Gilbert E. Primrose

Gilbert Edward Primrose (27 February 1848 – 16 February 1935) was a Scottish amateur sportsman who made one appearance for the Scottish football XI against England in the representative match played in February 1871. He later settled in Helidon, near Brisbane in Queensland, Australia where he became a director of the Helidon Spa Water Company.

Family and education

Primrose was born at Dalmeny,^[1] near Edinburgh, the third of the six sons of the Hon. Bouverie Francis Primrose (1813–1898) and his wife, Frederica Sophia Anson (1814–1867).^[2] His father was the son of Archibald Primrose, 4th Earl of Rosebery and Harriett Bouverie.^[3] His mother was the daughter of Thomas Anson, 1st Viscount Anson and Lady Anne Margaret Coke.^[4]

His brothers included Francis Archibald, (born 1843),^[5] Henry William (1846–1923),^[6] who became chairman of the Board of the Inland Revenue, and George Anson Primrose (1849–1930),^[7] who became a vice-admiral.^[8]

Primrose was baptised at St. John's Episcopal Church, Edinburgh and educated at Trinity College, Glenalmond.^[9] On 13 May 1893, in Brisbane, Queensland, he married Jessie Catherine Costelloe,^[1] daughter of Lieutenant Costelloe of Lackeen Castle, Birr, Ireland.^[10]

Football career

On 25 February 1871, Primrose (a member of the Civil Service club) was selected as a late replacement for William Baillie-Hamilton for the international football match against England.^[11][12] (In some contemporary match reports, he is listed as "C.E. Primrose".^[13][14]) The match ended in a 1–1 draw with goals from Charles Nepean and Robert Walker.^[15] In many present-day databases, Primrose is confused with his elder brother, Henry, who played for Scotland on 19 November 1870.^[16]

Helidon Spa Water Company

Primrose later emigrated to Queensland, Australia where his brother Francis had already settled. In January 1871, Francis is listed as having made a "pre-emptive selection" of 264 acres of agricultural land at Emu Creek, about 17 miles north of Crows Nest.^[17]

Brisbane premises of the Helidon Spa Water Co., 1899

By the mid-1880s, Gilbert Primrose was involved with the Helidon Spa Water Company. The quality of the water at Helidon had long been known to the indigenous population who claimed that their strength came from the water.^[18] The first European to come across the waters at Helidon was the botanist and explorer, Allan Cunningham in the 1820s.^[18] In the early 1880s, the Helidon Spa company was established to bottle the water from the spring.^[19]

In October 1885, a special train was laid on to transport potential investors from Brisbane to view the Helidon Spa Springs. After the party were shown the source and tasted the water (described as "full of sparkling effervescence and perfectly clear"), Primrose explained that as the former partnership "had expired by eflluxion of time", he was seeking investors in a proposed limited company, "which resulted in several shares being taken up by the gentlemen present."^[20]

Primrose became managing director of the company,^[21] and in October 1895 he sued a Jean de Raeve for an unpaid debt of £19 0s. 7d due to the company.^[22] The company's success was such that competitors were frequently taken to court for breach of copyright; in May 1897, Primrose successfully took action against Alfred Lucas Gardner, trading as "Owen Gardner and Sons" for "infringement of his patent rights in connection with the sale of Helidon Spa water".^[23]

Although the spring was at Helidon, the company had a bottling plant in Brisbane.^[21]

Later life

In May 1899, Primrose was appointed to represent Queensland at the "Greater Britain Exhibition" to be held at Earls Court, London.^[24]

In October 1900, Primrose and his family published a notice in The "Sydney Morning Herald", thanking "their many kind friends and sympathisers for wreaths and letters of sympathy received during their recent sad bereavement".^[25]

Primrose subsequently returned to England where he died at Worthing, West Sussex on 16 February 1935.^[12]

References