William Storrie ( − 19 June 1900), pen name Saunders McTavish, was a businessman and politician in the early days of the

colony of South Australia A colony is a territory subject to a form of foreign rule, which rules the territory and its indigenous peoples separated from the foreign rulers, the colonizer, and their '' metropole'' (or "mother country"). This separated rule was often or ...

Early life

William Storrie was the third son of James Storrie of

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

, Scotland. He emigrated to South Australia in 1849 with brother James (ca.1829 – 16 July 1897) and sister Helen (died 25 November 1875).

Business

Storrie went into business for himself, then around 1864 brought in his brother James to found the firm of W & J Storrie, agents, later wholesale hardware merchants of 19 Currie Street,

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 ...

. He withdrew from active participation in the company but retained a financial interest. It was converted to a limited liability company, with brother-in-law W. T. Tassie appointed as manager.

Writing

Between 1867 and 1870 Storrie contributed humorous articles in Scots dialect (as "Saunders McTavish") to ''

The Adelaide Advertiser ''The Advertiser'' is a daily Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid format newspaper based in the city of Adelaide, South Australia. First published as a broadsheet named ''The South Australian Advertiser'' on 12 July 1858,

''. They were published in book form in 1874.

Politics

Storrie was elected a member of the

Legislative Council A legislative council is the legislature, or one of the legislative chambers, of a nation, colony, or subnational division such as a province or state. It was commonly used to label unicameral or upper house legislative bodies in the Brit ...

in 1871, and retained his seat until 1878.

Personal life and death

Storrie married Jane McKenzie (died 30 November 1915 in Edinburgh, Scotland) on 14 June 1859. They had no children. He left for England in 1897 and died in Barking, Essex on 19 June 1900.

William Storrie Jnr

Around 1909, number 195

Rundle Street Rundle Street, often referred to as "Rundle Street East" as distinct from Rundle Mall, is a street in the East End of the city centre of Adelaide, the capital of South Australia. It runs from Pulteney Street to East Terrace, where it becomes Ru ...

, Adelaide, was occupied by "W. Storrie and Company, Importers of British & Foreign Merchandise", next door to furnishing retailer Malcolm Reid & Co.. William Storrie's brother James had a son called William, who in 1897 "associated with Messrs. J. Darling and Son, and has for many years been one of the most prominent members of the Literary Societies Union", so this may have been his business.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Storrie, William Members of the South Australian Legislative Council Australian businesspeople 1900 deaths Year of birth missing