James Lorimer (Australian politician)

Sir James Lorimer KCMG (30 March 1831 – 6 September 1889)^[1] was an Australian politician and businessman. He was the first chairman of the Melbourne Harbour Trust and a Member of the Legislative Council in the Victorian parliament from 1879 to 1889.^[2]

Personal life

Lorimer was born on 30 March 1831 in Dumfriesshire, Scotland, to merchant Thomas Lorimer and Catherine, née Walkin. He was educated at Haddon Hall Academy, and articled to a Liverpool softgoods firm which traded with Africa and America. He travelled to Victoria in 1853 on health advice and chose to stay. He married Eliza Kenworthy, the daughter of the United States consul in Sydney, on 4 March 1858, with whom he raised eleven children, ten of whom survived him.^[2]

In 1869 he commissioned architect Leonard Terry to design a large Toorak mansion which he named 'Greenwich House'.^[3]

He died of pleurisy on 6 September 1889, leaving an estate of £60,000, and was buried in St Kilda Cemetery.^[2]

Business interests

Lorimer founded a merchant and shipping agency called Lorimer, Mackie & Co., in Victoria representing the White Star Line and later amalgamated with John Swire and Sons of London and Liverpool. He was appointed chairman of the local directors of the Bank of Australasia (succeeding Sir Francis Murphy) and was also a director of the Bank of New South Wales and the Northern and Southern Insurance companies. Lorimer was a member of the Melbourne Chamber of Commerce, and elected vice-president in 1864 and 1867–68 and president in 1868–70. He was a foundation member and first chairman of the Melbourne Harbour Trust^[4] supporting Sir John Coode's appointment to provide advice on improving Melbourne's shipping facilities.^[5] When the Berry government came to power in 1879, Lorimer was dropped from the Trust but rejoined as a representative for Melbourne merchants and traders.^[2]

Public life

Lorimer was prominent in free trade politics, helping to form the Free Trade League, becoming its president in 1865. He was elected to the Legislative Council for Central Province in 1879, and after a redistribution in 1884, was elected unopposed for Melbourne Province.^[2] In 1886, he was minister of defence under the Gillies–Deakin government. He was appointed KCMG when he attended the Colonial Conference in London in 1887 with Alfred Deakin and Graham Berry.^[6]

Lorimer was a member of the Scots Church Committee of Management and supported the liberal Charles Strong in his proposal for the separation of Scots Church from the Presbyterian Church of Victoria, but did not join the Australian Church.^[2]

Lorimer Street in Port Melbourne which runs along the south side of the Yarra River wharves is named after him.^[7]

References