Thomas Magarey (25 February 1825 – 31 August 1902) was an Irish-born miller and pastoralist who, with his brother James, migrated to

Nelson, New Zealand (Let him, who has earned it, bear the palm) , image_map = Nelson CC.PNG , mapsize = 200px , map_caption = , coordinates = , coor_pinpoint = , coordinates_footnotes = ...

in 1842 (aged 17), and to

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 ...

in 1845 (aged 20). He was also one of the Members of the South Australian House of Assembly, 1860–1862 for West Torrens, and one of the

South Australian Legislative Council The Legislative Council, or upper house, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of South Australia. Its central purpose is to act as a house of review for legislation passed through the lower house, the House of Assembly. It sits in Parli ...

1865–1867. He was intensely religious, setting up the first Church of Christ in Australia by 1849, and later joined the Plymouth Brethren, being interested in their writings since 1873.

Life

Magarey was born in

County Down County Down () is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of the traditional thirty-two counties of Ireland. It covers an area of and has a population of 531,665. It borders County Antrim to the ...

, Ireland. He married Elizabeth Verco on 13 March 1848, first living at Noarlunga, then moving to Hindmarsh in 1849 where, with his brother James, he had bought the Hindmarsh flour-mill from

John Ridley John Ridley IV (born 1965) is an American screenwriter, television director, novelist, and showrunner, known for '' 12 Years a Slave'', for which he won an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay. He is also the creator and showrunner of the a ...

. In the 1850s he moved to

Enfield, South Australia Enfield is a suburb in Adelaide, Australia. The suburb is about a 10-minute drive north from Adelaide city centre. The suburb is bordered by Gepps Cross to the north, Blair Athol to the west, Clearview to the east, and Prospect, Sefton Park a ...

. Elizabeth and Thomas had 10 children and many grandchildren. In 1880 he joined the

Plymouth Brethren The Plymouth Brethren or Assemblies of Brethren are a low church and non-conformist Christian movement whose history can be traced back to Dublin, Ireland, in the mid to late 1820s, where they originated from Anglicanism. The group emphasizes ...

, leaving the Church of Christ. He was very public spirited "At quite an early stage of his life he had embarked on a project of acquiring blocks of land in the country, and renting them reasonable to struggling farmers, to whom he would give the right of purchase. Over the years he had the satisfaction of seeing a number of poor men become comparatively well-off landowners through their application and industry". In 1876 TM also contributed "100 guineas(guinea= £1/1)" to help found the Adelaide Children's Hospital. In 1890 TM gave a Fire Engine to the Hindmarsh Volunteer Fire Brigade (Presented on 9 November 1890). He died at his farm at Enfield on 31 August 1902.

Family

Thomas Magarey married Elizabeth Verco (c. 1825 – 4 July 1920) on 13 March 1848. *Alexander Thomas Magarey (10 March 1849 – 20 June 1906) was a foundation member of the Geographical Society of SA and a member of the Calvert expedition in which Wells and Jones died. He married Virginia Campbell of Bethany, West Virginia, USA. :*Archibald Campbell Magarey (1883–1919) was their only son *Dr. Sylvanus James Magarey (21 October 1850 – 24 March 1901) sat in the Legislative Council for the Central district from May 1888 to April 1897. He was a noted surgeon with close connections to the

Adelaide Children's Hospital The Women's and Children's Hospital is located on King William Road in North Adelaide, Australia. It is one of the major hospitals in Adelaide and is a teaching hospital of the University of Adelaide, the University of South Australia and Fli ...

, and religious teetotaller; one of the founders of the

Church of Christ Church of Christ may refer to: Church groups * When used in the plural, a New Testament designation for local groups of people following the teachings of Jesus Christ: "...all the churches of Christ greet you", Romans 16:16. * The entire body of Ch ...

in Australia. *Jane Ashley Magarey (1852–1871) *Bertha Verco Magarey (1854–1933) married William Norman in 1880 *James William Magarey (1857–1934) married Helen Mary Attiwill (c. 1860 – 2 February 1950) on 23 April 1879. *Thomas Charles Alfred Magarey (1859–1923) *Elizabeth Philippa Magarey (15 June 1861 – 28 January 1940) married John Winder (c. 1851 – 17 June 1939) on 4 December 1912, lived at

Strathfield, New South Wales Strathfield is a suburb in the Inner West of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is located 12 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district and is the administrative centre of the Municipality of Strathfield. A sma ...

*Dr. Cromwell Magarey (1864–1940) was one of the first four graduates of the Adelaide Medical School and father of Dr. Ivan S. Magarey, :*Dr. Frank William Ashley Magarey (1877–1912) married Louise Koeppen Henderson in 1907 *Ellen Lucy Magarey (1866–1938) married Charles Sidney Scutt in 1903. His brother James Magarey (c. 1818 – 11 August 1859) ran Gannawarra Station on Gunbower Creek (a tributary of the

River Murray The Murray River (in South Australia: River Murray) (Ngarrindjeri: ''Millewa'', Yorta Yorta: ''Tongala'') is a river in Southeastern Australia. It is Australia's longest river at extent. Its tributaries include five of the next six longest ...

), later owned a flour mill in

Hindmarsh, South Australia Hindmarsh is an inner Suburbs and localities (Australia), suburb of Adelaide, South Australia. It is located in the City of Charles Sturt. The suburb is located between South Road, Adelaide, South Road to the west and North Adelaide. The Rive ...

, then moved to "Laurel Bank Villa",

Geelong, Victoria Geelong ( ) (Wathawurrung: ''Djilang''/''Djalang'') is a port city in the southeastern Australian state of Victoria, located at the eastern end of Corio Bay (the smaller western portion of Port Phillip Bay) and the left bank of Barwon River, a ...

. He drowned following the wreck of the . His son, William James Magarey (1840 – 15 December 1920), worked on the station, moved to Geelong with his father; owned flour mills at Hindmarsh and

Port Pirie Port Pirie is a small city on the east coast of the Spencer Gulf in South Australia, north of the state capital, Adelaide. The city has an expansive history which dates back to 1845. Port Pirie was the first proclaimed regional city in South ...

, and sat in the House of Assembly seat of West Torrens from April 1878 to March 1881. His great nephew (son of William James Magarey) was lawyer and sportsman

William Ashley Magarey William Ashley Magarey (30 January 1868 – 18 October 1929) was a lawyer, sportsman and sports administrator. He was the first chairman of the South Australian Football Association (SAFA) (later named South Australian National Football League ...

(30 January 1868 – 18 October 1929) who created the

Magarey Medal The Magarey Medal is an Australian rules football honour awarded annually since 1898 to the fairest and most brilliant player in the South Australian National Football League (SANFL), as judged by field umpires. The award was created by Willia ...

, an annual award for the best and fairest player in the Australian Rules competition in South Australia.Herbert R. Taylor
'Magarey, Thomas (1825–1902)'
''Australian Dictionary of Biography'', Volume 2, Melbourne University Press, 1967, pp. 197–198.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Magarey, Thomas People from Adelaide 1825 births 1902 deaths Members of the South Australian House of Assembly Australian flour millers and merchants 19th-century Australian politicians South Australian families Irish emigrants to colonial Australia 19th-century Australian businesspeople