probable that some day he will be a member of the Government. Western Australians now look with interest to his future career, and if the past is any indication, his future will be bright indeed. As it should be, he is interested in the welfare of the Australian Natives' Association, and was first president of the first branch in Western Australia.
Mr. James was married in 1892 to Miss Herder, of Carmarthen, South Wales. He has been a member of the Central Board of Health Committee, and is a member of the Perth Hospital Board. The life of Mr. James is now a busy one, and it will probably yet be busier. While labouring so energetically in his profession and in political circles, he finds time to devote to social matters, and he has numerous friends throughout the colony. The presence of such energetic and intelligent young men in Western Australia augurs well for her future. Mr. James was a member of the Western Australian delegation at the Federal Convention in Adelaide in 1897.
SAMUEL J. PHILLIPS, J.P., M.L.A.
THE hardy backwoodsmen who manfully took their places in the van of the great army which went forth to subdue nature in a new country, and rendered the dreary wastes of bush and scrub fit for habitation, must be accorded a prominent place among the founders of their country.
 |
Photo by S.J. PHILLIPS, J.P., M.L.A. Greenham & Evans. |
As we dash past fertile farms and pleasant gardens on the railways, we envy their lucky possessors, and are apt to forget the years of toil and hardship which had to be endured before nature realised that the pioneer had come to stay, and showered the beneficence of her kindly hand upon his efforts.
In the days when the colony was young, representatives of those well-known Western Australian families—Hamersley, Phillips and Burges—wended their way into the gloomy valleys of the Irwin. This country was then in its native state, and thieving blacks stalked through the mahogany woodland. At the time of the discovery of the Irwin, the colony was labouring under those great initial difficulties of want of population and capital. The Home Government had not given necessary assistance to early settlers, and hence much country that was deserving of immediate development remained untilled and uninhabited for many years after its original discovery. Perhaps the constantly-recurring conflicts with the aborigines and the difficulty of keeping any property of eatable value away from them had much to do with its long languishment. But these excellent pioneers went out determined to utilise the good pasture land as it deserved. They took stock to the richer banks of the river, and there allowed them to roam. Some time was passed in necessary improvements, but in a few years profits accrued from their efforts. The Irwin was made a safe place for white people to abide, and soon following the first settlers were others, until at last the woods resounded with busy life and all the indications of sweet rural prosperity.
When this was accomplished, the trio who had opened up the country dissolved partnership, and making an equal division of their pastoral lands, established their own homesteads, and settled down to enjoy the well-earned fruits of their labours.
The family whose fortunes are of interest at the present juncture is that of Samuel Pole Phillips, the well-remembered pioneer, and father of the present representative of the district in the Legislative Assembly. When the partnership was dissolved, the share of Phillips père in the estate consisted of 8,000 acres fee-simple on the Lower Irwin and 150,000 acres under pastoral lease. Mr. Hamersley got the Greenough Flats, and Mr. Burges the Upper Irwin. To this home on the banks of the Irwin the hardy pioneer brought his wife, the eldest daughter of Captain Roe, R,N., Surveyor General of the colony, and who has the distinction of being the first white lady born in the colony. In their sequestered home they remained for years; in 1856 S. J. Phillips was born. After spending his childhood amid the healthy surroundings of station life, he was sent to Perth to attend Bishop's School. When he had completed his education he went to his father's property, where he soon acquired a thorough knowledge of pastoral pursuits. Early in life Mr. Phillips was encouraged to take an interest in politics by the example of his father, who represented the whole of the eastern districts in the Legislative Council in 1870. He afterwards sat with Messrs. Marmion, Maitland, Brown, and other prominent colonists as a nominee member of the Council.
With such an example it was only natural that the son should closely identify himself with the public affairs of the country and his keen insight has enabled him to do much to advance the interests of both the farming and pastoral industry. Mr. Phillips long ago recognised that it would be the height of absurdity to utilise the beautiful agricultural lands which form part of his estate for grazing purposes only, so he determined to devote it more to farming. He accordingly subdivided the agricultural land into farms of 300
