# Stephen Hack

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'''Stephen Hack''' (1816 – 14 May 1894)<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article53698204 |title=Death of Stephen Hack |newspaper=[South Australian Register](/source/South_Australian_Register) |volume=LIX |issue=14,853 |location=South Australia |date=21 June 1894 |accessdate=21 September 2025 |page=4 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref> was an early settler of South Australia, and business partner of his brother [John Barton Hack](/source/John_Barton_Hack).

==History==
Hack was born in [Chichester](/source/Chichester), England, to Stephen Hack, a banker, and the educational writer Maria Hack (née Barton).

He was educated at Richard Weston's Quaker boarding school at [Rochester](/source/Rochester%2C_Kent) and when that was shut down, transferred to Fishponds, near [Bristol](/source/Bristol), but he had no inclination for study or the discipline required of Quakers. He worked for a time as traveller for his mother's book publisher, which suited his adventurous spirit.<ref>{{cite book|title=Chequered Lives |author1=Iola Hack Mathews |author2=Chris Durrant |page=24 |publisher=Wakefield Press |year=2013 |isbn=9781743052587}}</ref>

In September 1836 he accompanied his brother [Barton](/source/John_Barton_Hack), his wife, and their six children on the ''Isabella'', Captain [John Hart](/source/John_Hart_(South_Australian_colonist)), bound for South Australia. They arrived at [Holdfast Bay](/source/Holdfast_Bay) in February 1837.
They were expected by their parents and supporters to invest in farmland and businesses in the new colony but great wealth eluded them. They had cattle and sheep at [Mount Barker](/source/Mount_Barker%2C_South_Australia) and shares in the whale fisheries, as well as city acres, which were showing a nice profit. They were counting on getting their hands on a [special survey](/source/special_survey) of 4,000 acres at Mount Barker but were [gazump](/source/gazump)ed by [Dutton](/source/William_Dutton_(captain)), [McFarlane](/source/Duncan_McFarlane) and [Finnis](/source/John_Finnis_(captain)), who had an ally in [Osmond Gilles](/source/Osmond_Gilles), the Colonial Treasurer.<ref>{{cite book|title=Chequered Lives |author1=Iola Hack Mathews |author2=Chris Durrant |page=120 |publisher=Wakefield Press |year=2013 |isbn=9781743052587}}</ref>

In 1857 he was contracted by the South Australian Government to explore the [Gawler Ranges](/source/Gawler_Ranges), which he undertook from May 1857 with Thomas Edward Clark. It followed a good season, so they found many areas of good feed and adequate water,<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article96742562 |title=Early Exploration of the Northern Eyre Peninsula |newspaper=[Port Lincoln Times](/source/Port_Lincoln_Times) |volume=XII |issue=602 |location=South Australia |date=18 May 1939 |accessdate=21 September 2025 |page=3 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article96739943 |title=Early Exploration of the Northern Eyre Peninsula II |newspaper=[Port Lincoln Times](/source/Port_Lincoln_Times) |volume=XII |issue=603 |location=South Australia |date=25 May 1939 |accessdate=21 September 2025 |page=3 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref> in contrast to reports by [J. C. Darke](/source/J._C._Darke) in 1844 and Major [P. E. Warburton](/source/P._E._Warburton) in 1858, so his reports were given little credence.

In 1857 the brothers established a dairying business at [Parnka](/source/Parnka_Point) on [The Coorong](/source/The_Coorong), converting the milk to hard cheeses, but Stephen Hack was not one to settle down, and dissolved their partnership<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article49779276 |title=Advertising |newspaper=[South Australian Register](/source/South_Australian_Register) |volume=XXII |issue=3715 |location=South Australia |date=2 September 1858 |accessdate=26 September 2025 |page=1 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref> and returned to the far north, again working for [John Baker](/source/John_Baker_(Australian_politician)).

He unloaded several properties which had proved unprofitable, and took up a run at [Pinnaroo](/source/Pinnaroo%2C_South_Australia). In 1865 he returned to England and his wife and daughter Julia. He had lost his fortune in South Australia, and was probably supported by his wife's family in his later years.<ref>{{cite book|title=Chequered Lives |author1=Iola Hack Mathews |author2=Chris Durrant |page=246 |publisher=Wakefield Press |year=2013 |isbn=9781743052587}}</ref> He passed the Pinnaroo property to his son Wilton Hack, who had just returned from schooling in England and the Continent, but it proved a liability, as 1865–1867 were years of severe drought.  

Hack died in 1894 and she died in Gloucester in 1915.

==Family==
Hack married Elizabeth Marsh "Bessie" Wilton (c. 1816–1915) in England on 3 June 1841.<ref>{{cite book|title=Chequered Lives |author1=Iola Hack Mathews |author2=Chris Durrant |page=163 |publisher=Wakefield Press |year=2013 |isbn=9781743052587}}</ref> They had two children:
*Julia Africaine Hack (6 March 1842 – September 1913) was a published author of "improving" books for children. She married Rev. Charles Cutler in 1862 and had ten children. Not to be confused with Barton's youngest daughter Julia Emily Hack (1857–1943).
:Her publications include ''Life in the Making'',<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article14822614 |title=Books for the Season |newspaper=[The Sydney Morning Herald](/source/The_Sydney_Morning_Herald) |issue=21,488 |location=New South Wales, Australia |date=1 December 1906 |accessdate=29 September 2025 |page=6 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref> ''Glen Gordon'', and ''Crew of the 'Jolly Sandboy'''.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article137560244 |title=Th' Boggart o' th' Mill |newspaper=[Riverina Recorder](/source/Riverina_Recorder) |volume=XVII |issue=844 |location=New South Wales, Australia |date=26 April 1893 |accessdate=29 September 2025 |page=3 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref>
*[Wilton Hack](/source/Wilton_Hack) (21 May 1843 – 27 February 1923) married Anna Maria "Annie" Stonehouse (30 June 1840 – 13 Aug 1911) on 10 May 1870. He married again, to Minnie Alice Vierk (c. 21 Mar 1875 in Nuriootpa – c. 4 December 1955) on 26 April 1916.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article6474401 |title=Family Notices |newspaper=[The Advertiser (Adelaide)](/source/The_Advertiser_(Adelaide)) |volume=LVIII |issue=17,984 |location=South Australia |date=3 June 1916 |accessdate=27 September 2025 |page=14 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref>

== References ==
{{Reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hack, Stephen}}
Category:1816 births
Category:1894 deaths
Category:People from Chichester
Category:English emigrants to colonial Australia
Category:Settlers of South Australia
Category:British emigrants to the Colony of South Australia

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Stephen Hack](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Hack) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Hack?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.