Obituary - Mrs. Mary Augusta Giles - Border Watch (Mount Gambier, SA : 1861 - 1954) - 9 Apr 1940 (original) (raw)

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Tue 9 Apr 1940 - Border Watch (Mount Gambier, SA : 1861 - 1954)
Page 3 - Obituary

Mr. Roland Campbell writes :—

The death is announced of Mrs.

Mary Giles, widow of the late Alfred

Giles, of the Northern Territory, aged

90 years. She was the daughter of

the late Henry Lorenzo Sprigg, an

early large squatter in the Far North-

ern areas, and later near Naracoorte

in a much smaller way. Mr. and

Mrs. Giles resided at Dr. Browne's

"Spring Vale" Station at the

Catherine River in the early 90's, and

they afterwards owned the Bonrook

Station on the Stuck-Up Waterhole,

South of Pine Creek. Mrs. Giles is

spoken of as having been a very hos-

pitable person, and old residents of

the Northern Territory have cause to

remember her many kindnesses. Her

father, Henry Lorenzo Sprigg, held

very large holdings in the Far North

in conjunction with the late Phillip

Levi, who was not only a squatter in

a very large way, but was at one time

a large wholesale grocer in Adelaide.

He also had squatting interests in the

South-East. After the failure of many

squatters in the Northern areas, Mr.

Sprigg came to the South-East, and

became the owner of a grazing block

in the Hundred of Hynam, 14 miles

from Naracoorte, near the old Moram-

bro Station. While there he was

President of the Hynam Farmers'

Association. He named his holding

San Lorenzo, and ran 1,500 sheep be-

sides horses and cattle. He spent 20

When Mr. Sprigg selected in the

Hundred of Hynam in the late 60's he

was one of those to whom 50,000 acres

of resumed lands were allotted, but in

1880 it is said that the greater part

of it had gone back to the squatters.

Mr. Sprig was a voluminous letter

writer in the South-Eastern press, and

advised the cutting up of the large

estates into blocks of 500 acres or so

on extended terms of payment direct

from the Government, but he was as

" one born out of due time." It would

have been a pleasure to the old man

to have seen the development of the

Naracoorte lands under closer settle-

ment in these later years. Mr. Sprigg

served for a long term on the South-

Eastern Road Board. He died at the

age of 70 years, and was buried at

O'Halloran Hill, near his father and

So the names of Giles and Sprigg

date back into the very early history

of South Australia. There are three

of the sons of Mrs. Giles living—Major

Felix Giles, of Wayville West; Mr.

Leslie Giles (Secretary to the Govern-

ment Resident, Darwin) and Mr.

Harold Giles (Manager of Elsey and

Hodson Downs Stations, N.T.). The

only daughter of the family was the

late Lady Cockburn-Campbell, of

Waterloo Station, North-West Aus-

tralia. So the name of Giles figures

largely in the early history of South

Australia, from the management of

the S.A. Company's station at Mount

Gambier, right up to the Northern

Territory, and in the mid-distances in

the exploration of the hinterlands. Of

The death occurre at her residence,

"Bagdad," near Robe, of Mrs. E. M.

Hayes, at the age of 61 years. De-

ceased was the widow of the late Mr.

Fred. Hayes, and daughter of the late

Mr. and Mrs. Jas. McGilchrist, former

residents of Naracoorte and Burra.

She had a wide circle of friends, and

was a keen member of'the C.W.A, until

her physical disabilities prevented

her from attehding meetings regu-

larly. She leaves two sons, Noel and

Steve. The latter is in the 3rd Light

Horse Regiment at Mount Gambier.

The remains were interred in the Robe