Ben Chaffey (1876 – 3 March 1937) was a butcher, pastoralist and businessman in Australia. He was active in horse racing.

Early life

Ben Chaffey was born in

Kingston, Ontario Kingston is a city in Ontario, Canada, on the northeastern end of Lake Ontario. It is at the beginning of the St. Lawrence River and at the mouth of the Cataraqui River, the south end of the Rideau Canal. Kingston is near the Thousand Islands, ...

, Canada, the son of engineer

George Chaffey George Chaffey (28 January 1848 – 1 March 1932) was a Canadian engineer, inventor and entrepreneur who with his brother William developed large parts of Southern California, including what became the community of Etiwanda and the cities of Ont ...

and his wife Ann. The family came to the

Colony of Victoria The Colony of Victoria was a historical administrative division in Australia that existed from 1851 until 1901, when it federated with other colonies to form the Commonwealth of Australia. Situated in the southeastern corner of the Australian ...

in 1885 and Ben lived with his parents in

Mildura Mildura ( ) is a regional city in north-west Victoria, Australia. Located on the Victorian side of the Murray River, Mildura had a population of 34,565 at the 2021 census. When nearby Wentworth, Irymple, Nichols Point, Merbein and Red ...

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...

Business interests

Chaffey worked as a butcher, but his fortune started with a winning gamble on his horse "Mavis". He became the owner of Moorara station in

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

, followed by Tapio, Culpaulin, Cuthero, Avoca. Kilfera, Manfred, Tolarno and other properties, most of which were subsequently taken up by the

Crozier A crozier or crosier (also known as a paterissa, pastoral staff, or bishop's staff) is a stylized staff that is a symbol of the governing office of a bishop or abbot and is carried by high-ranking prelates of Roman Catholic, Eastern Catholi ...

family. He was elected chairman of the board of directors of United Distillers Pty. Ltd., a director of Goldsbrough, Mort and Co, and managing director of Manfred Pastoral Co. He was a member of the

Australian Club The Australian Club is a private club founded in 1838 and located in Sydney at 165 Macquarie Street. Its membership is men-only and it is the oldest gentlemen's club in the southern hemisphere. "The Club provides excellent dining facilities, ...

and various sporting clubs. He was the owner of several successful racehorses, including

Caulfield Cup The Caulfield Cup is a Melbourne Racing Club Group races, Group 1 Thoroughbred horse race held under Handicap (horse racing), handicap conditions. This is for all horses aged three years old and older. It takes place over a distance of 2400 met ...

winners

Manfred ''Manfred: A dramatic poem'' is a closet drama written in 1816–1817 by Lord Byron. It contains supernatural elements, in keeping with the popularity of the ghost story in England at the time. It is a typical example of Gothic fiction. Byr ...

and Whittier, and in 1930 served as chairman of the Victoria Amateur Turf Club.

Personal life

He married Cowra Crozier, a daughter of Elliot Crozier. They had a daughter, Mavis (Mrs. Albert Campbell). However, he also had a relationship that lasted for the rest of his life with Laura Treweek, who had four children to him. The lives of Ben and Laura are documented in a book by Louise Austin, ''Journey to Tobruk''. He died at his home in

Tullamarine, Victoria Tullamarine ( ) is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, north-west of Melbourne's Melbourne central business district, Central Business District, located within the Cities of City of Brimbank, Brimbank, City of Hu ...

. Chaffey was known for his mischievous spirit. He liked a bet on his horses and on one occasion had a lot of money on one which ran a bad race. As the horses were coming back to scale, a stranger alongside Chaffey said: "Isn’t that Chaffey a bastard." "Too right,” Chaffey agreed, "let's go and boo his horse."

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Chaffey, Ben 1876 births 1937 deaths Australian pastoralists Australian racehorse owners and breeders 19th-century Australian businesspeople 20th-century Australian businesspeople Canadian emigrants to the British Empire People from Mildura People from Kingston, Ontario Businesspeople from Ontario People from the Colony of Victoria