Mr. G. F. De Salis, Pastoralists Death

The Sydney Morning Herald

2 January 1932

Mr. G. F. De Salis. Pastoralists Death. Member Of Famous Family.

Mr. George Fane De Salis, who was a member of the State Parliament before Federation, has died at his residence, Soglio, Michelago, at the age of 80 years. He was a well-known grazier, and was engaged for many years as an honorary justice on the Licensing Bench.

Mr. De Salis, the third son of Mr. Leopold Fane De Salis, was born at Darbalara Station, near Gundagai, which his father bought soon after his arrival In Australia in 1840. He was educated privately. Practically the whole of his adult life was spent on the land, first at Cuppacumbalong and later at Soglio. He represented Queanbeyan in the Legislative Assembly for one term, from December, 1882, until October, 1885. His father and brother, William, had previously represented the same constituency.

The De Salis family played an important part in the pastoral and political affairs of this State. Mr. Leopold Fane De Sails started sheep-farming at Darbalara In 1841, being one of the first in the eastern Riverina to grasp the possibilities of sheep in preference to cattle.

In 1844 he took up the then unoccupied run of Junee, locating his homestead close by the site of what is now the town of that name. The Junee run was not well provided with water to tide over dry spells, and Mr. De Salis constructed a number of dams, this method of water conservation being looked upon as something novel at that time. In 1856 he purchased Cuppacumbalong Station, on the Murrumbidgee, country which is now Included in the Federal Capital Territory.

After representing Queanbeyan in the Legislative Assembly for some years, Mr. Leopold Fane De Salis in 1874 was appointed to the Legislative Council, in which he took a prominent part right up to within a few years of his death in 1898.

Mr. George Fane De Sails' sister, Nina, married Mr. William Farrer, who added so much to the Commonwealth's resources by his wheat breeding research.