Alfred Le Messurier


Alfred Le Messurier was a shipping agent in Port Adelaide, South Australia. The family name was often styled LeMessurier.

History

Le Messurier was born in Queenstown, South Australia, the eldest son of Captain Peter Le Messurier.
He was educated at William Wood Leslie's school at Queenstown, then Rev. Frank Garrett's school at Port Adelaide, finally St Peter's College.
Captain Peter Le Messurier was in business as Port Adelaide agent for the various small shipping companies that traded around the South Australian coast, mostly conducted by ketches. In 1872 young Alfred began working for his father, and on whose death in 1876 he took charge of the business, just as sail was giving way to steam. His business interests were centred on Port Adelaide, and the smaller class of steamships. He became secretary of the Coast Company, which had the steamship Ceres. That company was merged in the Yorke's Peninsula Company, which ran Warooka and James Currie. Next the West Coast Shipping Company, whose first ship was the Australian, whose career ended on 9 May 1912 as a wreck on Wardang Island, and Wookata. That company amalgamated with the Gulf Steamship Company as Coast Steamships Limited.
His brother Edward Collas Le Messurier joined in 1873 to form A.&E.LeMessurier, and the business prospered. When Le Messurier took over the business from his father, the office staff numbered three; at the time of his death there were forty.
As a young man, Le Messurier was a keen athlete, notably as a runner over short distances.
He played football for Port Adelaide, and was a valued member of the club, as were several of his brothers. All three were competitive oarsmen.
He was a member of various business organisations: the Importers and Agents' Association of South Australia, of which a founder, and for several years, president; also the Chamber of Commerce, of which he was a council member for several years.
He was also a member of Semaphore Convalescent Homes.
He died at his residence, Mill street, North Adelaide, at the age of 71 years, after 18 months of illness.

Family

In 1880 he married Jane Sinclair Neill, a daughter of John Neill of Semaphore and Port Adelaide. Their children include:
  • Ernest Warwick Le Messurier
  • Daisy Maud/e Le Messurier married Arthur James Gordon Seddon in 1910, of Medindie
  • Roy Le Messurier joined his father's business at age 16, and specialized in the timber trade, founding Gunnersen Le Messurier in 1915. He married Margaret Galway Saunders in 1912. She sued him for support in 1928. Margaret was a daughter of William Henry Saunders, town clerk of Port Adelaide and brother of A. T. Saunders.
  • Dorothy Le Messurier married P. Britten Wald, of Malvern, Victoria.
  • Dr Frederick Neill Le Messurier DSO, He served in WWI as major in the 1st Australian Stationary Hospital. He married Frieda Gwendoline James on 9 November 1920.
He married again in November 1910 to Lillian Chewings, nurse of his first wife; they had one son:
  • David Hugh Le Messurier married Patricia O'Dea in 1936. Rev K. J. F. Bickersteth officiated. He is remembered as a medical researcher.

    Other children of Captain Peter Le Messurier

Edward Collas Le Messurier was a valued member of Port Adelaide Football Club. He was Secretary or CEO of the club for the years 1883–1885 and 1887. A. T. Saunders mis-reported that he died in Europe while attempting a health cure. He never married.
Ernest Le Messurier was a brother and a playing member of PAFC and club captain in 1883, but a shoulder injury put an end to his playing career, and was elected secretary in 1885. He married Jessie Rainforth Neill in 1889. Jessie was another daughter of John Neill. Their children include:
  • Ernest John Le Messurier married Rosina Elsa Simon in 1926.
  • Kathleen Le Messurier, tennis player
Mary Matilda Le Messurier married John Henry Stephen Kneebone on 22 May 1889. Their children include:
  • Dr John Le Messurier Kneebone
  • Christopher Stephen Kneebone M.M., sportsman and mining engineer