Born 1812, the fourth son of John and Elizabeth Leake of Rosedale, Tasmania.
Edward first worked as a shepherd boy for his father’s pure bred Saxon Merino sheep on his property in Tasmania, before moving to South Australia, at Robert’s request, to join him in pursuing pastoral interests in that newly settled colony.
When Robert journied to the South East of South Australia in search of new agricultural land, Edward joined him in partnership at Lake Leake soon after. However Edward’s commitment to his work and his lowly habits were often questioned by Robert, as he was often seen leaving the workman’s huts in the early hours of the morning from drinking sprees. A huge man of some 20 stone, Robert said he was “so fat he was a burden to himself.”
In 1855 with Edward not wanting any more to do with the management of the station, the brothers decided to part company, Robert to buy out Edward’s share, and Edward to retire to Portland on an allowance of 1,000 pounds a year. Edward did not stop long at Portland, returning to reside at The Punt on the Glenelg River, where he built a stone house, on the site of the present day Nelson Hotel.
With Robert’s death in 1860, Edward, who was by now married, in suspicious circumstances to the somewhat wayward Latitia Clarke, and with a
The Leake Brothers, Robert and Edward
The “ Baron of the Frontier”
Robert Rowland Leake
Born 1811, the third son of John and Elizabeth Leake, of Rosedale Tasmania.
John and Elizabeth, with six sons and one daughter, arrived in Tasmania in 1823 after sailing from Leith in Scotland. They brought with them some pure Saxon Merino sheep from Germany, some of the first to come to any part of Australia. With a letter of recommendation, he was given a considerable grant of land, and set about establishing a fine flock of pure bred merino sheep.
It was here that Robert, first as a shepherd boy, and later as Superintendant of his father’s flocks, gained valuable hands on training in sheep husbandry. This knowledge in 1837 gained him the position as studmaster to the merino sheep owned by the South Australia Company.
A shrewd and efficient manager of economic matters, he worked hard to achieve his ambition of only being involved in pastoral pursuits for as long as it took to make him rich. He was well instructed in pastoral affairs, and his seriousness and commitment to his work earned him the title
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among his colleagues as the “Baron of the Frontier “. Robert was considered a fine judge of merino sheep, and was it seems, popular among his employees, particularly the aborigines about his station. Although the Leakes were often looked upon as somewhat of an eccentric lot, Robert was the more stable of the two brothers, the credit for the success of the run given to his astute economic and business like decisions. In 1853 Robert married his housekeeper, Ruth Hickmer, described by a neighbours wife as “.....an ignorant serving girl “. This was, however, a time when women were not a part of the pioneering pastoral scene, Robert complaining in a letter to his father that “...we only have one or two gentlemen within 100 miles.”
Robert died at Frontier House in 1860, buried in the Pioneer Cemetery, Mount Gambier. About 300 persons “....of all classes.....” attended the funeral, some of whom had travelled a considerable distance.
Some of the aborigines, to whom he had shown great kindness, followed the hearse from Glencoe to the grave, a distance of 15 miles.
Builder of the Woolshed -
Edward John Leake
child, returned to Frontier House to claim his inheritance, all the Glencoe run and its stock. It was a well known fact that Edward was the more eccentric of the brothers, in fact often stated as mentally unbalanced, and not being well instructed in economic matters, along with his lack of commitment to hard work, the Glencoe run soon showed signs of deterioration. Edward’s ambitions with pastoral pursuits differed from Robert’s, as not for personal gain, but more for a life of comfort and luxury. Edward did, however, build the one remaining icon of the Leake era, the Glencoe Woolshed.
Edward died in April 1867, at Frontier House, the property left to his brothers Arthur and Charles Leake as executors to his daughter Latitia Sarah Leake. He was buried alongside his brother in the Pioneer Cemetery, Mount Gambier.