| [Index] |
| Leopold Fabius Dietagarus Fane DE SALIS (1816 - 1898) |
| Pastoralist, grazier, MP, Magistrate |
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| b. 26 Apr 1816 at Florence, Italy |
| m. 1844 Charlotte F MACDONALD (1819 - 1878) at Gundagai, New South Wales, Australia |
| d. 20 Nov 1898 at Queanbeyan, New South Wales, Australia aged 82 |
| Parents: |
| Jerome Hieronimus Fane DE SALIS (1771 - 1836) |
| Henrietta FOSTER (1790 - 1856) |
| Events in Leopold Fabius Dietagarus Fane DE SALIS (1816 - 1898)'s life | |||||
| Date | Age | Event | Place | Notes | Src |
| 26 Apr 1816 | Leopold Fabius Dietagarus Fane DE SALIS was born | Florence, Italy | |||
| 02 Oct 1836 | 20 | Death of father Jerome Hieronimus Fane DE SALIS (aged 65) | Hillingdon, Middlesex, England | ||
| 19 Nov 1840 | 24 | Immigration | Australia | Royal George | |
| 1844 | 28 | Married Charlotte F MACDONALD (aged 25) | Gundagai, New South Wales, Australia | V1844480 29/1844 | 6 |
| abt 1845 | 29 | Residence | Junee, New South Wales, Australia | Junee Station | |
| Jun 1845 | 29 | Birth of son Leoplod William Jerome Fane DE SALIS | Gundagai, New South Wales, Australia | ||
| 19 Nov 1846 | 30 | Birth of son Rodolph John Charles Fane DE SALIS | Gundagai, New South Wales, Australia | Note 1 | |
| 1848 | 32 | Birth of daughter Henrietta Sarah Sophia Nina Fane DE SALIS | Gundagai, New South Wales, Australia | V18481945 33A/1848 | |
| 1851 | 35 | Birth of son George Arthur Charles Fane DE SALIS | Gundagai, New South Wales, Australia | ||
| abt 1855 | 39 | Residence | Cuppacumbalong, New South Wales, Australia | ||
| 27 Oct 1856 | 40 | Death of mother Henrietta FOSTER (aged 66) | |||
| 1858 | 42 | Birth of son Henry Gubert Macdonald Fane DE SALIS | Sydney, New South Wales, Australia | 1984/1858 | |
| 06 Jun 1876 | 60 | Death of son Rodolph John Charles Fane DE SALIS (aged 29) | Queanbeyan, New South Wales, Australia | 9651/876 | |
| 1878 | 62 | Death of wife Charlotte F MACDONALD (aged 59) | Queanbeyan, New South Wales, Australia | 9160/1878 | |
| 20 Nov 1898 | 82 | Leopold Fabius Dietagarus Fane DE SALIS died | Queanbeyan, New South Wales, Australia | 15594/1898 | |
| Note 1: BIRTH.
SMH 30 Nov 1846 "On the 19th instant, at Darbalara, near Yass, the lady of Leopold Fane De Salis, Esq., of a son." |
| Personal Notes: |
|
DE SALIS, LEOPOLD FABIUS DIETEGAN FANE (1816-1898), pastoralist and politician, was born on 26 April 1816 in Florence, Italy, the second son of Jerome Fane, fourth Count de Salis, and his third wife Henrietta, née Foster. Educated at Eton, he studied sheep farming near Jedburgh, Scotland. He reached Sydney on 18 November 1840 in the Royal George. With a partner he acquired Darbalara on the Murrumbidgee, where they built a public house and charged excessive prices at the station store. De Salis wrote 'Thro' very despair I determined to settle and content myself', and in 1844 he married Charlotte, daughter of George Macdonald. Next year the partners took up Junee station and by 1854 had added two other runs. In 1855 he sold out, planning to go to England; instead he bought Cuppacumbalong where he made improvements and planted Lombardy poplars along the river at Tharwa. He also introduced irrigation, pioneered the use of dams and made a lifelong study of meteorology.
A magistrate since 1844, de Salis was active on the bench: in 1866 he asked the colonial secretary for a detective to inquire into the shooting of cattle by a fellow magistrate. In December 1864 he was elected to the Legislative Assembly for Queanbeyan. A loyal supporter, he told his friend, Henry Parkes, in November 1868 that it was 'in our best interests to educate the Catholics'; he also recommended the introduction of an income tax, to which labourers should contribute 'as an insurance against misfortune or improvidence'. His knowledge of local land conditions enabled de Salis to see both sides of the squatter-selector disputes: known as 'the selectors' friend', he opposed large estates but wanted more certain tenure for the squatter. Later he recognized that 'the chief burden of our Government is the inheritance from a Crown Colony of universal municipal responsibility'. In 1869 he was defeated by William Forster, but in the 1872 election engineered his son's victory over 'the borough-mongering influences of the Rutledges … & the personal exertion of the priest'. De Salis urged Parkes to join Edward Butler and woo the Irish. In July 1874 de Salis was appointed to the Legislative Council, pledged to its reconstruction on an elective basis. Reluctant to invest in Parkes's coal mine at Jervis Bay, he 'cheerfully' promised £100 a year to assist Parkes to continue as leader of the Opposition. An active member, de Salis introduced three unsuccessful bills. Characteristically he opposed the dispatch of the Sudan contingent, but as a devout Anglican was implacably against Sir Alfred Stephen's divorce reform bills. Cultured, independent and with much common sense, de Salis was a moderating influence in parliament, but increasingly left the management of his stations to his sons. In the Upper Murrumbidgee area he acquired Naas and Coolamon. In the 1870s de Salis Bros took up extensive land in Queensland, where their principal station was Strathmore, near Bowen, but lost all their holdings to the Union Bank by 1895. In 1893 de Salis had visited England to transfer entailed estates to his younger brother. On his return he lived with his daughter Nina, wife of William Farrer, at Lambrigg, Tharwa. With debts of over £100,000 he became insolvent in 1898; his benevolence and hospitality had contributed to his reverses. He died at Lambrigg on 20 November and was buried in the family cemetery at Cuppacumbalong, survived by three sons and his only daughter. Select Bibliography E. J. Lea-Scarlett, Queanbeyan: District and People (Queanbeyan, 1968); Parliamentary Debates (Legislative Council, New South Wales), 1880-98; A. W. Martin, ‘Electoral Contests in Yass and Queanbeyan in the 'Seventies and 'Eighties’, Journal of the Royal Australian Historical Society, 43 (1957); W. A. F. de Salis, ‘Some family history’, Canberra and District Historical Society, Papers, 1960; Queanbeyan Observer, 22 Nov 1898; Henry Parkes letters (State Library of New South Wales); manuscript catalogue under de Salis (State Library of New South Wales); de Salis insolvency file (State Records New South Wales). More on the resources Print Publication Details: 'de Salis, Leopold Fabius Dietegan Fane (1816 - 1898)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 4, Melbourne University Press, 1972, pp 60-61. Obit from SMH 22 Nov 1898 "Leopold Fane de Salis, of Cuppacumbalong mid Tharwa stations, died at Queanbeyan Station yesterday, at the advanced age of 82. Deceased was the fourth son of Jerome, the fourth Count de Salis, and married in 1844 Charlotte, daughter of the late Captain G M'Donald Morar, of the 68th regiment, by whom he leaves three tons and a daughter." |
| Source References: |
| 2. Type: Book, Abbr: Devon to Downunder, Title: Devon to Downunder, Auth: Bettie Elworthy, Publ: Bookbound, Date: 1997 |
| - Reference = 238 (Name, Notes) |
| 6. Type: Book, Abbr: Queanbeyan Register, Title: Biographical register of Canberra and Queanbeyan: from the district to the Australian Capital Territory 1820-1930, Auth: Peter Proctor, Publ: The Heraldry & Genealogical Society of Canberra, Date: 2001 |
| - Reference = 199 (Marriage) |
| 71. Type: Book, Abbr: Wagga Pioneers, Title: Pioneers of Wagga Wagga and District, Auth: Wagga Wagga & District Family History Society Inc, Publ: Wagga Wagga & District Family History Society Inc, Date: 2004, Locn: http://www.waggafamilyhistory.org.au/ |
| - Reference = 94 (Name, Notes) |
| - Notes: De Salis acquired Parabalara on the Murrumbidgee River. In 1845 with a partner, he took up Junee Station. De Salis, a friend of Henry Parkes was a Magistrate and was elected to the Legislative Council in 1875 |
| 73. Type: Book, Abbr: Pioneers of Tumut Valley, Title: Pioneers of the Tumult Valley , The History of Early Settlement, Auth: H.E. Snowden, Publ: Tumut & District Historical Society Incorporated, Date: 2004 |
| - Reference = 44 (Name, Notes) |
| - Notes: Leopold F ane deSalis was born on 26 April 1816 in Florence, Italy, the second son of Jerome Fane, fourth Count de Salis, and his third wife Henrietta, née Foster.
Educated at Eton, he studied sheep farming near Jedburgh, Scotland. He reached Sydney on 18 November 1840 on the Royal George. With a partner named Smyth he was granted a grazing licence for Darbalara run of 40,000 acres. Here they built a public house and charged excessive prices at the station store. In 1844 he married Charlotte, daughter of George Macdonald the owner of Adjungbilly Station. They had five children; > Leopold William deSalis (1845-1930) (married Jeanette Caroline Armstrong in 1895), > RodoIph deSalis (1841-1876), > George Arthur Charles deSalis (1852-1932), (married Mary St Irving Galliard Smith in 1878), > Henry Gubert deSalis (1858-1931), > Nina deSalis (married William Farrer). In 1855 he sold out and bought Cuppacumbalong at Tharwa. He was Member of the Legislative Council 1874-1898. By 1895 he had lost all his holdings. He then lived with his daughter Nina and William Farrer (of wheat breeding fame) at Lambrigg, Tharwa. He died there on the 20th November 1898. |