William Lyall (June 1821 – 20 January 1888) was a Melbourne businessman and, later, pastoralist, who established a model farm in

Murrumbeena, Victoria Murrumbeena is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 13 km south-east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Glen Eira local government area. Murrumbeena recorded a population of 9,996 at the 2021 census ...

, to experiment with novel agricultural and animal husbandry methods. He lived with his family for many years on a working station at Tooradin in the Westernport Bay district. He pursued practical and adventurous farming practices, and also held a number of public offices. Lyall was born in

Foveran Foveran ( gd, Fobharan) is the name of both a parish and village in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. The village is located north of Aberdeen and southeast of Ellon; the main group of houses and the village school are located adjacent to the main A90 ...

, Aberdeenshire, Scotland, and the family emigrated to

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 sep ...

(later named

Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...

) when he was in his teens. He moved to

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

in 1847 and started a business, later joining with two others to form the successful livestock importing and shipping firm, Mickle, Bakewell & Lyall. Lyall married Annabella Brown (born in

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

in 1827) on 29 January 1849 in Launceston, Tasmania; they lived at

Tooradin Tooradin is a town in Victoria, Australia, 57 km south east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Casey and the Shire of Cardinia local government areas. Tooradin recorded a population of 1,722 at the . ...

station, south east of Cranbourne, from 1852 until, in 1854 he took his family to Britain, where he studied

agricultural chemistry Agricultural chemistry is the study of chemistry, especially organic chemistry and biochemistry, as they relate to agriculture—agricultural production, the processing of raw products into foods and beverages, and environmental monitoring and r ...

. He returned to Australia in 1856 with stud

Hereford cattle The Hereford is a British breed of beef cattle originally from Herefordshire in the West Midlands of England. It has spread to many countries – there are more than five million purebred Hereford cattle in over fifty nations worldwide. The bre ...

Cotswold sheep The Cotswold is a British breed of domestic sheep. It originates in, and is named for, the Cotswold hills of the southern midlands of England. It is a large long-woollen sheep, and is kept as a dual-purpose breed, providing both meat and woo ...

, hares,

pheasant Pheasants ( ) are birds of several genera within the family Phasianidae in the order Galliformes. Although they can be found all over the world in introduced (and captive) populations, the pheasant genera native range is restricted to Eurasia ...

s and

partridge A partridge is a medium-sized galliform bird in any of several genera, with a wide native distribution throughout parts of Europe, Asia and Africa. Several species have been introduced to the Americas. They are sometimes grouped in the Perd ...

s, with which he continued his livestock acclimatisation work. He and his family returned to live at Tooradin in 1859, remaining into the 1870s. Lyall was active in agricultural improvement societies and exhibited in local

agricultural show An agricultural show is a public event exhibiting the equipment, animals, sports and recreation associated with agriculture and animal husbandry. The largest comprise a livestock show (a judged event or display in which breeding stock is exhibit ...

s, often garnering awards. He gained a reputation as a stockbreeder. Lyall established a model (experimental) farm at Frogmore Estate in Carnegie, near Murrumbeena, on , later expanding to . Here he bred cattle and horses and experimented with different grasses and types of pasture. Around 1857, the architect Joseph Reed, who designed the

Melbourne Town Hall Melbourne Town Hall is the central city town hall of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, and is a historic building in the state of Victoria since 1867. Located in the central business district on the northeast corner of the intersection between ...

and State Library of Victoria, among other significant buildings, built Lyall a house on the Frogmore property. Lyall also took over Yallock, a former property of Mickle, Bakewell & Lyall, near Koo-Wee-Rup, where he had his permanent home, "Harewood", built. Lyall was a member and president of the Cranbourne Shire Council in the 1880s. Lyall was also a member of the

Victorian Legislative Assembly The Victorian Legislative Assembly is the lower house of the bicameral Parliament of Victoria in Australia; the upper house being the Victorian Legislative Council. Both houses sit at Parliament House in Spring Street, Melbourne. The presidin ...

for the Mornington electorate, 1859–1861. Lyall died at "Harewood" on 20 January 1888 and was buried in Cranbourne cemetery. A street in Cranbourne retains his name.

Public offices

He held a number of public offices: * member and president of the Cranbourne Shire Council * first president of the Mornington Pastoral and Agricultural Society * founder of the Victorian Agricultural Society, Zoological Society, Acclimatisation Society and Victoria Racing Club * member of the National Agricultural Society * represented Mornington in the Legislative Assembly * territorial magistrate

Public offices

References

Further reading