John Rounsevell


John Rounsevell was a pastoralist and politician in the British colony of South Australia. His brother William Benjamin "Ben" Rounsevell was also a South Australian politician.

History

John Rounsevell was born in Landunna, in Altarnun, Cornwall, and came out to South Australia with his parents William and Grace Rounsevell on City of Adelaide arriving on 6 July 1839. He was educated at St Peter's College, then started working for his father's livery stable and mail coach business, becoming a partner with responsibility for operations north of Kapunda. He became an expert horseman and a foremost exponent of the whip.
He retired from "the road" when the company was sold to Cobb and Co. He managed his father's property Corryton Park near Mount Crawford and turned his attention to filling government contracts. He supplied sleepers for railway work and supervised construction of the section of the Adelaide to Darwin telegraph line north from Port Augusta, and supplied a great number of its telegraph poles as well as large numbers of horses, bullocks and camels for the project.
In 1864 he took up pastoral country in the vicinity of the Warburton Range and lying to the north-east and south-east of it, and erected the trig point on Rounsevell Hill, to the north-west. He also named Gibraltar, the large granite outcrop in the district, and Sturt's Rock, named for the number of Sturt peas in the neighbourhood.
He turned his attention to sheepfarming, at Corryton Park, successfully breeding stud sheep, while his wool clips had a good reputation both in South Australia and in London.

Politics

In 1865 John Rounsevell was elected as a member of the South Australian House of Assembly for the district of Light, but he retired two years later.
Subsequently he was elected for the district of Gumeracha, serving from 1865 to 1868 and again from 1880 until 1881.
He served in the Adelaide City Council. His residence "Landunna" at 111 Hutt Street became home of the Naval, Military & Air Force Club of South Australia Inc. in 1957. The cannon in its grounds once belonged to HMS Buffalo, the ship that brought Governor Hindmarsh to South Australia.

Family

He was married four times: to Emma Hart on 4 February 1857, Eliza Hart on 29 September 1877, Elizabeth Jane Coombs on 3 December 1881, and Sarah Coombs on 13 June 1887. Their children included:
  • Emma Adelaide Rounsevell born Kapunda
  • William Henry Rounsevell
  • Emma Victoria Rounsevell married Augustus Samuel Beaumont on 5 March 1879
  • Florence Victoria Maria Rounsevell married solicitor Thomas Gepp on 25 October 1884.
  • Horace Vernon Rounsevell married Clara Rachel Coombs on 8 June 1912. He was a partner in the firm of Symon, Rounsevell, & Cleland.
  • Ruby Rounsevell married Charles Wurm on 12 November 1910
  • Harold Rounsevell
  • Reginald Rounsevell was on the staff of the Bank of Australasia
  • Benjamin Corryton Rounsevell
  • Clara Myrtle Rounsevell
  • John Corryton Rounsevell