ELDER, Thomas 1818-1897 (General)

by ChrisW , Sunday, February 24, 2008, 01:46 (6187 days ago) @ cltren

From Bright Sparcs & howstuffworks

Elder, Thomas 1818-1897
Business executive, Pastoralist & Public Benefactor

"Born 5th August 1818 at Kirkcaldy, Fife, Scotland and died 6th March 1897 at Mount Lofty, Southern Australia, Australia.

(Sir) Thomas Elder imported and bred camels to use as transport in Outback Australia. A hundred of them were used in building the overland telegraph line from Adelaide to Darwin in 1872, and he also lent camels and drivers to expeditions of discovery".

"(Thomas Elder)was an agricultural scientist and benefactor and invested in sheep stations in northern South Australia. He spent much money improving these properties, especially on water conservation".