Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1884-01-04
A RIVAL OF R0THSCHILD.
AN AUsTRALIAN WHO Is WORTH
TWO HUNDRED MILLIONS.
How EFis Great Wealth Was Amasscd
Living in a HOUSE that Cost
8, 200, 0,OOO-tpis Home goIenee.

How EFis Great Wealth Was Amasscd
Living in HOUSE that Cost
4,OO0,00O-spis BsnsFoIence.
About forty-six years ago, says a Mel
bourne correspondent, a farmer named
Clarke left the shores of England for
Tasmania, for the purpose of farming,
taking with him considerable capital, and
being, in addition, a remarkable Judge of
sheep and cattle. He appears to have
failed in that island and as the Tasma-
mans were forming d new settlement on
the shores of the great Australian conti-
nent, near Port Philip, he determined
to try his fortune there! Where the queen
city of the SOUTH Melbourne, with its
400, 900 inhabitants, now stands was
then waste inhabited by the savages
and the kangaroo. Clarke at this period
received from a distant relative Il COnsid
erable sum of money, which he immedi-
ately invested in land in the vicinity
Of Melbourne, then called "Baregrass'
Asthe col0niul government Of New South
Wales granted special surveys of $4,000
acres at the uniform price Of five shillings
per acre, Clarke Immediately invested his
| legacy in one of these immense blocks,
aid thus laid the foundation of his gi-
| gantic fortune. This was in 1840 and
for several years he continued to farm
and to take up sheep and cattle stations
! In the then uninhabited regions Of Aus
tralia Felix, now the colony of Victoria.
He always attended the government land
sales, and bought largely in the Ballarat
districts, where the richest gold mines in
Australia are situated. The discovery Of
gold at Mount Alexander and Ballarat
increased his growing wealth, as he ex-
acted rigidly tribute or royalty for per-
mission to mine on his coveted lands, and
be thus obtained immense sums.
Never were riches more worthily
bestowed. He continued till the
time of his death, 1864, to buy
lands, sell merino wool and deal in
cattle. His son succeeded to this vast
inheritance, which comprised at his
fathers death, $500, 600 merinO sheep,
800, 900 cattle, and nearly 5000, 000acres
of freehold lands, and a leasehold Of
crown lands equal in area to that of Eng
land. The probate duty paid to the va
rlOus cOlOnlal governments was cdlCula-
ted on an estate valued at $50, 600, 900,
though that was not more than half its
real value. His son, the present Lord
Rupertswood, has by his care and atten-
ton quadrupled this vast fortune. When
the Duke of Edinburgh and the sons of
the Prince of Wales visited Australia,
they were feasted right royalty at Ru-
pertswood, the family seat, and Queen
Victoria created him Baron Rupertswood,
of Rupertswood, in the colony of Victo-
ria, and a peer of the United Kingdom.
Without any exaggeration, the Australian
is worth 5000, 900, 900, and the influx Of
population is adding daily to his wealth.
His generosity is unbounded. The
charitable institutions of Melbourne and
the colonies owe him great debt of graf
itude for his liberality. Rupertswood,
the seat of this bucolic Australian, is SUI
perb, and can compare with any residence
in the old Or new world, its estimated
cost beinp 81 600 600