Notable South Australians/James Munro Linklater, J.P.

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2378352Notable South Australians — James Munro Linklater, J.P.George E. Loyau

James Munro Linklater, J.P.,

CAME of a family long located in the Orkney Islands. He arrived in this colony in the early part of 1840, and in conjunction with his brother-in-law, Mr. W. Flett, commenced business as grocers, etc After working up a laige connection, he quitted this sphere of action and entered into squatting pursuits in the Fowler's Bay district. He was here very unsuccessful, and for some time his fortunes were chequered, and he suffered many reverses. Ultimately, however, a season of prosperity came, and he realised handsome returns from his runs. As an instance of his rigid integrity, high conscientiousness, and true sense of honour, it may be mentioned that his first act, so soon as fortune began to smile, was to pay in full all the creditors who some years before had accepted a composition and relieved him of liabilities which he had then been unable to meet. For this rare commercial generosity, his creditors presented him with a handsome testimonial. Mr. Linklater took a lively interest in political and municipal affairs, and was duly elected a councillor in the City Corporation. Although he had little ambition to fill public positions, his name stood high in popular estimation, and so far back as 1852 he held the post of a Trustee of the Savings Bank, and later on that of a member of the Marine Board. He was one of the founders of the S.A. Insurance Company, of which institution he was for some time a director. He held the office of elder in Chalmer's Church at the time of his decease, which took place in Adelaide, on December 17, 1882, in his seventy-third year. Mr. Linklater is still often referred to in the commercial world as one whose straightforwardness, integrity, and other sterling qualities made him a worthy example for his fellow-men to follow.