Notable South Australians/A. J. Edmunds, S.M.
A. J. Edmunds, S.M.,
BORN in London, England, July 25, 1833, and arrived with his parents in South Australia by the ship "Surrey," in 1838. His father came out as a tenant farmer under the South Australian Company, and settled on land now forming part of Burnside, where Mr. Edmunds resided with them until 1851, when he visited the Victorian gold diggings, and spent two years there. He returned to this colony, and in 1855 was articled to Mr. J. E. Moulden, solicitor, of Adelaide, with whom he served portions of a term which was concluded with Mr. Wren (also solicitor, of this city). In 1860, having passed the necessary examinations, Mr. Edmunds was admitted to the bar as a practitioner of the Supreme Court, and commenced the practice of his profession at Port Adelaide. In the same year he was appointed Town Clerk of that important town, and occupied it for about eight years, during which period he was mainly instrumental in getting the present Town Hall built. In 1854 Mr. Edmunds joined the Port Adelaide Artillery Volunteer Force, and continued in it until its disbandment in 1873; serving as Sergeant, 2nd Lieutenant, 1st Lieutenant, and Captain. In 1876, having then been in practice as a solicitor for sixteen years, he received the appointment of Stipendiary Magistrate, and after acting as locum tenens for Mr. J. B. Shepherdson, of Wallaroo, during his leave of absence, he was further appointed to preside over the Port Pirie Local Court Circuit, comprising eight Local Courts, and also over the Gladstone Insolvency Court. He was subsequently appointed Returning Officer for the Northern Electoral District for the Legislative Council, and the District of Gladstone for the House of Assembly, all of which important positions he still holds, and for which his practical legal knowledge eminently qualifies him. In 1860 Mr. Edmunds married a daughter of the late Mr. Nicholas James, assayer, and has now a family of five sons and five daughters.