John Rundle (1791 – January 1864) was a British Whig politician and businessman. From 1835 to 1843, he was a

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

, representing Tavistock in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. T ...

. He was one of the original directors and financiers of the South Australia Company, the company that was formed in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

in 1834 to promote the settlement of the colony that was to become

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, 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 o ...

. He was an original director of the

South Australian Banking Company The first Bank of South Australia was founded by the South Australian Company in 1837 and became defunct in 1892. It was essentially a British venture, closely supervised by British directors, but utilizing the knowledge and advice of local manage ...

and the first chairman of the South Australian School Society whilst living in England. Rundle never visited South Australia. His business interests included the Tavistock Bank, Gill and Rundle – Merchants and Carriers, Rundle and Co Gas Works, Gill and Rundle Foundry and a brewery. A canal linking Tavistock to the port at

Plymouth Plymouth () is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately south-west of Exeter and south-west of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to ...

was leased by his company and they had their own lime kilns, warehouses and wharves. In the 1840s his business affairs soured and he finally moved to London to live with his daughter where he died in poverty. Rundle Mall and Rundle Street in the

Adelaide central business district Adelaide city centre (Kaurna: Tarndanya) is the inner city locality of Greater Adelaide, the capital city of South Australia. It is known by locals simply as "the City" or "Town" to distinguish it from Greater Adelaide and from the City of Ade ...

bear his name. John Rundle married Barbara Gill in 1825. They had one daughter who was the famed author Elizabeth Rundle Charles.

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Photograph of John RundleRundle Mall''The Beehive, Corner of King William and Rundle Streets, Adelaide''

S. T. Gill Samuel Thomas Gill, also known by his signature S.T.G., was an English-born Australian artist. Early life Gill was born in Periton, Minehead, Somerset, England, in 1818. He was the son of the Reverend Samuel Gill, a Baptist minister, and his f ...

. Painted in 1849. 1791 births 1864 deaths Whig (British political party) MPs Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Tavistock UK MPs 1835–1837 UK MPs 1837–1841 UK MPs 1841–1847 Directors of the South Australian Company Businesspeople from Devon 19th-century English businesspeople {{UK-business-bio-stub