George Brookman

Sir George Brookman KBE was a South Australian businessman who made a fortune from a gold discovery in Western Australia, and is remembered as a generous benefactor of the South Australian School of Mines and Industries and the University of Adelaide.

History

Brookman was born on 15 April 1850 in Glasgow, Scotland, the eldest son of typesetter Benjamin Brookman and his wife Jane née Wilson. The family emigrated to South Australia in 1852 on the Water Lily, arriving at Port Adelaide on 5 May and settled in Prospect. After completing his education at the schools of James Bath and R. C. Mitton, he found employment with grocery firm D & J Fowler. Then, with fellow-employee William Finlayson jun., he took over Fowler's retail arm in King William Street. He set himself up as a stock and share broker and earned a position in the Adelaide Stock Exchange in 1890.
In 1893 he founded, with brother William Brookman and Sam Pearce, the Coolgardie Gold Mining and Prospecting Co. Ltd. syndicate which financed the exploration and proving of a mining lease "Ivanhoe" in Kalgoorlie, Western Australia, in what was later dubbed the "Golden Mile" and made its backers incredibly wealthy. The syndicate owed its success to dogged determination in the face of criticism from experts, as the mineral was in a form that had not been encountered before and through "Brookman's extraordinarily skilful financial transactions and able administration".
He stood successfully for the Central District vacancy in South Australia's Legislative Council in 1901 caused by the resignation of Charles Kingston, who took up a seat in the new Federal Parliament. He was re-elected, but did not stand for the elections of 1910.

Business activities

In 1896 he commissioned a four-storey block of offices "Brookman Building(s)" at 35 Grenfell Street, Adelaide, previously the site of the Commercial Hotel. The architect was Alfred Wells. Included was an auction room costing £30,000 available to the wool dealers at £100 for 12 days' use each year.
He was chairman from 1898 to 1922 of the South Australian Electric Light and Motive Power Company and its successor, the Adelaide Electric Supply Company.
He was a director of the Bank of Adelaide.
He was a director of the Mintaro Slate Company.

Public works

He was a member of the North Adelaide Congregational Church, and for many years Finance Secretary of the Congregational Union.
He gave £15,000 towards the eventual £50,000 cost of the School of Mines and Industries building on the Frome Road corner of North Terrace. The School had been housed in the Jubilee Exhibition Building, but had long since outgrown the space available to it.
He gave practical support to the University of Adelaide and was for many years a member of its council.
He was also strongly associated with the Adelaide Children's Hospital.
He was involved with various patriotic movements, especially during the Great War: the State Repatriation Board, the Red Cross Society, the Anzac Hospitality Committee, and other organisations with similar aims.

Recognition

The large assembly hall of the School of Mines building, for which he contributed so generously, was named for him, as colloquially has the building itself.
He was knighted on 19 October 1920 for his "Services during the War" to the State, the Commonwealth, and the Empire.

Family

Parents

George's mother Jane died on 1 March 1881.
His father, Benjamin, then married Charlotte Elizabeth Ragless on 27 September 1883. Charlotte Elizabeth was the eldest daughter of John Ragless
Their home was "Kelvin Lodge", Prospect. After the death of her husband, Charlotte Elizabeth lived with her daughter Charlotte Evelyn "Lottie" Botten.

Siblings

;Children of Benjamin and Jane included:

George Brookman, the subject of this article
Benjamin married Lillian Alice Augusta Hassall on 29 January 1878.
William Gordon
James moved to California
Lillian married Benjamin Edward Ragless on 12 December 1878
Katherine Isabella "Kate" Brookman married John White of Kent Town on 24 August 1882.

;Children of Benjamin and Charlotte Elizabeth included:

John Ragless Brookman married Elsie Elizabeth Parker on 22 March 1910
Charlotte Evelyn "Lottie" married Norman Leonard Botten on 26 December 1914

Family of George Brookman

He married Eliza Martha Marshall at St Kilda, Victoria on 13 February 1878.
Their children included:

Alice May Brookman married Thomas George Wilson M.B. on 4 June 1902. They divorced in 1920.
George Wilson Brookman married Mary "Polly" Shiels on 23 August 1915
Norman Brookman married Ada Mary Dorothy "Nan" Burden on 6 March 1912. Nan was the elder daughter of Fred Burden.
Howard Brookman

Their home was either "Craigmellon" at 3 Edwin Terrace, Gilberton, or "Ivanhoe" at 9 Edwin Terrace. He died on 27 June 1927 at "Blair Athol", Avenel Gardens, Medindie. He was survived by his wife, his daughter, and two of his sons.