Sir Malcolm Donald McEacharn (8 February 1852 – 10 March 1910) was Mayor of Melbourne from 1897 to 1900. He was a well-known Australian shipping magnate in the early part of the twentieth century and successfully stood for the Division of Melbourne at the inaugural federal election, held in 1901.
McEacharn was born in London on 8 February 1852 to a master mariner Malcolm and his wife Ann, née Gay, both from the Isle of Islay, Scotland. His father died in a shipwreck two years later, and, as the son of a dead sailor, the Royal Caledonian School in Islington cared for and educated him for seven years when he was of school age. In 1866, at age 14, he joined a London shipping office named Rucker, Offor & Co. He began his own shipbroking business in 1873 at age 21.[1] Two years later he partnered with Andrew McIlwraith,[2] to found McIlwraith, McEacharn & Co. in London.[1] He married his first wife Ann Peirson, from a landowning family near Pickering, in Goathland, North Yorkshire on 10 January 1878. St Mary's church, Goathland has several plaques dedicated to the memory of their families.
Shipping career
McIlwraith, McEacharn & Co. became a very successful company, earning profitable contracts to carry cargo and immigrants to Queensland, Australia. McEacharn and McIlwraith soon began to build up a mercantile import and export business with Australia. McIlwraith's brothers lived in Australia: Thomas in Brisbane[3] and John in Melbourne.[4] John acted as the firm's Melbourne agent for the first three years.
Move to Australia
After the death of his first wife, Ann, after only eleven months of marriage, he travelled to Queensland to launch the Australian trade in refrigerated meat. McEacharn personally selected meat and butter, which his chartered ship, the Strathleven, accompanied by McEacharn, transported from Sydney to London. While his partner chose to remain in Britain, McEacharn settled in Australia. He bought a Rockhampton shipping business, Walter Reid & Co., in 1881.[1] On 4 July 1882 he married Mary Ann Watson, a daughter of mining millionaire John Boyd Watson.[5] at Sandhurst (Bendigo) in Victoria. Their daughter, Annie Madalaine McEacharn, died young, aged 7 years, possibly in Australia, but she is commemorated on a monumental inscription in St Mary's Church Goathland, Yorkshire, England dated 1992.[citation needed] Their son Captain Neil Boyd W McEacharn (born Hanover Square, London, England 1884) established the famous Giardini Botanici Villa Taranto at Pallanza on Lake Maggiore in Italy in 1931 to 1940.[6]
Mayor of Melbourne
A decline in immigrants, in combination with competition from another British company, led to McIlwraith, McEacharn progressively withdrawing their sailing ships from the Queensland run. They began new affiliations and trade areas, such as the shipping of coal. McEacharn relocated to Melbourne in 1887 and "lived in style in a mansion, Goathlands, surrounded by, among other things, art works he had brought back from Japan."[1] He set up head office there in Melbourne 1891, and incorporated as an Australian company separate from the London parent company.
He latched onto another boom in 1893, in the form of passenger and cargo trade to the Western Australian Goldfields with voyages to Java, Singapore and India. In March 1893, McEacharn became a Councillor of Melbourne. He served a term as Mayor of Melbourne from 1897 to 1900, and was knighted in January 1900.[7] As a politician, he defended local government involvement in the economy, earning him a reputation as a "municipal socialist". In 1905, he helped to incorporate North Melbourne, Flemington and Kensington into the Council of Melbourne. However, while he continued with extensive involvement in local and national businesses, McEacharn also had ambitions beyond local government.
Federal politics
Galloway House, McEachern's house in Scotland after 1908
At the inaugural federal election in 1901, he successfully ran for the House of Representatives seat of Melbourne. Endorsed by two local newspapers, The Age and The Argus, McEacharn defeated Labor's William Maloney. He supported both conservative and progressive stances on contemporary issues. He strongly supported, for example, the interests of private employers, but at the same time, opposed women's suffrage and defended the use of Melanesian labour on the Queensland cane-fields. In the 1903 election, McEacharn defeated Maloney only narrowly, and the election was declared void on a technicality.[8] The subsequent by-election in March 1904 attracted great attention, which McEacharn ended up losing to Maloney.[9]
McEacharn's subsequent decision to abandon politics after a single defeat was widely regarded as a mistake but, true to his stated intentions, he abandoned not only politics but Australia. In 1908 he purchased Galloway House, the ancestral home of the Earls of Galloway, and he, his wife, and his children moved to Garlieston, Scotland.
Death
Sir Malcolm McEacharn died suddenly of a heart failure induced by pneumonia on 10 March 1910 in Cannes, France. He was survived by his wife, son and two daughters.
malcolm, mceacharn, confused, with, malcolm, mceachern, malcolm, donald, mceacharn, february, 1852, march, 1910, mayor, melbourne, from, 1897, 1900, well, known, australian, shipping, magnate, early, part, twentieth, century, successfully, stood, division, mel. Not to be confused with Malcolm McEachern Sir Malcolm Donald McEacharn 8 February 1852 10 March 1910 was Mayor of Melbourne from 1897 to 1900 He was a well known Australian shipping magnate in the early part of the twentieth century and successfully stood for the Division of Melbourne at the inaugural federal election held in 1901 SirMalcolm McEacharn46th Mayor of MelbourneIn office 1897 1900Preceded byWilliam StrongSucceeded bySir Samuel GillottIn office 1903 1904Preceded bySir Samuel GillottSucceeded byCharles PleasanceMember of the Australian Parliament for MelbourneIn office 29 March 1901 10 March 1904Preceded byNew seatSucceeded byWilliam MaloneyPersonal detailsBorn 1852 02 08 8 February 1852London United KingdomDied10 March 1910 1910 03 10 aged 58 Cannes FranceNationalityAustralianPolitical partyProtectionistSpouse s Ann Pierson 1848 1878 and Mary Ann Dalton Watson 1860 1934 Parent s Malcolm McEacharn Ann nee Gay McEacharnRelativesJohn Boyd Watson father in law Contents 1 Early life 2 Shipping career 3 Move to Australia 4 Mayor of Melbourne 5 Federal politics 6 Death 7 References and notesEarly life EditMcEacharn was born in London on 8 February 1852 to a master mariner Malcolm and his wife Ann nee Gay both from the Isle of Islay Scotland His father died in a shipwreck two years later and as the son of a dead sailor the Royal Caledonian School in Islington cared for and educated him for seven years when he was of school age In 1866 at age 14 he joined a London shipping office named Rucker Offor amp Co He began his own shipbroking business in 1873 at age 21 1 Two years later he partnered with Andrew McIlwraith 2 to found McIlwraith McEacharn amp Co in London 1 He married his first wife Ann Peirson from a landowning family near Pickering in Goathland North Yorkshire on 10 January 1878 St Mary s church Goathland has several plaques dedicated to the memory of their families Shipping career EditMcIlwraith McEacharn amp Co became a very successful company earning profitable contracts to carry cargo and immigrants to Queensland Australia McEacharn and McIlwraith soon began to build up a mercantile import and export business with Australia McIlwraith s brothers lived in Australia Thomas in Brisbane 3 and John in Melbourne 4 John acted as the firm s Melbourne agent for the first three years Move to Australia EditAfter the death of his first wife Ann after only eleven months of marriage he travelled to Queensland to launch the Australian trade in refrigerated meat McEacharn personally selected meat and butter which his chartered ship the Strathleven accompanied by McEacharn transported from Sydney to London While his partner chose to remain in Britain McEacharn settled in Australia He bought a Rockhampton shipping business Walter Reid amp Co in 1881 1 On 4 July 1882 he married Mary Ann Watson a daughter of mining millionaire John Boyd Watson 5 at Sandhurst Bendigo in Victoria Their daughter Annie Madalaine McEacharn died young aged 7 years possibly in Australia but she is commemorated on a monumental inscription in St Mary s Church Goathland Yorkshire England dated 1992 citation needed Their son Captain Neil Boyd W McEacharn born Hanover Square London England 1884 established the famous Giardini Botanici Villa Taranto at Pallanza on Lake Maggiore in Italy in 1931 to 1940 6 Mayor of Melbourne EditA decline in immigrants in combination with competition from another British company led to McIlwraith McEacharn progressively withdrawing their sailing ships from the Queensland run They began new affiliations and trade areas such as the shipping of coal McEacharn relocated to Melbourne in 1887 and lived in style in a mansion Goathlands surrounded by among other things art works he had brought back from Japan 1 He set up head office there in Melbourne 1891 and incorporated as an Australian company separate from the London parent company He latched onto another boom in 1893 in the form of passenger and cargo trade to the Western Australian Goldfields with voyages to Java Singapore and India In March 1893 McEacharn became a Councillor of Melbourne He served a term as Mayor of Melbourne from 1897 to 1900 and was knighted in January 1900 7 As a politician he defended local government involvement in the economy earning him a reputation as a municipal socialist In 1905 he helped to incorporate North Melbourne Flemington and Kensington into the Council of Melbourne However while he continued with extensive involvement in local and national businesses McEacharn also had ambitions beyond local government Federal politics Edit Galloway House McEachern s house in Scotland after 1908 At the inaugural federal election in 1901 he successfully ran for the House of Representatives seat of Melbourne Endorsed by two local newspapers The Age and The Argus McEacharn defeated Labor s William Maloney He supported both conservative and progressive stances on contemporary issues He strongly supported for example the interests of private employers but at the same time opposed women s suffrage and defended the use of Melanesian labour on the Queensland cane fields In the 1903 election McEacharn defeated Maloney only narrowly and the election was declared void on a technicality 8 The subsequent by election in March 1904 attracted great attention which McEacharn ended up losing to Maloney 9 McEacharn s subsequent decision to abandon politics after a single defeat was widely regarded as a mistake but true to his stated intentions he abandoned not only politics but Australia In 1908 he purchased Galloway House the ancestral home of the Earls of Galloway and he his wife and his children moved to Garlieston Scotland Death EditSir Malcolm McEacharn died suddenly of a heart failure induced by pneumonia on 10 March 1910 in Cannes France He was survived by his wife son and two daughters References and notes Edit a b c d Dunstan David 1986 McEacharn Sir Malcolm Donald 1852 1910 Australian Dictionary of Biography Vol 10 National Centre of Biography Australian National University pp 263 264 ISSN 1833 7538 Retrieved 19 March 2021 Waterson D B 1986 McIlwraith Andrew 1844 1932 Australian Dictionary of Biography Vol 10 National Centre of Biography Australian National University pp 282 283 ISSN 1833 7538 Retrieved 19 March 2021 Dignan Don 1974 McIlwraith Sir Thomas 1835 1900 Australian Dictionary of Biography Vol 5 National Centre of Biography Australian National University pp 161 164 ISSN 1833 7538 Retrieved 19 March 2021 Hone J Ann 1974 McIlwraith John 1828 1902 Australian Dictionary of Biography Vol 5 National Centre of Biography Australian National University pp 160 161 ISSN 1833 7538 Retrieved 19 March 2021 Cusack Frank 1976 Watson John Boyd 1828 1889 Australian Dictionary of Biography Vol 6 National Centre of Biography Australian National University pp 363 364 ISSN 1833 7538 Retrieved 19 March 2021 General Register Office of England and Wales Births December quarter 1984 Kensington Vol 1a page 175 No 27156 The London Gazette 23 January 1900 p 427 Maloney v McEacharn 1904 HCA 3 1904 1 CLR 77 Carr Adam 1904 Melbourne by election Psephos Adam Carr s Election Archive Retrieved 19 March 2021 Parliament of AustraliaNew division Member for Melbourne1901 1904 Succeeded byWilliam Maloney Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Malcolm McEacharn amp oldid 1128901182, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
