Sir William Milne (17 May 1822 – 23 April 1895) was an Australian entrepreneur and politician, serving as the member for
Onkaparinga in the
South Australian House of Assembly
The House of Assembly, or lower house, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of South Australia. The other is the Legislative Council. It sits in Parliament House in the state capital, Adelaide.
Overview
The House of Assembly was creat ...
from 1857 to 1868. He was elected to 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 ...
in 1869,
[
] and was
President of the South Australian Legislative Council
The president of the South Australian Legislative Council is the presiding officer of the South Australian Legislative Council, the upper house of the Parliament of South Australia. The other presiding officer is the speaker of the South Australia ...
from 25 July 1873 to 1881.
Life
Born in
Wester-Common, near
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 ...
, Milne was educated in Glasgow and emigrated to
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 ...
, arriving in the ''Palmyra'' at
Port Adelaide
Port Adelaide is a port-side region of Adelaide, approximately northwest of the Adelaide CBD. It is also the namesake of the City of Port Adelaide Enfield council, a suburb, a federal and state electoral division and is the main port for the ...
on 29 October 1839, where he married Eliza Disher on 4 March 1842. He formed a partnership with brother-in-law James Disher as wine merchants and as "Disher & Milne", in July 1846, purchased the
Hindley Street
Hindley Street is located in the north-west quarter of the centre of Adelaide, the capital of South Australia. It runs between King William Street and West Terrace. The street was named after Charles Hindley, a British parliamentarian and soc ...
wine and spirit business of
Patrick Auld
William Patrick Auld (27 May 1840 – 2 September 1912), usually known as W.P. Auld, Pat or Patrick, was an Adelaide, South Australian vigneron and wine merchant born in Stalybridge (near Manchester, England).
He took part in John McDouall ...
, who was returning to England. The business was highly successful, eventually becoming
Milne and Company.
In 1857 Milne sold his distillery and was elected to the South Australian House of Assembly as one of the members for Onkaparinga. Milne served as commissioner of Crown Lands and immigration in the ministry of
John Baker from 21 August to 1 September 1857, under
Richard Hanson from 5 July 1859 to 9 May 1860, under
Henry Ayers
Sir Henry Ayers (now pron. "airs") (1 May 1821 – 11 June 1897) was the eighth Premier of South Australia, serving a record five times between 1863 and 1873.
His lasting memorial is in the name Ayers Rock, also known as Uluru, which was en ...
from 22 July to 4 August 1864 and under
James Boucaut
Sir James Penn Boucaut (;) (29 October 1831 – 1 February 1916) was a South Australian politician and Australian judge. He was a member of the South Australian House of Assembly on four occasions: from 1861 to 1862 for City of Adelaide, from ...
from 28 March 1866 to 3 May 1867. In the ministry of
George Waterhouse, Milne served as Commissioner of Public Works from 19 February 1862 to 4 July 1863, and in the
Arthur Blyth ministry from 4 August 1864 to 22 March 1865.
[
When Milne was in the Crown Lands Department, he introduced a regulation to encourage farmers to buy land; introduced an amendment to the Scab in Sheep Act which helped to eliminate the disease; and introduced drainage to reclaim tracts of land.][
Milne was a member of the Agricultural and Horticultural Society and its president from 1860 to 1861.
Knighted in 1876, Milne died at "Eurilla", ]Mount Lofty
Mount Lofty (, elevation AHD) is the highest point in the southern Mount Lofty Ranges. It is located about east of the Adelaide city centre, within the Cleland National Park in the Adelaide Hills area of South Australia.
The mountain's s ...
, in 1895.
Family
William Milne married Eliza Disher (c. 1818 – 17 August 1912), daughter of John Disher of "Byethorne", Nairne, South Australia
Nairne is a small township in the Adelaide Hills of South Australia. Nairne is about from Mount Barker, South Australia, in the federal Division of Mayo and in the state electoral district of Kavel. At the 2016 census, Nairne had a populatio ...
in 1842; they later lived at "Sunnyside", Glen Osmond
Glen Osmond is a suburb of Adelaide, South Australia in the City of Burnside which is in the foothills of the Adelaide Hills. It is well known for the road intersection on the western side of the suburb, where the South Eastern Freeway (National ...
; they had a large family:
*Eliza Amelia Milne ( – ) married John Randal Phillips on 20 August 1863
*Ellen Wardlaw Milne ( – ) married W. H. Bundey on 28 March 1865
*Margaret Jane Milne (1847– ) married Frederick Algernon Price on 16 July 1872
*William Milne (1849 – 14 December 1905) married Emma Sophia Simpson (1850 – 8 September 1914), daughter of Capt. Henry Simpson on 17 March 1870
*Mary Isabella Milne (1850 – c. 25 September 1869)
*Barbara Agnes Milne (1852 – ) married Arthur Ernest Ayers on 30 April 1878
*John Milne (3 November 1854 – 12 July 1934) married Lucy Anne Macgeorge (4 September 1859 – ) on 11 November 1875.
:*Rev. John Philip Milne (c. 1878 – c. 1 September 1924) worked among poor in London
:*George S(tanley) Milne (9 May 1879 – 1961) married Alice Belle Greenland, Inspector of Ships, South Africa
:*L(eslie) Hugh Milne (1882– ) served in South Africa 1901, Inspector of Fisheries at Swansea, Wales.
:*Lucy Edith Milne (1884 – 1961) married Kenneth James Stephen in 1918, lived in Blackwood.
:* F(rank) Kenneth Milne (18 July 1885 – 3 October 1980) married Hazel Muir Fotheringham in 1913, he was an architect, lived in Kensington Gardens.
::* Kenneth Lancelot Milne was founding president of the SA division of the Australian Democrats
The Australian Democrats is a centrist political party in Australia. Founded in 1977 from a merger of the Australia Party and the New Liberal Movement, both of which were descended from Liberal Party dissenting splinter groups, it was Australia ...
, and MLC 1979-85.
:*E(rnest) Malcolm Milne (c. 1886–1963) married Gladys Burden on 1 March 1910, lived at Glenelg
:*Mary Elizabeth Milne ( –1955) married Harold Powell in 1914, lived in Largs Bay
*George Milne (23 August 1856 – 17 August 1934) married Georgina Ellen Swinden on 14 June 1884.
:*Clive Gordon Milne (19 February 1885 – 12 March 1933)
:*Roy Melville Milne (19 February 1885 – 2 April 1938) noted racehorse owner
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Milne, William
1822 births
1895 deaths
Members of the South Australian House of Assembly
Members of the South Australian Legislative Council
Presidents of the South Australian Legislative Council
Politicians from Glasgow
Scottish emigrants to colonial Australia
Settlers of South Australia
19th-century Australian businesspeople
19th-century Australian politicians