James Lorimer (Australian politician)

Sir James Lorimer
Sir James Lorimer; KCMG
Minister of Defence
	In office; 18 February 1886 – 6 September 1889
Premier	Duncan Gillies
Preceded by	Frederick Sargood
Succeeded by	James Bell
Personal details
Born	30 March 1831; Dumfriesshire, Scotland
Died	6 September 1889 (aged 58); Toorak, Victoria
Nationality	British
Spouse(s)	Eliza Kenworthy
Children	Eleven
Residence	Greenwich House, Toorak

Sir James Lorimer KCMG (30 March 1831 – 6 September 1889)[1] was an Australian politician and businessman. He was the first chairman of the Melbourne Harbour Trust and a Member of the Legislative Council in the Victorian parliament from 1879 to 1889.[2]

Personal life

Lorimer was born on 30 March 1831 in Dumfriesshire, Scotland, to merchant Thomas Lorimer and Catherine, née Walkin. He was educated at Haddon Hall Academy, and articled to a Liverpool softgoods firm which traded with Africa and America. He travelled to Victoria in 1853 on health advice and chose to stay. He married Eliza Kenworthy, the daughter of the United States consul in Sydney, on 4 March 1858, with whom he raised eleven children, ten of whom survived him.[2]

In 1869 he commissioned architect Leonard Terry to design a large Toorak mansion which he named 'Greenwich House'.[3]

He died of pleurisy on 6 September 1889, leaving an estate of £60,000, and was buried in St Kilda Cemetery.[2]

Business interests

Lorimer founded a merchant and shipping agency called Lorimer, Mackie & Co., in Victoria representing the White Star Line and later amalgamated with John Swire and Sons of London and Liverpool. He was appointed chairman of the local directors of the Bank of Australasia (succeeding Sir Francis Murphy) and was also a director of the Bank of New South Wales and the Northern and Southern Insurance companies. Lorimer was a member of the Melbourne Chamber of Commerce, and elected vice-president in 1864 and 1867–68 and president in 1868–70. He was a foundation member and first chairman of the Melbourne Harbour Trust[4] supporting Sir John Coode's appointment to provide advice on improving Melbourne's shipping facilities.[5] When the Berry government came to power in 1879, Lorimer was dropped from the Trust but rejoined as a representative for Melbourne merchants and traders.[2]

Public life

Lorimer was prominent in free trade politics, helping to form the Free Trade League, becoming its president in 1865. He was elected to the Legislative Council for Central Province in 1879, and after a redistribution in 1884, was elected unopposed for Melbourne Province.[2] In 1886, he was minister of defence under the Gillies–Deakin government. He was appointed KCMG when he attended the Colonial Conference in London in 1887 with Alfred Deakin and Graham Berry.[6]

Lorimer was a member of the Scots Church Committee of Management and supported the liberal Charles Strong in his proposal for the separation of Scots Church from the Presbyterian Church of Victoria, but did not join the Australian Church.[2]

Lorimer Street in Port Melbourne which runs along the south side of the Yarra River wharves is named after him.[7]

gollark: Actually, do you mean you're buying a prebuilt computer or buying parts and assembling them>

gollark: You mean a computer build? Okay, I can look over it for obvious issues.

gollark: 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒈𝒍𝒐𝒓𝒚 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒖𝒏𝒊𝒄𝒐𝒅𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒔𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒊𝒖𝒎

gollark: If you can magically get the hydrogen separately that would be useful too.

gollark: Oh right. You said carbon earlier, is all.

References

The Sydney Mail 21 September 1889
C. R. Badger, 'Lorimer, Sir James (1831–1889)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University,, accessed 17 September 2013.
Victorian Heritage Database place details – 17/9/2013 Greenwich House
"MELBOURNE HARBOUR TRUST". The Argus. Melbourne: National Library of Australia. 12 April 1877. p. 6. Retrieved 17 September 2013.
Hoare, Jubilee History of the Melbourne Harbor Trust (Melb, 1927)
A. Deakin, The Federal Story, J. A. La Nauze ed (Melb, 1963)
The Streets of South Melbourne

Victorian Legislative Council
Preceded by George Cole	Member for Central Province July 1879 – November 1882 Served alongside: James Graham 1879–82, Theodotus Sumner 1879–82, Frederick Sargood 1879–80 James MacBain 1880–82, William Hearn 1879–82	District abolished
New district	Member for Melbourne Province November 1882 – September 1889 Served alongside: William Hearn 1882–88 James Service 1888–89, Cornelius Ham 1882–89, George Selth Coppin 1889	Succeeded by Benjamin Benjamin
Political offices
Preceded by Frederick Sargood	Minister of Defence 1886–1889	Succeeded by James Bell

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[1] The Sydney Mail 21 September 1889

[ADB-2] C. R. Badger, 'Lorimer, Sir James (1831–1889)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University,, accessed 17 September 2013.

[3] Victorian Heritage Database place details – 17/9/2013 Greenwich House

[4] "MELBOURNE HARBOUR TRUST". The Argus. Melbourne: National Library of Australia. 12 April 1877. p. 6. Retrieved 17 September 2013.

[5] Hoare, Jubilee History of the Melbourne Harbor Trust (Melb, 1927)

[6] A. Deakin, The Federal Story, J. A. La Nauze ed (Melb, 1963)

[7] The Streets of South Melbourne