Leopold Fabius Dietegen Fane de Salis, (26 April 1816 – 20 November 1898) was a Tuscan-born Australian pastoralist and politician. Born in

Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...

to Jerome, 4th Count de Salis-Soglio and Henrietta Foster, he attended

Eton College Eton College ( ) is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school providing boarding school, boarding education for boys aged 13–18, in the small town of Eton, Berkshire, Eton, in Berkshire, in the United Kingdom. It has educated Prime Mini ...

and studied sheep farming at

Jedburgh Jedburgh ( ; ; or ) is a town and former royal burgh in the Scottish Borders and the traditional county town of the Shires of Scotland, historic county of Roxburghshire. History Jedburgh began as ''Jedworð'', the "worth" or enclosed settlem ...

in Scotland. In 1840 he migrated to

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

, where he formed a partnership to run a station at Junee. In the same decade, in 1842, 1844 and 1848, his highly capable next elder brother

William William is a masculine given name of Germanic languages, Germanic origin. It became popular in England after the Norman Conquest, Norman conquest in 1066,All Things William"Meaning & Origin of the Name"/ref> and remained so throughout the Middle ...

also sailed to Australia. They did much business together. In 1844 he married Charlotte Macdonald, with whom he had four children, two of whom ( George and Leopold) would later become politicians themselves. In 1855 he sold out and bought the Cuppacumbalong station at

Tharwa Tharwa is a village in the district of Paddys River (district), Paddys River, in the Australian Capital Territory in Australia. It is situated on the southern side of the Australian Capital Territory, south of Canberra. At the , Tharwa had a p ...

, later purchasing further property on the

Murrumbidgee River The Murrumbidgee River () is a major tributary of the Murray River within the Murray–Darling basin and the second longest river in Australia. It flows through the Australian state of New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory, desce ...

. In 1864 he was elected to the

New South Wales Legislative Assembly The New South Wales Legislative Assembly is the lower of the two houses of the Parliament of New South Wales, an Australian state. The upper house is the New South Wales Legislative Council. Both the Assembly and Council sit at Parliament House ...

for

Queanbeyan Queanbeyan ( ) is a city in south-eastern New South Wales, Australia, located adjacent to the Australian Capital Territory in the Southern Tablelands region. Located on the Queanbeyan River, the city is the council seat of the Queanbeyan-Pale ...

, but he did not re-contest in 1869. In 1872 he was appointed to the

New South Wales Legislative Council The New South Wales Legislative Council, often referred to as the upper house, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of New South Wales, parliament of the Australian state of New South Wales. Along with the New South Wales Legislative As ...

. Around this time he also acquired property in

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

, all of which he lost in the 1890s depression. His daughter Nina married William Farrer in 1882 and they lived at Lambrigg, Tharwa, a property given them by De Salis. In 1893 he went to England in 1893, particularly to settle his affairs in Middlesex. In 1898 he resigned from the Council and declared himself bankrupt with debts over £100,000. He died at Lambrigg on .

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Desalis, Leopold Fane 1816 births 1898 deaths Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly Members of the New South Wales Legislative Council People educated at Eton College British people of Swiss descent People from County Louth Leopold Grand Duchy of Tuscany people Colony of New South Wales politicians 19th-century Australian businesspeople Immigrants to the Colony of New South Wales