administration of the Northern Territory
Which position did George Fife Angas hold in Jun 1866?
George Fife Angas George Fife Angas ( 1 May 1789 – 15 May 1879 ) was an English businessman and banker who , while residing in England , played a significant part in the formation and establishment of the Province of South Australia . He established the South Australian Company and was its founding chairman of the board of directors . In later life he migrated to the colony and served as a member of the first South Australian Legislative Council . His financial contribution of some £40,000 was instrumental to the creation of South Australia . Early life . Angas was born at Newcastle upon Tyne , England , fifth son of Caleb Angas of Newcastle ( 1743–1831 ) and his second wife Sarah Angas née Lindsay ( 1749–1802 ) . Caleb was a successful coachbuilder and ship owner . After his mothers death , he continued his education at a boarding school and at age 15 became an apprentice coachbuilder under his fathers direction . He started the Benevolent Society of Coachbuilders in Newcastle in 1807 to provide for sick members and others requiring relief , and promote habits of economy and temperance . In 1808 he went to London to gain further experience and returned to Newcastle in 1809 where he worked as a supervisor for his fathers business . On 8 April 1812 in Hutton , Essex , he married Rosetta French ( 1793–1867 ) , daughter of John French ( 1761–1829 ) , Gentleman of Hutton , Essex , and Rosetta French née Rayner ( 1756–1836 ) . They had three sons and four daughters . Their eldest son , George French Angas became a notable artist . Their daughter Emma Angas caught smallpox and died while nursing refugees in Beirut . Career . Over the next 20 years Angas took a large role in the family business in Newcastle , which also had branches in British ports , the West Indies and Spanish America , and steadily developed his own shipping business in London . By 1831 , his business owned three ships , commercial business in Honduras , Buenos Aires and London , coach factories in Durham and Newcastle , with mahogany trade and copperas works . Angas came from a non-conformist religious household , and as a religious person became a secretary of the Newcastle Sunday School Union , founded in 1815 to educate poor children in Newcastle and Gateshead . On two occasions after the repeal of the Test Act and the Corporation Act in 1828 , which barred non-conformists from public office , Angas was asked to stand for Parliament , but declined partly due to reasons of poor health . He had a talent for banking , and played a large part in the founding of the National Provincial Bank of England in 1833 , ( which exists today after several mergers as NatWest ) , sitting as a director on its first board , the Union Bank of Australia ( in 1836 ) and the South Australian Banking Company ( in 1840 ) . In 1835 , he held shares in the British American Land Company . South Australia . Angas had become relatively wealthy and was concerned with putting his money to the best use . He became interested in a proposed settlement in South Australia and in 1832 joined the committee of the South Australian Land Company and took up enough shares to become a director . His own views on systematic colonisation dealt with the exclusion of convicts , concentration of settlers , sending out ( preferably religious ) intelligent people with capital , the emigration of young couples of good character , free trade , free government , and freedom of religion . As such , South Australia became the first Australian colony to provide residents with religious freedom and to grant land rights to indigenous people . Angas was discouraged by the companys failure to get government support , but continued his involvement with the South Australian Association which was formed in 1834 , with Robert Gouger as secretary . During debates on the price of land Angas , who held the opposite view to Edward Gibbon Wakefield , wanted the price of land to be low . However , the South Australian Colonization Commission set a high price for land , which brought sales of land , and hence establishment of the colony , to a standstill . Angas formed a joint-stock company to buy the remaining land , which was transferred in January 1836 to the newly formed South Australian Company . In February 1836 , the first of three ships set sail for South Australia with emigrants , livestock and provisions on board . The company supervisors were provided with minutely detailed instructions covering almost any problem which might have arisen . All three ships arrived by the middle of August . The colonial office , the Colonization Commissioners , and the South Australian Company would determine the success or failure of the colony , and it was still unclear which was the controlling body . There was initial friction between the company and the commissioners . The establishment of a banking business in 1837 , and its separation as the South Australian Banking Company in 1840 , at the behest of Angas , played an important part in the early growth of the colony . Angas worked on behalf of the bank in England , giving lectures , writing pamphlets and supplying information to newspapers . He also helped to establish the South Australian School Society , and sent out missionaries and German colonists . He set up the Union Bank of Australia in England and also found the time to be active in the colonisation of New Zealand . In recognition of his efforts in making New Zealand an English colony rather than a French colony , Angas was offered a knighthood and a then baronetcy , but he declined both . Angas was also a leading figure in attempting to establish and secure proper treatment of the Aboriginal people of South Australia . Mr Angas set before himself the model of William Penn and his treaty with the North American Indians for establishing friendly and equitable relations with the Europeans . ( Hodder ) Using his position as Commissioner , he attempted to secure Aboriginal rights in both legislature and through financing missionary actions . In 1836 , Angas met with Pastor August Kavel , who was Pastor in Klępsk ( Klemzig ) in Prussia . Kavel and his Lutheran congregation at Klemzig faced oppression due to decrees made by King Frederick William III . They sought to regain their religious freedom by emigrating to another country . Angas sent his chief clerk , Charles Flaxman to Prussia to meet with Kavels group . Flaxman on returning , gave a favorable report to Angas , who then sought to have the South Australian Company meet the cost of the transport for the whole congregation from Hamburg to South Australia . This request was declined , and so Angas made a loan to this group of emigrants , by meeting the cost of securing vessels himself . In 1838 Angas chartered four ships on their behalf ; Prince George , Bengalee , Zebra , and Catharina . This loan , along with another Angas had made to his chief clerk Charles Flaxman , ( who invested in land in South Australia ) , put Angas in a difficult financial situation the next year . Angas had borrowed heavily and was forced to sell his interests in the Union Bank and other companies . News came that the British government had dishonoured drafts drawn by the Governor , George Gawler and that the colony was in danger of ruin . Angas appealed to the government , his efforts resulting in a loan to the colony and payment of the dishonoured drafts . In 1842 Angas lectured extensively on South Australia and wrote a pamphlet , Facts Illustrative of South Australia , which was widely distributed . Gawler , who had been recalled to England , suggested that Angas should settle in South Australia . In early 1843 , his finances still troubled , he sent out his 19-year-old son John Howard Angas to supervise his land and recover the family fortunes . Angas was unable to sell his northern England properties until 1850 but some repayments had come in from the German settlers . The stress had affected his health and he decided to migrate to Australia , arriving in Adelaide with his wife and youngest son in January 1851 . Slavery . According to Humphrey McQueen and Catherine Hall , the Angas family business supply chain used slaves . Angas is not recorded by the Legacies of British Slave-ownership database as having held slaves himself , nor of having obtained any meaningful benefit from them . As was typical for the period , his business associates in Honduras included people who owned slaves . He collected compensatory claims on behalf of four former slave owners , totalling £6,942 after abolition , with a total of 121 slaves . The claims he collected were : - 5 October 1835 , Honduras 231 , 40 enslaved , £2176 17/3d . - 26 October 1835 , Honduras 51 , 12 enslaved , £685 15/1d . - 26 October 1835 , Honduras 199 , 35 enslaved , £1642 17/2d - 9 November 1835 , Honduras 244 , 34 enslaved , £2439 17/3d . On 12 June 1840 , he was delegate number 196 , one of eight representing Newcastle upon Tyne , at the World Anti-Slavery Convention . A commemorative newspaper article in The Advertiser ( an Adelaide daily ) in 1909 described how Angas sought to protect the poorer classes from oppression and endeavoured to help slaves who , he argued , were held in illegal bondage . In 1824 , over 200 Indians were set free as a result of his efforts . Later life , death and legacy . Angas , by then almost 62 , was met by his two sons and eldest daughter . His work on behalf of the colony were widely known and a few days later a public dinner was held in his honour . He found work , becoming elected as a member of the Legislative Council for the Barossa district and turned his attention towards education and other public interests . Being kept busy improved his health , and he was able to pay off his debts in short order . Angas bought Merino sheep and cattle , employing out-of work migrants on his property . He returned to England from 1857 to September 1859 to settle matters in his fathers estate . He continued parliamentary work and lobbied against South Australia being given responsibility for the administration of the Northern Territory . He resigned in 1866 , feeling that he could not fully fulfil his role , and continued to contribute to schools , churches and charities . His wife of 55 years died in 1867 . In 1869 he published a History of the Newcastle upon Tyne Sunday School Union which was compiled with the help of secretary William Ramage Lawson . Although retired from parliamentary duties , managing his property at Angaston gave him plenty to do . He recovered from a serious illness at 87 and died on 15 May 1879 at 90 years of age . He was survived by three sons , notably John Howard Angas and George French Angas , and three daughters . Angas financial contribution of some £40,000 was instrumental to the creation of South Australia .