P003514 revised AU-VU:EOAS Encyclopedia of Australian Science and Innovation

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 English AACR2 Anglo-American Cataloguing Rules Person created 2001-05-25 human Rosanne Walker and Helen Cohn updated 2025-11-05 human https://www.eoas.info/biogs/P003514b.htm person Elder Thomas GCMG AACR2 5 August 1818 6 March 1897 Place of Birth Kirkcaldy, Fife, Scotland Place of Death Mount Lofty, South Australia, Australia Business executive Pastoralist Philanthropist Thomas Elder was a business man and pastoralist who, with his partners, invested in copper mines and large pastoral leases which brought them considerable wealth. He was a great enthusiast for exploration and financed a number of expeditions through outback South Australia and Western Australia. These included the journeys of Peter Warburton (1873 - 1873) and Ernest Giles (1875), and the Elder Scientific Exploring Expedition (1891 - 1982). He 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. Elder's considerable philanthropy extended to public institutions in South Australia, particularly the University of Adelaide. He was a founding Member of the South Australian Branch of the Royal Geographical Society of Australasia in 1885. 1854 1854 Life event - Migrated to Australia 1863 1869 Career position - Member of the Legislative Council, Parliament of South Australia 1871 1871 Career event - Elected as a Member, Adelaide Philosophical Society 1871 1878 Career position - Member of the Legislative Council, Parliament of South Australia 1878 1878 Award - Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George (KCGM) 1885 1897 Career position - Founding Member, Royal Geographical Society of Australasia, South Australian Branch 1887 1887 Award - Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George (GCMG) 1891 1892 Life event - Financed the Elder Scientific Exploring Expedition Elder Scientific Exploring Expedition (1891 - 1892)

Elder funded the Expedition

 Adelaide Philosophical Society (1853 - 1880)

Elected as a Member 1871

 Perks, Robert Howell (1854 - 1912)

Medical attendant 1895 - 1897

 Warburton, Peter Egerton (1813 - 1889)

Warburton's 1872 exploring expedition was financed by Elder

 Royal Geographical Society of Australasia, South Australian Branch (1885 - )

Foundation Member 1885 - 1897

Wikidata

VIAF - Virtual International Authority File

 Elder, Thomas (1818-)

Trove

 'Elder, Thomas', in Encyclopedia of Australian Science and Innovation, Centre for Transformative Innovation, Swinburne University of Technology Elder, Thomas Swinburne University of Technology, Centre for Transformative Innovation Encyclopedia of Australian Science and Innovation Book Section: Elder, William (1804-1882), Alexander Lang (1815-1885), George (1816-1897), businessmen, and Sir Thomas (1818-1897), businessman, pastoralist and public benefactor Gosse, Fayette Elder, William (1804-1882), Alexander Lang (1815-1885), George (1816-1897), businessmen, and Sir Thomas (1818-1897), businessman, pastoralist and public benefactor Melbourne Melbourne University Press 1972 Australian dictionary of biography, volume 4: 1851 - 1890 D-J Douglas Pike 133-134 Resource: The Overland Telegraph Line: A Transcultural History Nettelbeck, Amanda (and others) The Overland Telegraph Line: A Transcultural History South Australia South Australian Government 2023 Resource: Technology in Australia 1788-1988 Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering Technology in Australia 1788-1988 Online Melbourne Australian Science and Technology Heritage Centre 2000 Correspondence re a proposed Antarctic expedition State Library of South Australia, Mortlock Library of South Australiana Correspondence re a proposed Antarctic expedition D 7520(L) 1890 - 1897 Correspondence between Sir Thomas Elder and Sir Erasmus Ommanney, Baron Von Mueller and Thomas Margarey, Langdon Parsons and Thomas Margarey and from the Royal Geographical Society in Victoria mainly in regard to financing the proposed expedition. 0.01 m