John Brodie Spence (15 May 1824 – 7 December 1902) was a prominent Scottish-born banker and politician in the early days of

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories by area, which in ...

. He was a brother of the reformer

Catherine Helen Spence Catherine Helen Spence (31 October 1825 – 3 April 1910) was a Scottish-born Australian author, teacher, journalist, politician, leading suffragist, and Georgist. Spence was also a minister of religion and social worker, and supporter of el ...

. And the father of Lucy Morice, a kindergarten worker, and social reformer. Spence was born in

Melrose Melrose may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Melrose, Scottish Borders, a town in the Scottish Borders, Scotland ** Melrose Abbey, ruined monastery ** Melrose RFC, rugby club Australia * Melrose, Queensland, a locality in the South Burnett R ...

Scottish Borders The Scottish Borders is one of 32 council areas of Scotland. It is bordered by West Lothian, Edinburgh, Midlothian, and East Lothian to the north, the North Sea to the east, Dumfries and Galloway to the south-west, South Lanarkshire to the we ...

to David Spence (1790–1846), solicitor and first Town Clerk of

Adelaide Adelaide ( , ; ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and most populous city of South Australia, as well as the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. The name "Adelaide" may refer to ei ...

, and Helen Brodie Spence (1791–1887). He arrived in South Australia aged with his family on 29 October 1839 aboard . Other children of David and Helen on the passenger list were his sisters Catherine, Jessie, Helen and Mary and brother William. The family was struggling to make ends meet, so after some seven months, he and his brother went farming, without much success, and he moved to Adelaide in 1845, joining either the Bank of Adelaide or the Bank of South Australia, where he remained for seven years. He was afterwards for five years official assignee and curator of intestate estates, then in 1856 accountant in the Railway Department, and from 1859 to 1864 Official Assignee and Curator of Intestate Estates, but left that office for the management of the English and Scottish Bank (soon to become English, Scottish and Australian Chartered Bank) which he held till 1878. Between around 1879 and 1881 he was involved with

Arthur Harvey Arthur Harvey (September 26, 1895 – March 22, 1976) was an American businessman best known as the namesake of the Harvey Park neighborhood of Denver. Early life and World War I Harvey was born in Edom, Texas. At age 16 he left school to do man ...

in land development at The Grange and East Adelaide. He was elected a member of the legislative council in 1881, second on the poll with

Henry Ayers Sir Henry Ayers (now pron. "airs") (1 May 1821 – 11 June 1897) was the eighth Premier of South Australia, serving a record five times between 1863 and 1873. His lasting memorial was in the name Ayers Rock, now better-known as Uluru, wh ...

, Buik, James Rankine, John Pickering, and Tarlton. He was Chief Secretary in the

Downer Downer may refer to: * Downer (surname), various persons of that name * Downer, Australian Capital Territory, a suburb of Canberra, Australia * Downer Glacier, Alaska * Downer, Minnesota, an unincorporated community * Downer (soil), the New Jerse ...

Government from June to October 1885, when he retired to take the position of Commissioner of Public Works. In June 1886 he again took office as chief secretary, retiring the following month. On 5 February 1896 he was appointed one of the first five trustees of the

State Bank In Australia and the United States, a state bank in a federated state is usually a financial institution that is chartered by the government of that state, as opposed to one regulated at the federal or national level. In British English, the ter ...

, and was chairman of the board at the time of his death.

Family

Spence's parents were David Spence (1790–1846) and Helen Spence née Brodie (1791–1887). Their other children were: *Agnes Spence (9 February 1818 – 11 May 1835) *Janet "Jessie" Spence (12 June 1821 – 21 November 1888) married Andrew Murray (c. 1814 – 7 October 1880) on 2 November 1841. He was businessman then journalist for the ''South Australian'' and later the Melbourne ''Argus'' and ''Economist''. *William Richard Spence (13 December 1822 – 1903 New Zealand ) *

(31 October 1825 – 3 April 1910) *David Spence, jnr. (1827–1890) stayed in Scotland for his education, emigrated in 1846. Never married. *Mary Brodie Spence (c. 1830 – 22 November 1870) married William John Wren (c. 1829 – 6 February 1864) on 19 December 1855. Wren was with legal firm Bartley, Bakewell, & Stow, then solicitor in partnership with

James Boucaut Sir James Penn Boucaut (;) (29 October 1831 – 1 February 1916) was a South Australian politician and Australian judge. He was a member of the South Australian House of Assembly on four occasions: from 1861 to 1862 for City of Adelaide, fro ...

as Boucaut & Wren. *Eliza Brodie Spence (1833-1836), born Melrose. Died young. Spence married Jessie Cumming (1830 – 31 January 1910) on 22 April 1858. Their home was "Fenton", Glenelg. They had three daughters: :* Louise (Lucy) Morice née Spence (1 March 1859 – 10 June 1951), a kindergarten worker, and social reformer. She was awarded the MBE for her work with the free kindergarten movement. She married James Percy Morice on 20 March 1886. :*Agnes Helen Spence (19 December 1863 – 27 August 1949) :*Margaret Ethel Spence (26 August 1865 – ) married George A. Stephen on 18 August 1887

Notes

References

, - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Spence, John Brodie Members of the South Australian Legislative Council Australian bankers Australian businesspeople in real estate 1824 births 1902 deaths 19th-century Australian politicians People from Melrose, Scottish Borders Settlers of South Australia Scottish emigrants to colonial Australia 19th-century Australian businesspeople Old Adelaide Football Club players

Family

Further reading

Notes

References