William Kay J.P. (4 July 1829 – 27 March 1889) was a businessman and politician in the early days of the colony of

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

Biography

William Kay J.P. (ca.1830 – 27 March 1889), was born in Newcastle on Tyne, where his father was part owner of an iron works. He emigrated to Australia, arriving in Adelaide on the ''Sea Queen'' on 25 March 1850. For some years he was in the office of George Green, for whom he acted as gold buyer, then took up a farm in

Woodside Woodside may refer to: Places and buildings Australia *Woodside, South Australia, a town *Woodside, Victoria, a town Canada *Woodside National Historic Site, the boyhood home of William Lyon Mackenzie King *Woodside, Nova Scotia, a neighborho ...

, followed by a stint with the firm of Sampson, Wicksteed, & Co., auctioneers, before helping establish the firm of Townsend, Botting & Kay with

William Townsend William Townsend may refer to: *William Townsend (mayor) (1821–1882), Australian politician *William Townsend (cricketer) (1821–1891), English cricketer and barrister *William Townsend (Oneida County, NY) (1848–1919), New York politician *Wil ...

, M.P. and F. J. Botting. In 1869 he quit this company to act as agent for several absentee property owners. He was elected to the

House of Assembly House of Assembly is a name given to the legislature or lower house of a bicameral parliament. In some countries this may be at a subnational level. Historically, in British Crown colonies as the colony gained more internal responsible governme ...

for the seat of East Adelaide in 1875, and was an able representative, but did not stand at the following elections in 1878. He occupied a very prominent position in financial circles in Adelaide. He was a valuator for the Savings Bank of South Australia, director of the English, Scottish, and Australian Chartered Bank, of the Mercantile Marine Insurance Company, of the Mortgage Company of South Australia, of the

Trustees Executors and Agency Company Trustees Executors and Agency Company (TEA, 1879–1983) was the first trustee company formed in Australia. It carried on unexciting business for its first 90 years, before collapsing after an excursion into bad property deals in the early 1980s. ...

, and of the Australian Mutual Provident Society. He also served the public in honorary capacities, such as the Board of Management of the Adelaide Hospital, and was one of that hospital's Commissioners of Public Charity, holding that position from when the Commission was established. He was for four years a Visiting Justice to the Dry Creek Labour Prison, and took an active part in the management of the Deaf, Dumb, and Blind Asylum from the time of its establishment. He was attorney for several absent colonists, including Sir

Arthur Blyth Sir Arthur Blyth (19 March 1823 – 7 December 1891) was Premier of South Australia three times; 1864–65, 1871–72 and 1873–75. Early life The son of William Blyth and his wife, Sarah Wilkins, he was born at Birmingham, England on 21 ...

, C.B., K.C.M.G.; while he was Agent-General for South Australia in London, Neville Blyth, Thomas Cox, and others. He was also a trustee in several important estates. He established the Exchange Land Company to build a new Stock Exchange in Pirie Street. Other members were

J. Fisher Fisher is an English occupational name for one who obtained a living by fishing. In the United States, it is also a common anglicization of the German "Fischer" as well as various Ashkenazi Jewish surnames. Notable people A *Aaron R. Fisher (1 ...

, M.L.C,

G. Dutton Green George Dutton Green (1 May 1850 – 27 April 1911) was a land agent, auctioneer and politician in the colony of South Australia. He was generally referred to as "Dutton Green" and adopted it as his family name, occasionally hyphenated. He was b ...

, James Hill, J. C. Lovely, H. Rymill, F. Rymill,

H. L. Vosz H. L. Vosz was an Adelaide, South Australia business, for a time Australia's largest supplier of paints and glass, the earliest progenitor of Dulux paints, and became the prosperous glass merchant A. E. Clarkson Ltd. The company was founded in a m ...

, and W. H. E. Vosz. He was a member of the

Adelaide Unitarian Christian Church The Unitarian Church of South Australia, Inc., is an independent and self-governed church affiliated with the worldwide Unitarian Universalist movement, a member of the Australia and New Zealand Unitarian Universalist Association, and an affilia ...

, and its secretary when the

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, ...

church building was constructed.

Family

He was married, with four sons: Edward (ca.1854 – 16 October 1834)(with Elder, Smith and Co.) R. N. Kay (Mortgage Company of S.A.), Herbert (South British Mercantile Insurance Company), and F. W. Kay (in his father's office) — and four daughters. His eldest daughter Annie Kay ( – 22 June 1890) was superintendent of the Unitarian Sunday School; another daughter Katharine married Spencer A. Hall, son of James John Hall, on 28 January 1909, and his youngest daughter Emily married Edward J. Glyde, son of William Dening Glyde, on 10 July 1903. William Kay's brother Robert Kay (1825–1904) followed him to South Australia in 1851, also briefly farmed at Woodside (perhaps together) and was a member of the same church. He became general director and secretary of the

State Library of South Australia The State Library of South Australia, or SLSA, formerly known as the Public Library of South Australia, located on North Terrace, Adelaide, is the official library of the Australian state of South Australia. It is the largest public research l ...

, South Australian Museum and

Art Gallery of South Australia The Art Gallery of South Australia (AGSA), established as the National Gallery of South Australia in 1881, is located in Adelaide. It is the most significant visual arts museum in the Australian state of South Australia. It has a collection of ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kay, William 1829 births 1889 deaths Members of the South Australian House of Assembly 19th-century Australian politicians 19th-century Australian businesspeople