John Gilmour 1816-1890

John Gilmour

was born in 1816 at Alloa, Clackmanshire, Scotland, the son of Alexander and Janet (nee Miller). He arrived in South Australia on the ship LYSANDER IN 1839, aged 23 years. He was a SA Company tenant farmer near Chain of Ponds before moving to the Glen Devon property and married Mary Ann Wheaton in 1850 with his first two children being born at Chain of Ponds in 1852 and 1854 and the remainder of the 10 children being born in the Mount Pleasant district.

In 1851, whilst at Chain of Ponds, he first grew wheat which he entered in the 1851 Crystal Palace Great Exhibition held in London’s Hyde Park. In a letter written in 1886 as a Letter to the Editor in reply to a statement made with regard to wheat from the Mount Barker region achieving success in London, John wrote an explanation … At the second Show held in connection with the Adelaide Agricultural Society my partner (Mr. Innes) and myself were the successful competitors for the prize offered for wheat. The exhibit, which was grown on our farm at Chain of Ponds, attracted the attention of a gentleman, a certain Mr. Biggins, and he suggested that the parcel should be sent to England for competition at a Show to be held in London. With our consent it was forwarded immediately afterwards, and the sample was meritorious enough to secure first honours. Now all who remember the second Adelaide Show will know that it was held some years before the great Exhibition of 1851, so that our wheat really obtained an award in London before that sent from the Mount Barker district. In mentioning these facts I merely desire to remove the general impression that no South Australian wheat received honours in England previous to 1851.

In the newspaper of the day it reported the purchase of Section 7, Hd Para Wirra in 1857 sold to J Gilmour 206 acres for £206/5/0. This land was about 4 miles north of Mount Pleasant.

Also reported in the newspapers of the day was that Gilmour was a Judge for the Mount Pleasant Ploughing matches in 1857 and 1858.

John Gilmour purchased what was to become ‘Glen Devon’ in 1873, from James Phillis. The property was named by John and it could be assumed that it was named after the valley of the Devon River, which flowed near his home in Scotland. He was a great supporter of the Ploughing matches, which began in 1856 and were the precursor to the Show, which is still one of the largest country shows in SA. John was in fact a member of the committee which established this show in 1863.

He is regularly reported in the newspapers as applying to the Talunga Council for works to be done on roads and in fact built the first bridge in the district which happened to be over the R. Torrens to his home. He never lost an opportunity to urge the appropriate authorities for a dedicated main road between Adelaide and Mount Pleasant.

During the mid 1860s the property became a sheep-raising one and John was successful in the shows with his stud stock and wool.

In our district record ‘The Quiet Waters By’ by Reg Butler describes John had an avid interest in the Presbyterian Church, carefully dealing out his regular contributions from a chamois leather money bag. In later years he apparently connived with his grandchildren to pour whiskey on his breakfast porridge when the women of the household were not looking!

John Gilmour died at his son’s residence in Unley, in 1890, aged 74 years. His funeral however left his home, Glen Devon, and he is buried in the Mount Pleasant Public Cemetery of the day, now called McBean Cemetery, adjacent to the Golf Club.

Of his children, two died as youngsters of diptheria, a third drowned at age 22 years, in the River Murray, a daughter went to New Zealand, a son to Queensland, and several moved to New South Wales.

In 1894 the Glen Devon property of some 3409 acres together with Devon Downs which was some 7723 acres and situated on the River Murray, between Mannum and Blanchetown was auctioned with the assistance of Henry Arthur Giles of Mount Pleasant. Lachlan McBean purchased ‘Glen Devon’ and continued the profitable operation of the estate.