Edward Riley (pastoralist)

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Edward Riley (30 January 1784 –21 February 1825) was a merchant and early pastoralist in Sydney. Born in London to George Riley Snr, a well-educated bookseller, and Margaret Raby, he was the younger brother of Alexander Riley, also a merchant and pastoralist in Sydney and the first person in his family to be interested by colonial life, moving to Calcutta and trading between Canton and Australia. Rubinstein listed him as being Australia's ninth richest man ever in Australian history in terms of current GDP Value.[1]

[edit] Life

Riley was born in London on 30 January 1784 and married his first wife, Ann Moran in 1805 in Calcutta. After the death of his first wife, Ann, Edward became a chronic depressive. Later married another Ann in Calcutta, Ann Wilkinson before migrating to Australia from advice of his brother, Alexander Riley.

Riley started out life shipping rum, clothing and food to his brother, Alexander and Richard Jones in Australia. Riley gained a taste for splendid living in Calcutta however he relied on Alexander's business judgement when making his fortunes as Riley didn't have a business mind.

After visits to Australia in 1811 and 1814 and with the urging from his older brother, Alexander packed up his family and moved to Australia. After moving to Australia in 1816, Edward received generous land grants from Governor Macquarie and was also made Justice of the Peace. Later Riley became a director of the Bank of New South Wales in 1818, now Westpac. Later he took the largest house available in the colony, Surgeon Harris's Ultimo House, and began to live there in a style and degree of luxury little known in New South Wales. He advertised for cooks, buttlers and servants. This was not to last as his business affairs fluctuated and sometime before 1820 he was forced to move his family to a smaller home in Woolloomooloo after securing more land there.[2]

On 21 February, 1825, after years of depression, gout and after losing part of his large fortune, Riley placed a pistol in his mouth and killed himself leaving behind two very confusing and conflicting wills and years of litigation to sort it out.

Riley Street in Sydney is named after Riley.

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Rubinstein, W. The All Time Australian 200 Rich List. 2004, Allen and Unwin, Crows Nest, NSW
  2. ^ Conway, Jill. Riley, Edward (1784 - 1825). Australian Dictionary of Biography. Australian National University. Retrieved on 2007-08-20.
Persondata
NAME Riley, Edward
ALTERNATIVE NAMES
SHORT DESCRIPTION Australian merchant and pastoralist
DATE OF BIRTH 30 January 1784
PLACE OF BIRTH London
DATE OF DEATH 21 February 1825
PLACE OF DEATH Woolloomooloo