The death of John Acraman
The late Mr. John Acraman, of Molesworth-street, North Adelaide, who died on Saturday last, was one of the best known men in Adelaide. He came to South Australia in 1848 in the brig Appleton to join his brother and Mr. James Cooke in mercantile business, but his brother died a few months before his arrival. Mr Acraman then joined Mr. Cooke in business in Flinders-street, and such was the condition of the streets of the city in those early days that jack boots had to be used in Winter to wade through the water which flooded the low-lying parts of Adelaide.
At that time Mr. Acraman was boarding with Mr. E. E. Tapley, in Gilbert-street, and he resolved to select new quarters, so removed to the Clarendon Hotel, on Hindley-street, which was then kept as a boarding-house by Professor Hall. Mr. G. W. Hawkes, who is still living in North Adelaide, the late Mr. George Green, an auctioneer, and Mr. Erasmus Gower were living at the same establishment. In 1851 Mr. Acraman visited Calcutta and intended continuing the voyage to England, but when the news of the gold discoveries at Ballarat reached him, he came back to Australia without delay. The York Hotel in Rundle-street, then kept by Mr. Hornabrook, was a rendezvous for squatters, and Mr. Acraman made it his home.
The business of Acraman & Cooke developed largely as the result of the gold boom, and the firm shipped an immense quantity of goods to Melbourne. They made a lot of money out of boards for building houses on the goldfields, and employed two pairs of sawyers in a sawpit which was dug in Currie-street. The brig Agir brought a consignment of timber from Norway to the firm, with instructions to sell the timber at 9d. a foot and the vessel itself for £1,200, but such was the demand for timber that Mc Dermott, Dutton, & Co bought ihe whole lot — the ship for £1,750 and the timber at 1/ per foot. Branches of the firm were opened at Melbourne and Bendigo, under the charge of the late Mr. James Ccoke and Mr. Archibald Cooke respectively, and a large business was done with the field, bullock teams being employed. On two occasions, however, the firm had bad luck. A bullock-driver, who was a trusted servant, sold his team, dray and load for £400, and was not seen again and a large parcel of gold which the firm dispatched in the ship Madagascar was lost, as the vessel was never heard of again after leasing Melbourne.
Mr. Acraman was married in 1854 to Miss Knox, who had come out in the ship Grecian, which was wrecked in St. Vincent's Gulf. They visited England a few years later, and their second son was bom at Portrush, in Ireland, during their trip. Mrs. Acraman died in 1902. After the partnership with Mr. Cooke was absolved Mr. Acraman joined Messrs. G. Main and John Lindsay in mercantile pursuits, under the style of Acraman, Main and Lindsay, and later as Acraman, Main & Co. Mr. Acraman represented the Royal Insurance Company for 40 years, and when he resigned the directors in London presented him with a set of solid silver plate and an address. He was largely interested in pastoral pursuits in the north and west with Messrs. Sells, Grant, & Stokes, the firm known as Main, Sells, & Co., Limited, being one of the largest pastoral firms in the State. When the leases expired, the firm retired. The properties known as Yardea Moonaree, Gum Flat, and Wilgena were those in which Mr. Acraman was a partner.
There was no more enthusiastic supporter of manly sports in South Australia than Mr. Acraman, who was practically the father of football here, for he imported five footballs shortly after his arrival in the State. He was a regular visitor to the oval, and used to follow the movements of players so closely and work himself into such a state of excitement that people standing near him would find they were be ing pushed aside by Mr. Acraman. whose movements would correspond with those of players.
So excited would he become that it was a common thing to see the spectators gradually clear a space for him in order that he should not be obstructed. Mr. Acraman was connected with various cricket, football, lacrosse, rowing, and other clubs, and he will be greatly missed on the fields of sport. He had a family of 12 — eight sons and four daughters, and six sons and three daughters survive.
Footnotes
Title: The late Mr. John Acraman
Author: Chronicle Staff Writer
Publish: Chronicle (Adelaide, SA: 1895-1954)
Date: Saturday, 29 June, 1907 p.42 (Article)
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