George Brookman

{{Short description|South Australian businessman (1850–1927)}} {{EngvarB|date=September 2014}} {{Use dmy dates|date=September 2014}} [[File:George Brookman 1151-0237.jpg|thumb|Sir George Brookman c.1920]] '''Sir George Brookman''' [[Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire|KBE]] (15 April 1850 – 20 June 1927) was a [[South Australian]] businessman who made a fortune from a [[Western Australian Goldfields|gold discovery in Western Australia]], and is remembered as a generous benefactor of the South Australian School of Mines and Industries and the [[University of Adelaide]].

==History== Brookman was born on 15 April 1850 in [[Glasgow]], [[Scotland]], the eldest son of [[typesetter]] Benjamin Brookman (16 September 1826 – 11 June 1917) and his wife Jane née Wilson (d. 1 March 1881).<ref>{{cite news |url=https://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article54265917 |title=Death of Sir George Brookman |newspaper=[[South Australian Register]] |date=21 June 1927 |access-date=18 February 2016 |page=9 |via=Trove}}</ref><ref name=adb/><ref>{{cite news |url=https://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article59989520 |title=Mr. Benjamin Brookman |newspaper=[[South Australian Register]] |date=1 November 1915 |access-date=4 December 2012 |page=9 |via=Trove}}</ref> The family emigrated to South Australia in 1852 on the ''Water Lily'', arriving at [[Port Adelaide, South Australia|Port Adelaide]] on 5 May and settled in [[Prospect, South Australia|Prospect]]. After completing his education at the schools of [[James Bath (headmaster)|James Bath]] and [[R. C. Mitton]],<ref name=adb>R. M. Gibbs, [https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/brookman-sir-george-5375 'Brookman, Sir George (1850–1927)'], [[Australian Dictionary of Biography]], National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, accessed 2 December 2012.</ref> he found employment with grocery firm [[D & J Fowler]]. Then, with fellow-employee [[William Finlayson (churchman)#Children|William Finlayson jun.]], he took over Fowler's retail arm in [[King William Street, Adelaide|King William Street]].<ref name=adb/> He set himself up as a stock and share broker and earned a position in the [[Adelaide Stock Exchange Building|Adelaide Stock Exchange]] in 1890.<ref name=public>{{cite news |url=https://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article43585581 |title=A Public-Spirited Citizen |newspaper=[[The Advertiser (Adelaide)|The Advertiser]] |date=21 June 1927 |access-date=1 December 2012 |page=13 |via=Trove}}</ref>

In 1893 he founded, with brother [[William Brookman]] and Sam Pearce, the Coolgardie Gold Mining and Prospecting Co. Ltd. syndicate which financed the exploration and proving of a mining lease "Ivanhoe" in [[Kalgoorlie, Western Australia]], in what was later dubbed the "Golden Mile" and made its backers incredibly wealthy. The syndicate owed its success to dogged determination in the face of criticism from experts, as the mineral was in a form that had not been encountered before<ref name=public/> and through "Brookman's extraordinarily skilful financial transactions and able administration".<ref name=adb/>

He stood successfully for the Central District vacancy in South Australia's [[South Australian Legislative Council|Legislative Council]] in 1901<ref>{{cite news |url=https://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article4841721 |title=The State Elections |newspaper=[[The Advertiser (Adelaide)|The Advertiser]] |date=3 June 1901 |access-date=1 December 2012 |page=9 |via=Trove}}</ref> caused by the resignation of [[Charles Kingston]], who took up a seat in the new Federal Parliament. He was re-elected,<ref name="SA parl">{{Cite SA-parl |pid=4035 |name=Sir George Brookman |former=yes |access-date=12 November 2022}}</ref> but did not stand for the elections of 1910.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article57380589 |title=The State Elections |newspaper=[[South Australian Register]] |date=11 March 1910 |access-date=4 December 2012 |page=8 |via=Trove}}</ref>

==Business activities== [[File:Brookman Building 1907 B2983.jpg|thumb|[[Brookman Building, Grenfell Street]], {{circa|1907}}; to the left is Commercial Street]] [[File:University of South Australia, School of Mines, North Terrace, Adelaide, South Australia.jpg|thumb|UniSA City East Campus, which incorporates Brookman Hall (c. 1903).]] *In 1896 he commissioned a four-storey block of offices "[[Brookman Building, Grenfell Street|Brookman Building(s)]]" at 35 [[Grenfell Street, Adelaide]],<ref name=biographical/> previously the site of the Commercial Hotel.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article162359148 |title=Building Improvements in the City |newspaper=[[The Adelaide Observer]] |date=18 July 1896 |access-date=1 January 2020 |page=15 |via=Trove }}</ref> The architect was [[Alfred Wells (architect)|Alfred Wells]].<ref>{{cite news |url=https://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article54464621 |title=Brookman's Buildings |newspaper=[[South Australian Register]] |date=3 November 1896 |access-date=1 January 2020 |page=7 |via=Trove }}</ref> Included was an auction room costing £30,000 available to the wool dealers at £100 for 12 days' use each year.<ref>{{cite work |url=https://www.pir.sa.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0008/424646/Wool,_Woolclassing_and_Wool_Marketing._A_South_Australian_History.pdf |title=Wool, Woolclassing and Wool Marketing. A South Australian History |page=18 |publisher=South Australian Government |year=2022 |author1=Don Plowman |author2=Rod Miller |author3=Graeme Gatley |author4=Colin Loffler |access-date=5 July 2025}}</ref> *He was chairman from 1898 to 1922 of the South Australian Electric Light and Motive Power Company and its successor, the [[Adelaide Electric Supply Company]]. *He was a director of the [[Bank of Adelaide]].<ref>{{cite news |url=https://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article43583281 |title=Sir George Brookman |newspaper=[[The Advertiser (Adelaide)|The Advertiser]] |date=11 June 1927 |access-date=1 December 2012 |page=13 |via=Trove}}</ref> *He was a director of the [[Mintaro, South Australia|Mintaro Slate Company]].<ref name=biographical/>

==Public works== *He was a member of the [[North Adelaide Congregational Church]], and for many years Finance Secretary of the Congregational Union.{{cn|date=April 2023}} *He gave £15,000 towards the eventual £50,000 cost of the School of Mines and Industries building on the Frome Road corner of [[North Terrace, Adelaide|North Terrace]]. The School had been housed in the [[Jubilee Exhibition Building]] (which was adjacent on the west side, and is now the site of the University of Adelaide's Ligertwood and Napier buildings), but had long since outgrown the space available to it.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article43585783 |title=The Late Sir George Brookman |newspaper=[[The Advertiser (Adelaide)|The Advertiser]] |date=21 June 1927 |access-date=1 December 2012 |page=12 |via=Trove}}</ref> :A feature of the building is the great stained-glass windows in Brookman Hall, locally produced by [[E. F. Troy]], celebrating the British Empire, and those to the south of the building, adjacent the stairway, made by the firm of [[H. L. Vosz]], depicting British scientists and technologists [[James Watt|Watt]], [[Isaac Newton|Newton]], [[George Stephenson|Stephenson]], [[Henry Bessemer|Bessemer]], [[William Thomson, 1st Baron Kelvin|Kelvin]], [[Michael Faraday|Faraday]], [[Christopher Wren|Wren]] and [[John Dalton|Dalton]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://adelaidecityexplorer.com.au/items/show/204 |author=Natalie Carfora |title=The School of Mines and Industry: Stained glass windows |publisher=Adelaide City Explorer |access-date=1 January 2020 |archive-date=1 January 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200101111619/https://adelaidecityexplorer.com.au/items/show/204 |url-status=dead }}</ref> *He gave practical support to the [[University of Adelaide]] and was for many years a member of its council.{{cn|date=April 2023}} *He was also strongly associated with the [[Adelaide Children's Hospital]].{{cn|date=April 2023}} *He was involved with various patriotic movements, especially during the [[World War I|Great War]]: the State Repatriation Board, the Red Cross Society, the Anzac Hospitality Committee,<ref>{{cite news |url=https://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article5611456 |title=Welcome to Anzacs |newspaper=[[The Advertiser (Adelaide)|The Advertiser]] |date=5 December 1918 |access-date=8 December 2012 |page=5 |via=Trove}}</ref> and other organisations with similar aims.

==Recognition== *The large assembly hall of the [[University of South Australia|School of Mines]] building, for which he contributed so generously, was named for him,<ref>{{cite news |url=https://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article4928117 |title=School of Mines |newspaper=[[The Advertiser (Adelaide)|The Advertiser]] |date=24 February 1903 |access-date=16 November 2020 |page=5 |via=Trove }}</ref> as colloquially has the building itself. *He was knighted ([[Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire|KBE]]) on 19 October 1920 for his "Services during the War" to the State, the Commonwealth, and the Empire.<ref name=biographical>{{cite news |url=https://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article89192922 |title=Biographical |newspaper=[[The Chronicle (Adelaide)|The Chronicle]] |date=23 October 1920 |access-date=4 December 2012 |page=38 |via=Trove}}</ref><ref>[https://honours.pmc.gov.au/honours/awards/1082132 Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140906154944/http://www.itsanhonour.gov.au/honours/honour_roll/search.cfm?aus_award_id=1082132&search_type=simple&showInd=true |date=6 September 2014 }} (KBE), 19 October 1920, It's an Honour</ref>

==Family== {{refimprove|section|date=April 2023}} ===Parents=== George's mother Jane died on 1 March 1881.

His father, Benjamin (ca.1827 – 11 June 1917), then married Charlotte Elizabeth Ragless (ca.1847 – 1945) on 27 September 1883. Charlotte Elizabeth was the eldest daughter of John Ragless (ca.1815 – 27 May 1899)<ref name=Charlotte>{{cite news |url=https://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article43502013 |title=Obituary – Charlotte E Brookman |newspaper=[[The Advertiser (Adelaide)|The Advertiser]] |date=14 July 1945 |access-date=3 December 2012 |page=3 |via=Trove}}</ref>

Their home was "Kelvin Lodge", (perhaps 3 Daphne St.) Prospect. After the death of her husband, Charlotte Elizabeth lived with her daughter Charlotte Evelyn "Lottie" Botten.<ref name=Charlotte/>

===Siblings=== ;Children of Benjamin and Jane included:  *George Brookman (15 April 1850 – 20 June 1927), the subject of this article *Benjamin (Joseph) (ca.1855 – 22 May 1932) married Lillian Alice Augusta (August?) Hassall ( – 13 May 1930) on 29 January 1878. *William Gordon (ca.1860 – 5 January 1910) *James ( – ) moved to California *Lillian ( – ) married Benjamin Edward Ragless (3rd son of John Ragless, born ca.1851) on 12 December 1878 *Katherine Isabella "Kate" Brookman ( – 2 November 1893) married [[John White (South Australian painter)|John White]] of Kent Town on 24 August 1882 (son Howard Gordon White born 24 October 1893).

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Ragless family is interesting John Ragless sen. (died ca.October 1877) and Elizabeth (ca.1791 – 22 December 1879) Ragless? https://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article43099771 John Ragless (ca.1815 – 27 May 1899) https://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article87196774 and Eliza nee Wilson (ca.1824 – 28 February 1913) https://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article5376924 *Benjamin Edward Ragless (ca.1851 3rd son of John Ragless) married Lillian Brookman on 12 December 1878 (see above), manager Yalpara station :*Benjamen Ragless (3rd son of B.E.Ragless) ( – ) married Tryphosa L. B. Parnell on 21 June 1910 :*son born 31 December 1880 at Benjamin Brookman's home

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;Children of Benjamin and Charlotte Elizabeth included: *John Ragless Brookman (5 June 1885 – 1971) married Elsie Elizabeth Parker (ca.1885 – 10 June 1919) on 22 March 1910<ref>John Ragless Brookman was educated at Whinham College, the University of Adelaide and the SA School of Mines and Industries. He joined the Adelaide Electric Supply Company as a draughtsman in 1909 and was promoted to Engineer in 1913. He was awarded Master of Engineering in 1925 for his thesis on relay protection for electrical circuits. In 1947 he was appointed Deputy Manager and Engineer in charge of distribution and supply. He was a foundation member of the SA Institute of Engineers and in 1927 was Chairman of the SA division of the Institution of Engineers. He was a vice-president of the School of Mines and Industries. – Cumming, D. A. and Moxham, G. ''They Built South Australia'' published by the authors 1986 {{ISBN|0 9589111 0 X}}</ref> *Charlotte Evelyn "Lottie" ( – 13 June 1945) married Norman Leonard Botten ( – ) on 26 December 1914

===Family of George Brookman===  [[File:Afternoon Tea 1895 B62429.jpg|thumb|350px|Afternoon Tea at the Brookmans’, c.1895.<br>L-to-R: Mrs. Brookman, Norman, Miss [[Ada Crossley]] and May]] He married Eliza Martha Marshall (10 February 1859 – 26 January 1931) at [[St Kilda, Victoria]] on 13 February 1878.<br> Their children included: *Alice May Brookman (18 May 1879 – ) married (Sir) [[Thomas George Wilson]] M.B.<ref>J. H. Love, [https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/wilson-sir-thomas-george-12051 'Wilson, Sir Thomas George (1876–1958)'], [[Australian Dictionary of Biography]], National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, accessed 10 December 2012.</ref> on 4 June 1902. They divorced in 1920.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article15904890 |title=In Divorce |newspaper=[[The Sydney Morning Herald]] |date=2 September 1920 |access-date=10 December 2012 |page=4 |via=Trove}}</ref> *George Wilson Brookman (11 August 1881 – ) married Mary "Polly" Shiels on 23 August 1915 *(Harry) [[Norman Brookman]] (22 January 1884 – 26 April 1949) married Ada Mary Dorothy "Nan" Burden (24 April 1889 – 1975) on 6 March 1912.<ref>(Harry) Norman Brookman lived at "Burbrook", a farm near [[Meadows, South Australia]] and was member of the [[South Australian Legislative Council]] from 1941 to 1949, when he was killed in a car crash near [[Noarlunga, South Australia|Noarlunga]]. {{cite news |url=https://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article93330087 |title=Killed in Car Smash. |newspaper=[[The Chronicle (Adelaide)|The Chronicle]] |date=28 April 1949 |access-date=4 December 2012 |page=3 |via=Trove}}</ref> Nan was the elder daughter of [[Fred Burden]]. :*Their son, [[David Brookman (Australian politician)|David Norman Brookman]] (24 March 1917 – 22 May 2000) was elected to the [[Members of the South Australian House of Assembly, 1950–1953|House of Assembly]] seat of Alexandra in 1948 for the LCL and held it until 1973. *Howard Brookman (6 June 1886 – )

Their home was either "Craigmellon" at 3 Edwin Terrace, [[Gilberton, South Australia|Gilberton]], or "Ivanhoe" at 9 Edwin Terrace.<ref>[http://priceypads.com/historic-landmark-property-price-upon-request/ Historic Landmark Property], 3 Edwin Terrace, Gilberton, priceypads.com</ref><ref name=wn>[http://www.walkerville.sa.gov.au/webdata/resources/files/newsletter6.pdf Heritage Plan Amendment Reports] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120320222526/http://www.walkerville.sa.gov.au/webdata/resources/files/newsletter6.pdf |date=20 March 2012 }}, ''Walkerville News'', April–June 2007, The Corporation of the Town of Walkerville, pg.3</ref> He died on 27 June 1927 at "Blair Athol", Avenel Gardens, Medindie.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article43585816 |title=Family Notices |newspaper=[[The Advertiser (Adelaide)|The Advertiser]] |date=21 June 1927 |access-date=2 December 2012 |page=12 |via=Trove}} – Death notice of George Brookman.</ref> He was survived by his wife, his daughter, and two of his sons.<ref name=adb/> {{clear}} == References == {{Reflist}}

==External links== *{{cite news |url= https://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article4822195 |title= Mr. G. Brookman |newspaper= [[The Advertiser (Adelaide)|The Advertiser]] |date= 27 February 1901 |access-date= 1 December 2012 |page=8 |via=Trove}} *{{cite news |url= https://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article4840522 |title= The State Parliament |newspaper= [[The Advertiser (Adelaide)|The Advertiser]] |date= 24 May 1901 |access-date= 1 December 2012 |page=6 |via=Trove}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brookman, George}} [[Category:Settlers of South Australia]] [[Category:Australian businesspeople in mining]] [[Category:19th-century Australian philanthropists]] [[Category:Members of the South Australian Legislative Council]] [[Category:1850 births]] [[Category:1927 deaths]] [[Category:Australian Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire]] [[Category:Scottish emigrants to colonial Australia]] [[Category:Businesspeople from Adelaide]] [[Category:20th-century Australian philanthropists]] [[Category:British emigrants to the Colony of South Australia]]