Alexander Lang Elder (18 April 1815 – 5 September 1885) was a Scottish Australian businessman and politician in colonial South Australia.

Biography

Elder was the second son of George Elder of

Kirkcaldy Kirkcaldy ( ; sco, Kirkcaldy; gd, Cair Chaladain) is a town and former royal burgh in Fife, on the east coast of Scotland. It is about north of Edinburgh and south-southwest of Dundee. The town had a recorded population of 49,460 in 2011, ...

Fife Fife (, ; gd, Fìobha, ; sco, Fife) is a council area, historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area of Scotland. It is situated between the Firth of Tay and the Firth of Forth, with inland boundaries with Perth and Kinross (i ...

, Scotland, by Joanna Haddo, his wife, daughter of Alexander Lang, of Leith, born at Kirkcaldy. He was the brother of pastoralist and businessman Thomas Elder. He emigrated on his father's

schooner A schooner () is a type of sailing vessel defined by its rig: fore-and-aft rigged on all of two or more masts and, in the case of a two-masted schooner, the foremast generally being shorter than the mainmast. A common variant, the topsail schoon ...

''Minerva'' to South Australia, arriving on 2 January 1840 in

Port Adelaide Port Adelaide is a port-side region of Adelaide, approximately northwest of the Adelaide CBD. It is also the namesake of the City of Port Adelaide Enfield council, a suburb, a federal and state electoral division and is the main port for the ...

as the only cabin passenger, under Captain David Reid. He founded the well-known mercantile firm of Elders Limited, later Elder, Smith & Co., of Adelaide. He was a partner with Frederick Dutton in a pastoral lease at Mount Remarkable in 1846. He married Mary Eliza Austin, a daughter of Rev. John Baptist Austin of South Australia, on 8 April 1847. He was elected by the West Adelaide district to the first mixed franchise Legislative Council in 1851, but resigned his seat on 30 March 1853, leaving for England, where he headed of the firm of A. L. Elder & Co., of London, until his death in London on 5 September 1885.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Elder, Alexander Lang 1815 births 1885 deaths Settlers of South Australia Members of the South Australian Legislative Council 19th-century Australian politicians 19th-century Australian businesspeople