Peter Imlay (1797–1881) was a Scottish-born pioneer settler in southern
New South Wales. Peter and his brothers
Alexander (1794-1847) and
George (1794?-1846) operated in the region as
pastoralist
Pastoralist may refer to:
* Pastoralism, raising livestock on natural pastures
* Pastoral farming, settled farmers who grow crops to feed their livestock
* People who keep or raise sheep, sheep farming
Sheep farming or sheep husbandry is the r ...
s,
whalers and
shipbuilders.
Life and career
Peter Imlay was baptised on 22 January 1797 at
Aberdeen, Scotland. He came to Australia aboard the sailing ship ''Greenock'', reaching
Hobart Town in February 1830. He was an inspector of stock at
Launceston by July 1830.
He and his brothers took up 3,885 square km of land near
Twofold Bay in southern New South Wales. The brothers experienced financial difficulties in the economic depression that began in 1840. These saw them lose most of the land.
Imlay was on the chartered Hobart vessel ''Breeze'', sailing from
Tahiti to
New Zealand, when the vessel was wrecked at
Upolu,
Samoa, in July 1846 with no loss of life. George died at Twofold Bay in 1846, and Alexander in 1847.
Imlay married Jane McGuire on 23 February 1853 at St Andrews Presbyterian Church in Sydney. He and his family moved to
New Zealand in 1851 and settled at Balgownie,
Wanganui. He died there on 8 March 1881, survived by his wife and three daughters.
Legacy
Among the things named after the Imlay brothers in the New South Wales area is Imlay Street (the main street in
Eden
Eden may refer to:
* Garden of Eden, the "garden of God" described in the Book of Genesis
Places and jurisdictions
Canada
* Eden, Ontario
* Eden High School
Middle East
* Eden, Lebanon, a city and former bishopric
* Camp Eden, Iraq
O ...
),
Imlay Creek
The Imlay Creek is a perennial river of the Genoa River catchment, with its headwaters and lower reaches located in the South Coast region of New South Wales, Australia.
Course and features
The Imlay Creek rises below Mount Imlay within Mount I ...
, the
Mount Imlay National Park and
Imlay Shire (absorbed into
Bega Valley Shire
The Bega Valley Shire is a Local government in Australia, local government area located adjacent to the South Coast, New South Wales, south-eastern coastline of New South Wales, Australia. The Shire was formed in 1981 with the amalgamation of t ...
in 1981). In New Zealand, Imlay Parish, in the County of
Auckland, bears his surname.
Parish of Imlay, County of Auckland, map, NLA
/ref>
References
Further reading
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Imlay, Peter
1791 births
1881 deaths
Whaling in Australia
Economic history of Australia
Settlers of New South Wales
Australian people in whaling
Australian pastoralists
Eden, New South Wales
19th-century Australian businesspeople