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 in 1845 (aged 20). He was also one of the

Members of the South Australian House of Assembly, 1860–1862 This is a list of members of the second parliament of the South Australian House of Assembly, which sat from 27 April 1860 until 22 October 1862. The members were elected at the 1860 colonial election. :1 The Burra and Clare MHA William Lenno ...

for West Torrens, and one of the South Australian Legislative Council 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 th ...

, Ireland. He married Elizabeth Verco on 13 March 1848, first living at Noarlunga, then moving to

Hindmarsh Hindmarsh is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Alfred Hindmarsh, MP for Wellington South (New Zealand electorate) and first leader of the New Zealand Labour Party *Ian Hindmarsh, Australian rugby league player * Jean Hindm ...

in 1849 where, with his brother James, he had bought the Hindmarsh flour-mill from John Ridley. In the 1850s he moved to Enfield, South Australia. 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 emphasize ...

, 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, 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. ...

*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 r ...

), later owned a flour mill in Hindmarsh, South Australia, then moved to "Laurel Bank Villa",

Geelong, Victoria Geelong ( ) ( Wathawurrung: ''Djilang''/''Djalang'') is a port city in the south eastern 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 R ...

. 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 (30 January 1868 – 18 October 1929) who created the Magarey Medal, 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