Chapter 6.7
Harriet Ann Mosman/Lady McIlraith 1843-1929
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| Harriet Mosman/Lady McIlraith (c. Mosman Library) |
Harriet Ann Mosman was introduced to her future husband Thomas McIlraith by her younger sister Celecia who was married to his friend, political ally and business partner Arthur Palmer.
Harriet was the second wife of Sir Thomas McIlraith. McIlraith’s first wife disliked life in the Australian bush and had returned to Scotland. She was an alcoholic and had died in 1878 in Scotland.
Harriet and Thomas were married in May 1879 when she was 26 and he was 45. On their honeymoon it appears that they travelled to Canada and met up with Thomas’s brother and family when they were at Niagara Falls. They travelled to London and their only child Leila Harriet was born there in March 1880.
Thomas had four children, three from his first marriage, Jessie 13, Mary 13 and Blanche 7, plus Isabella 16 from a pre-marital affair just before his first marriage. The children had not gone to England with their mother/stepmother so they were probably there to greet Harriet and their new stepsister when Thomas and Harriet returned to Brisbane. One wonders if Thomas remarried because of the children as that was a normal thing in those days. We hope that Thomas hired some child care support services for his new bride.
Just after their return the McIlraiths’ moved into their new home and lived and entertained in style. Thomas extensively renovated the house and gave it the name Auchenflower, after his family’s farm in Ayrshire, Scotland. He also named his boat Harriet Ann after his wife.
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| Auchenflower House |
The large house was grouped round a large quadrangle with fernery and fountain in the centre. There was a billiard-room, ballroom, piazza, and smoking rooms, with suites of ladies' and gentlemen's apartments for visitors, together with storage, cellarage, kitchen, and culinary departments. Thomas liked to live in style.
Friends found Harriet “robust, cheery, a delightful hostess, and very fond of the brighter side of life” and much better equipped than his first wife in managing her frequently dominating husband. They had one daughter, Leila.
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| Sir Thomas McIlraith |
McIlraith was a larger than life character (cartoonists loved to focus on him being overweight). Contemporary opinions see him as “an able bully, with a face like a dugong and a temper like a buffalo” and more kindly “He is strong, able and determined. He inspires confidence. He is neither weak, vacillating, nor irresolute. He goes the complete pig or none. He has grit, force of character, and will power. He is a born leader of men.” Also “He is someone you would look twice at and thank God he was your friend and not your enemy”. “He doesn’t cringe or crawl to his enemies. No he kills them with kindness.”
McIlraith was both a capitalist and politician and for many years was the dominant figure of colonial politics in Queensland. He was Premier of Queensland from 1879 to 1883, again in 1888, and for a third time in 1893. He was knighted in 1882.
One of his most notable but failed achievements was the annexation of New Guinea in 1883. This met with general approval in Australia, but was rescinded by London, giving Germany the chance to colonise half of the island.
In a private role, McIlraith led a group of Queenslanders who financed the charter of the steam/ship Strathleven which successfully transported frozen meat from Australia to England in 1879. This was a notable achievement that had a substantial long term impact on the Australian and New Zealand rural economies.
In common with most politicians of his era, McIlwraith was an influential businessman, who combined his parliamentary career with a prosperous involvement in business. In the end his financial dealings with the National Bank of Queensland during the 1893 financial crisis were his undoing. A Parliamentary inquiry was set up to examine what had happened. The inquiry focused on the part played by Sir Thomas and his business companion Sir Arthur Hunter Palmer.
The preliminary report the inquiry mainly exonerated Palmer but concluded that the statements made by McIlraith were “not borne out by the facts in their possession”. They decided not to have a final opinion on these matters until McIlraith had the opportunity of offering an explanation in person.
Around 1895 because of ill health McIlraith moved his family to London. While the reason given was because of his health it is pretty clear that he may also have moved to escape facing up to the findings of the Parliamentary inquiry into his financial dealings with the bank. In any event in the end Mcilraith was so ill he was not able to return to Australia. He was seriously ill for several years before his eventual death in 1900 in London.
Thomas’s elder daughters all seem to have married well and were married before he went to London. Blanche, the youngest, married in April 1899. Thomas was too ill to go back to the wedding but photographic evidence shows that Harriet travelled back to host the wedding at Auchenflower House.
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| Blanch’s wedding at Auchinflower House |
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| Harriet McIlraith |
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| Thomas McIlraith 1835-1900 |
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| Tower Cottage, Winchelsea. |
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| Persie House, Blairgowrie, Scotland |
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| Cambridge Gate NW1 |
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| Pipwell Cottage, Winchelsea |
Leila must have liked Winchelsea because she bought Pipwell Cottage in Winchelsea as a second home to be close to Brian. Her main home would still be Persie House in Scotland and she died there in 1944.
Next Chapter - 6.8 Charlotte Mosman/Jardine 1860-1890