HEARTLAND MAGAZINE ISSUE 37 JAN/FEB 2020

James Smith returned to farming and grew his farming land by 1500 acres. On the 16 th September 1874 he married a widow by the name of Mary Jane Love. 1886 saw James elected for Legislative Council for Mersey and resigned in 1888.

The explorer and farmer died on the 15 th of June in 1897 from heart disease. His wife and 6 children lived on and buried James (Philosopher) Smith at Congregational cemetery at Forth.

James (Philosopher) Smith

Born in July 1827, near George Town, Van Diemen’s Land, James ‘Philosopher’ Smith would go on to be one of Australia’s most iconic and highly celebrated men throughout Australian history. He was the 2 nd of 3 children and became under the care of John Guillan, after his father was shot when he was 5years old and his mother remarried.

John Guillan was a ship owner and a flour miller, as he guarded James, he also taught him skills to manage the flour mill for a short time. In 1853 James went to work in the Victorian Goldfields. With his return to Tasmania, James took up 2.6km squared of forest between the Fourth and Leven Rivers. James was a bushman and an amateur explorer and would easily become engrossed with an expedition through his explorative eagerness. His expedition to Fourth River was a success with his discovery of gold.

In 1871 James organised for provisions to be stored at Black Bluff Highlands. Soon after he travelled West and crossed Arthur River to reach Mount Cleveland. Here he found traces of Gold at the bottom of a deep gorge. On December 4 th he found tine ore and tin oxide at Mount Bishoff. Following this he smelted the ore sample at Table Cape on the North Coast. Although he obtained two crown leases of 80 acres on the richest of the tin or deposits, having them surveyed, he was unable to interest anyone with his revelation.

With no help from Victoria, James Smith sold a farm and gained the capital needed from a bank overdraft to start mining the tin oxide. It was then bagged and taken by road to the coast where it was shipped from Penguin and Leith to Melbourne and onward to England.

In Launceston, with the returns of the first shipment, a company was formed which had 60,000 pounds in capital and 12,000 in 5pound shares. The company took over the mine in 1873 and was the worlds richest tin mine. James was paid 1,500 pounds in cash, 4400 of paid up shares and a permanent directorship which allowed him to nominate another director.

In 1878, the first dividend was paid by the company although James had already given away a lot of his shares or sold them at minimal prices. In the same year he received a public testimonial of 250 sovereigns, a silver slaver as well as a parliament voted 200pound

James ‘Philospher’ Smith, wife Mary Jane, children Annie and Leslie, c1880