James Drummond (1814 – 8 February 1873) was an early settler in Western Australia, and a member of the

Western Australian Legislative Council The Western Australian Legislative Council is the upper house of the Parliament of Western Australia, a state of Australia. It is regarded as a house of review for legislation passed by the Western Australian Legislative Assembly, Legislative A ...

from 1870 to 1873. Born in 1814, most probably in Cork, Ireland, James Drummond was the son of botanist James Drummond. Nothing is known of his early life, but in 1829 the family emigrated to the

Swan River Colony The Swan River Colony, also known as the Swan River Settlement, or just ''Swan River'', was a British colony established in 1829 on the Swan River, in Western Australia. This initial settlement place on the Swan River was soon named Perth, an ...

in what is now Western Australia, arriving on board '' Parmelia'' on 1 June. For much of his early life James Drummond helped farm the family's

land grants A land grant is a gift of real estate—land or its use privileges—made by a government or other authority as an incentive, means of enabling works, or as a reward for services to an individual, especially in return for military service. Grants ...

, first on the Swan River and after 1836 at their ''Hawthornden'' grant at Toodyay. Shortly after relocating to Toodyay, Drummond obtained a tract of land adjoining the family grant, becoming a land owner in his own right. He then built the Toodyay district's first

flour mill A gristmill (also: grist mill, corn mill, flour mill, feed mill or feedmill) grinds cereal grain into flour and middlings. The term can refer to either the grinding mechanism or the building that holds it. Grist is grain that has been separat ...

on the site. In 1841 and 1842, he went on a number of exploring expeditions with Captain John Scully. During the early 1840s, Drummond's father and brother

Johnston Johnston may refer to the surname Johnston or people with that name. It may also refer to: Places Australia * Johnston, Northern Territory ** Electoral division of Johnston, an electoral division in the Northern Territory United Kingdom ...

became increasingly involved in botanical collecting, and his brother

John John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second E ...

was appointed Inspector of

Native Police Australian native police were specialised mounted military units consisting of detachments of Aboriginal Australians, Aboriginal troopers under the command of European officers appointed by British colonial governments. The units existed in va ...

York York is a cathedral city in North Yorkshire, England, with Roman Britain, Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers River Ouse, Yorkshire, Ouse and River Foss, Foss. It has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a Yor ...

. Consequently, James Drummond become increasingly responsible for the family farm, until by 1844 he was solely responsible for its management. In that year a severe recession hit the colony, and Drummond found himself deeply in debt. He continued to work ''Hawthornden'' under great financial stress for a number of years, but by 1850 was sufficiently recovered to take up a sheep station at

Dandaragan Dandaragan is a small town in the Wheatbelt region of Western Australia. The Dandaragan plateau is the underlying geological feature of the area. History The first recorded land lease was to William Brockman in 1848; he had a land lease at ...

. That year he joined a large group of pastoralists including

Lockier Burges :''Two people named Lockier Clere Burges have been prominent in Western Australia. For the Lockier Clere Burges born in 1841, see Lockier Burges (1841-1929)'' Lockier Clere Burges (c. 1814–31 July 1886) was an early settler in colonial W ...

, John Sydney David and Thomas Brown in driving their stock overland to newly discovered grazing land at

Champion Bay Champion Bay is a coastal feature north of Geraldton, Western Australia, facing the port and city between Point Moore and Bluff Point. Champion Bay was named by Lieutenant John Lort Stokes of , who surveyed the area in April 1840. He named i ...

. On arriving, Drummond took up a large tract of land upon which he established the ''Oakabella'' station. During the early 1850s, following the setting up of the Emigrant Depot in Toodyay, Drummond took the initiative to assist a number of married men with families who found it difficult to secure an employer. With the provision of a cottage, and acreage of virgin land for clearing and cultivating, the men were able to become self-sufficient and eventually purchase their own land. In the meantime Drummond had the benefit of their labour and a source of grain for his mill. This enabled him to fulfil his contracts to the government's

commissariat A commissariat is a department or organization commanded by a commissary or by a corps of commissaries. In many countries, commissary is a police rank. In those countries, a commissariat is a police station commanded by a commissary. In some a ...

. He also offered this assistance to ticket-of-leave holders and by 1855 Drummond had eight families settled on his land. While some landowners were sceptical and refused to offer similar assistance, others saw the benefits and followed his example. On 26 February 1857 Drummond married Martha Ann Sewell, who was an aunt of George Malakoff Sewell. They had three sons and five daughters. Drummond's father died in 1863, and Drummond donated his father's herbarium to

Ferdinand von Mueller Baron Sir Ferdinand Jacob Heinrich von Mueller, (; 30 June 1825 – 10 October 1896) was a German-Australian physician, geographer, and most notably, a botanist. He was appointed government botanist for the then colony of Victoria, Australia ...

. From the mid-1840s, James Drummond became increasingly involved in the public affairs of the Toodyay district. He was a member of the Toodyay Roads Trust in the 1840s, and was also involved in the Toodyay Education Committee. Late in 1853 he was appointed a Justice of the Peace, and in 1857 he was elected to the Toodyay Roads Committee. By 1861 he was Chairman of the Toodyay Agricultural Society. By the time Western Australia gained

responsible government Responsible government is a conception of a system of government that embodies the principle of parliamentary accountability, the foundation of the Westminster system of parliamentary democracy. Governments (the equivalent of the executive br ...

in 1870, Drummond was widely acknowledged as the leader and spokesman for the Toodyay district. On 31 October 1870, he was elected to the seat of Toodyay in the Legislative Council with a huge majority. He was a member of seven of the ten parliamentary committees set up by the first parliament, and was also elected to the Central Board of Education. When a system of

local government Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of governance or public administration within a particular sovereign state. Local governments typically constitute a subdivision of a higher-level political or administrative unit, such a ...

was introduced in 1871, Drummond was elected to the Victoria Plains Council, and the following year became a member of the Toodyay Roads Board. The Avon region was notable for the number of early settlers of Scottish background. By the 1860s they felt it was time to establish their own

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a historically Reformed Protestant tradition named for its form of church government by representative assemblies of elders, known as "presbyters". Though other Reformed churches are structurally similar, the word ''Pr ...

church and the Toodyay Presbyterian Committee was formed. Drummond was a driving force and in October 1868 he wrote to the Colonial Secretary for an ecclesiastical grant of land, although this was to prove unsuccessful. A subscription list was circulated for donations to build a church. Reverend James M. Innes, who previously worked as an independent minister in the colony, was invited to come and hold services. On 19 January 1869 Innes was officially registered as a Presbyterian minister of the Toodyay district, establishing what became the first Presbyterian ministry in Western Australia. Early in February 1873, Drummond returned home exhausted from having helped fight a

bushfire A wildfire, forest fire, or a bushfire is an unplanned and uncontrolled fire in an area of Combustibility and flammability, combustible vegetation. Depending on the type of vegetation present, a wildfire may be more specifically identified as a ...

that was threatening his paddocks and homestead, had a cold bath and caught

pneumonia Pneumonia is an Inflammation, inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as Pulmonary alveolus, alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of Cough#Classification, productive or dry cough, ches ...

. He died about a week later on 8 February 1873, and was buried alongside his parents, his brother and one of his children at ''Hawthornden''.

References

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Drummond, James 1814 births 1873 deaths Explorers of Western Australia Western Australian local councillors Members of the Western Australian Legislative Council Settlers of Western Australia People from Toodyay, Western Australia Australian people of Scottish descent Australian Presbyterian ministers 19th-century Australian politicians Irish emigrants to colonial Australia 19th-century Australian Presbyterian ministers