colonial name of the island of Tasmania used by the British during the European exploration of Australia in the 19th century. A British settlement was established in Van Diemen's Land in 1803 before it became a sepa ...

and

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

. In 1840 Gordon established a large store in

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

, founded a brewery and acquired 50,000 acres of pastoral land 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 1848, Gordon sold his assets in Liverpool at a great profit and became a wine and spirits merchant in Sydney. During his later life, in partnership with Edward Flood, he gained control over of pastoral land 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_ ...

. He was also the director of a number of colonial companies including

English, Scottish & Australian Bank The English, Scottish & Australian Bank Limited was an Australian bank founded in 1852 by Royal Charter in London and named English, Scottish and Australian Chartered Bank. Following a financial reconstruction in 1893 its business was renamed ...

. Gordon was involved in numerous local organisations including the

Presbyterian Church Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...

, St Andrew's College, Sydney and the

YMCA YMCA, sometimes regionally called the Y, is a worldwide youth organization based in Geneva, Switzerland, with more than 64 million beneficiaries in 120 countries. It was founded on 6 June 1844 by George Williams in London, originally ...

Colonial Parliament

In 1856 Gordon was elected as one of the three members for

Durham Durham most commonly refers to: *Durham, England, a cathedral city and the county town of County Durham *County Durham, an English county * Durham County, North Carolina, a county in North Carolina, United States *Durham, North Carolina, a city in N ...

in the first New South Wales Legislative Assembly. Gordon was a supporter of

John Dunmore Lang John Dunmore Lang (25 August 1799 – 8 August 1878) was a Scottish-born Australian Presbyterian minister, writer, historian, politician and activist. He was the first prominent advocate of an independent Australian nation and of Australian re ...

, Charles Cowper and John Robertson particularly in questions of constitutional reform, education and land reform. He retained the seat at the 1858 election. The seat was abolished in 1859 and Gordon stood unsuccessfully for The Williams, and

Morpeth Morpeth may refer to: *Morpeth, New South Wales, Australia ** Electoral district of Morpeth, a former electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in New South Wales * Morpeth, Ontario, Canada * Morpeth, Northumberland, England, UK ** Morpeth (UK ...

in the 1858 elections, however he regained a seat in the Legislative Assembly at the 1859 Illawarra by-election. He declined to stand for the seat at the 1860 election, but accepted Cowper's invitation to join the Legislative Council as a life-time appointment in 1861. He expressed a desire to reform the council into an elective house.

References

} {{DEFAULTSORT:Gordon, Samuel 1811 births 1882 deaths Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly Members of the New South Wales Legislative Council Politicians from County Down Politicians from Sydney Irish emigrants to colonial Australia 19th-century Australian politicians People from Ballynahinch, County Down