William Tennant Mortlock (1858 – 17 August 1913) was a

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 ...

n grazier and politician. Mortlock was born near

Port Lincoln Port Lincoln is a city on the Lower Eyre Peninsula in the Australian states and territories of Australia, state of South Australia. Known as Galinyala by the traditional owners, the Barngarla people, it is situated on the shore of Boston Bay, ...

, the son of

William Ranson Mortlock William Ranson Mortlock (1821 – 10 May 1884) was a grazier and politician in colonial South Australia.H. Kempe'Mortlock, William Ranson (1821 - 1884)' Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 5, Melbourne University Press, 1974, pp 301-302. ...

. He was educated at

St Peter's College, Adelaide St Peter's College (officially The Anglican Church of Australia Collegiate School of Saint Peter, but commonly known as Saints) is an Private school, independent Anglican Church of Australia, Anglican Primary school, primary and Secondary school ...

and

Jesus College, Cambridge Jesus College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Jesus College was established in 1496 on the site of the twelfth-century Benedictine nunnery of St Radegund's Priory, Cambridge, St ...

. He read for the law at the

Inner Temple The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, commonly known as the Inner Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court and is a professional association for barristers and judges. To be called to the Bar and practice as a barrister in England and Wa ...

while in England, but returned to South Australia in 1883 and did not pursue his legal studies further. He worked on his father's Yudnapinna Station, near

Port Augusta Port Augusta (''Goordnada'' in the revived indigenous Barngarla language) is a coastal city in South Australia about by road from the state capital, Adelaide. Most of the city is on the eastern shores of Spencer Gulf, immediately south of the ...

, and he increased the family's pastoral property after inheriting it upon his father's death in 1884. In 1891 he purchased

Martindale Hall Martindale Hall is a Georgian style mansion near Mintaro, South Australia which appeared in the film '' Picnic at Hanging Rock''. Construction Martindale Hall was built for a wealthy bachelor pastoralist, Edmund Bowman Jr (1855–1921). T ...

Mintaro Mintaro is a historic town in the eastern Clare Valley, east of the Horrocks Highway, about north of Adelaide, South Australia. The town lies at the south-eastern corner of the Hundred of Clare, within the Clare Valley wine region. Established ...

, which would become his family's main station. Mortlock was elected to the

South Australian House of Assembly The House of Assembly (also known as the lower house) is one of two chambers of the Parliament of South Australia, the other being the Legislative Council. It sits in Parliament House in the state capital, Adelaide. Overview The House of Assem ...

at the 1896 election, winning his father's old seat of Flinders. He re-entered parliament in 1901, winning a by-election for Flinders caused by the election of Alexander Poynton to the inaugural

Australian House of Representatives The House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameralism, bicameral Parliament of Australia, the upper house being the Australian Senate, Senate. Its composition and powers are set out in Chapter I of the Constitution of Australia. ...

at the 1901 federal election. However, he was again defeated at the 1902 election. He was heavily involved with the racing industry, serving as chairman of the Port Augusta Racing Club and co-founding the Martindale Racing Club; he also bred and raced Yudnapinna, winner of the 1911 Adelaide Grand National. He married Rosina Forsyth Tennant on 28 January 1891 at St. Peter's Church, Glenelg in a double-wedding with her sister, Clayre Jessie Tennant; both were daughters of Andrew Tennant. Rosina and William were cousins, as Andrew Tennant was a brother of William's mother Margaret. He died in a private hospital in North Adelaide in 1913, aged 55, following a six-month illness. He was interred in the Mortlock family vault at the

North Road Cemetery North Road Cemetery is located in the Adelaide suburb of Nailsworth, approximately 5 km north of the central business district. It is 7.3 hectares (18 acres) in size and there have been over 26,000 burials since its foundation in 1853. The ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mortlock, William Tennant William Tennant Members of the South Australian House of Assembly 1858 births 1913 deaths People from Port Lincoln Colony of South Australia people

See also

References