06/02/2026
๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐.๐. (๐๐๐๐โ๐๐๐๐)โฃ
๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐, ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐, ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐, ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐
๐๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ข๐ด ๐ข ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ญ๐ช๐ด๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ด๐ค๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ญ๐ข๐ณ, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฎ๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ต ๐ข๐ฑ๐ต๐ญ๐บ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ค๐ข๐ญ ๐๐ฐ๐ค๐ณ๐ข๐ต๐ฆ๐ด, ๐ข๐ด ๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ฌ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ฅ๐จ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ฑ๐ข๐ณ๐ต๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ฐ๐ง ๐๐ณ๐ฆ๐ค๐ช๐ข๐ฏ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ด๐ต๐ฐ๐ณ๐บ ๐ธ๐ข๐ด ๐ฆ๐น๐ต๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ด๐ช๐ท๐ฆ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ง๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ฅ.โฃ
โฃ
๐๐ถ๐ต ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ช๐ฏ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฎ๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ข๐ด ๐ฏ๐ฐ ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ฅ๐ข๐ฏ๐ต; ๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ช๐ฆ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐จ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฅ ๐ฏ๐ข๐ต๐ถ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ฎ ๐ข๐ค๐ค๐ฆ๐ด๐ด๐ช๐ฃ๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ, ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ช๐ญ๐ด๐ต ๐ด๐ถ๐ง๐ง๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ๐บ ๐จ๐ณ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฆ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ฎ ๐ข ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฅ๐บ ๐ค๐ฉ๐ข๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ข๐ฏ๐บ ๐ซ๐ถ๐ด๐ต ๐ค๐ข๐ถ๐ด๐ฆ, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฏ๐ฐ ๐ฌ๐ฏ๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ต ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ณ๐ข๐ฏ๐ต ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ฐ๐ญ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ช๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ญ๐ช๐ด๐ต๐ด ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐จ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ข๐ณ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฎ๐ช๐ฏ๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ด๐ฆ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐จ ๐ณ๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ต๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ฉ๐ฆ.
George Loyau 'Notable South Australians' (Adelaide 1885).
Edward Lindley Grundy was born on 25 August 1796 in Nottingham, England, to John Grundy (1753โ1832) and his wife Margaret Lindley (1754โ1829) and was one of six children. Grundy displayed an aptitude for classics and antiquarian lore, interests which he retained his whole life. At the age of 23 he began working in Manchester as a shipper and broker and carried on an extensive and successful business with South America, but he gave it up for literary pursuits.
On 22 July 1824 he married Frances Elizabeth Mason (1787โ1861), in St. John's Church in Manchester. Frances was described by George Loyau as โa lady of cultivated tastes and accomplishments and an able linguistโ. The marriage was a happy one and produced five sons: Edward Mason (1826โ1881), Edmund Lindley (1727โ1881), George (1829โ?), Henry Bleasby (1831โ1892) and Francis Edgar (1832โ1896).
Grundy was the originator of infant schools in Manchester, and also of the Christian Institute, and he took a prominent part in the Agricultural Drainage Association. As an authority and essayist on agriculture he was awarded a silver medal with the following inscription: 'Institute, Manchester, 1767. Society for the Improvement of Agriculture. To Mr. E. L Grundy, for an essay upon Destructive Insects, 1829'.
While living in Manchester Grundy became involved in many philanthropic projects for the benefit of the city, and together with others he was instrumental in getting Peel Park in Salford, named after Prime Minister Sir Robert Peel, opened on Sundays for public recreation and enjoyment in 1846. This brought him into collision with several strict Sabbatarians. Loyau wrote that โto those who remember the drudgery and hardships of factory life of forty years ago, they will conceive what an inestimable boon was conferred on the working classesโ.
Grundy migrated to South Australia after becoming a victim of the 'Railway Mania', a speculative stock market bubble in the United Kingdom in the 1840s. Like many others, he poured a large portion of his fortune into new railway companies. This drove share prices up dramatically, with them doubling in value between 1843 and 1845. More than 1,000 new companies were formed with many projects being ambitious, impractical or even fraudulent.
In 1846 the English Parliament passed 263 Acts authorising new railways which proposed some 9,500 miles of track. There was widespread speculation and many investors risked their life savings, lured by the promise of high dividends. The bubble burst in 1846, with a sharp collapse in railway share prices after the Bank of England raised interest rates to put the brakes on further speculation. A panic sell-off of shares followed, with values falling by about 50 per cent between 1846 and 1850.
Many investors lost everything, and Grundy's losses must have been great to lead to his difficult decision to leave his family, other than his youngest son Francis Edgar, in England.
Grundy and son left England on the 280 ton barque ๐๐ฏ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฆ in London on 27 November 1847. The vessel carried a general cargo of merchandise and 26 passengers. It stopped at Plymouth on 23 December before colliding with another ship in the English Channel. There was some damage which had to be repaired before the Enmore could proceed further, and the ๐๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ข๐ช๐ฅ๐ฆ ๐๐ฃ๐ด๐ฆ๐ณ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ described the voyage as โaltogether a comfortless and an unfavourable oneโ:
โMr. Johnson (son-in-law of G. F. Angas, Esq.) died on the passage, and the relations of the captain with his passengers have been represented to us as anything but satisfactory. Indeed so grave have the charges against Capt. Hall, for his ungentlemanly and uncourteous conduct towards his passengers, and his general disregard of their wants, that strong representations from influential parties here, have been forwarded to the proper quarters at home, where we have no doubt they will meet with due attentionโ.
โ...knowing the vigilance of the London agents, Messrs E. J. Wheeler & Co., we are surprised that they should have suffered a passenger-ship, for the provisioning of which they were responsible, to proceed to sea so ill found, or that they should have countenanced the appointment of a captain not only young and inexperienced, but deficient in ordinary good breeding, and evidently as utterly indifferent about the comfort of his passengers, as he was wanting in a knowledge of his duty, and the serious responsibility that rested upon himโ.
โFor a captain, to whom maritime law and usage have too long conceded a power at once absolute and despotic, to make his passengers the victim of systematic and needless privation, is a heartless fraud upon the helpless and confiding; wantonly to insult or tyrannise over his passengers and crew, is base and cowardly; but to treat the dying with cold contempt is inhuman; and to insult their memory so soon as their remains are committed to their ocean bed argues a disposition not only ferocious, but fiendish; and we hope, for the interests of the merchant-service and the honour of human nature, that few such sea-monsters are to be found ploughing the trackless deepโ.
'Arrivals' ๐๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ข๐ช๐ฅ๐ฆ ๐๐ฃ๐ด๐ฆ๐ณ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ 13 May 1848 page 2.
Grundy thought it advisable not to bring his wife with him, but intended to send for her as soon as he saw what the colony was like. He had completed his arrangements for her to join him, but she succumbed to an attack of bronchitis on 12 January 1861 in Bury, England, at the age of 71 and was buried there.
Grundy began business in South Australia as a broker, and subsequently started the ๐๐ต๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ข๐ณ๐ฅ newspaper, but difficulty in getting in subscriptions resulted him in abandoning this venture. He next took a house at Brighton, which he ultimately gave up and went to Gawler, where in 1859 he established himself as an auctioneer, accountant and commission agent.
Grundy eventually resumed his literary pursuits. He became a founding member of the Humbug Society and associated with the local ๐๐ถ๐ฏ๐บ๐ช๐ฑ newspaper, and became its editor in 1871.
After his experiences on the Enmore, Grundy undertook investigate any question of oppression and imposition secured for him the goodwill of the passengers of one of the emigrant vessels. They had been badly treated during the voyage, and he was instrumental in having the conduct of the captain inquired into. The passengers gave him a handsome silver snuff-box, bearing this inscription: 'Presented to E. L Grundy, Esq., by the immigrants per 'Indian', in grateful acknowledgment of his humane efforts on behalf of the emigrant stranger. Adelaide, October 3, 1849'.
Grundy was elected to the South Australian Parliament on 23 March 1860 and represented the Barossa electorate in the House of Assembly until the following election on 9 November 1862. He did not re-contest the seat. He intended to run for the seat of Yatala in 1875 but he passed away at his home in Gawler of eryslipelas (a bacterial infection of the skin) at 8:00 pm on 21 January 1875 at the age of 78.
He had been raised and educated as a member of the Church of England, but a few days before his death he sent for a Catholic priest. The Rev. Theodore Bongaerts being too ill and close to death himself, the Rev. Charles van der Heyden attended instead, and Grundy expressed his wish to be received into the Catholic Church.
A few days later the Catholic Archbishop of Adelaide, Christopher Augustine Reynolds, arrived in Gawler and personally administered the Sacrament of Baptism and formally received Grundy into the Church. On the following morning he received the Viaticum and the Sacrament of Extreme Unction: โHe maintained perfect consciousness up to within a few minutes of his death, and joined in the prayers for the departing soul recited by those around him with the most edifying fervour and devotionโ.
'Obituary' ๐๐ข๐ณ๐ฑ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฏ ๐๐ณ๐ฐ๐ด๐ด 29 January 1875 page 5.
The ๐๐ถ๐ฏ๐บ๐ช๐ฑ wrote that โDeath has been busy throughout the land of late. He has almost suddenly removed from amongst us to the Silent Land the venerable form of one well and widely known to the people of Gawler and the neighborhood, and the numerous readers of the Bunyip. The "good grey head" that stood "four-square to all the winds that blew" โ the mind so richly cultured and stored with classic, antiquarian, and historic lore โ that had read and culled from books without number โ"The fine old English gentleman" with his ready and eloquent tongue that has stirred so many in political and parliamentary and other South Australian assemblages Alas! he has passed away to the "great majority".
โHe was full of kindly courtesy, and always accessible and ready to aid by his help and advocacy the widow, the orphan, and the wronged and oppressed of every shade. Few, if any, would be more missed from innumerable hearts and homes, and lamented with the honest and hearty tribute of general regret than was Edward Lindley Grundyโ.
'In Memoriam: Edward Lindley Grundy' ๐๐ถ๐ฏ๐บ๐ช๐ฑ 22 January 1875 page 2.
The ๐๐ข๐ฏ๐ค๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ด๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ ๐๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ๐ช๐ฆ๐ณ wrote that โto many of our townsmen he will ever be remembered as an active and eloquent advocate of many institutions having for their object the welfare of the poor and the oppressed of every shadeโ.
George Loyau wrote that โthe grief of those he left might be well expressed in the lines on the cenotaph of Euripides at Pella:
๐๐ฐ ๐๐ฆ๐ญ๐ญ๐ข๐ด' ๐ฃ๐ข๐ณ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐๐ฆ๐ญ๐ญ๐ข๐ด ๐จ๐ช๐ท๐ฆ๐ด ๐ข ๐ต๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฃ;โฃ
๐๐ฏ ๐๐ข๐ค๐ฆ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ฏ'๐ด ๐ง๐ข๐ณ ๐ด๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ช๐ค๐ด ๐ด๐ญ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฑ;โฃ
๐๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ข, ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ช๐ฅ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ค๐ฆ, ๐ธ๐ข๐ด ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด๐ต ๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ,โฃ
๐๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ฎ ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ข๐ช๐ด๐ฆ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฑโ.
Grundy was buried in the West Terrace Cemetery (Road 3 Path 21 Site 40 West). Grundy's granddaughter Ellen Lavinia Grundy died on 30 September 1881 at the age of 18 and was buried with him. Her father, Grundy's son Francis Edgar Grundy died on 25 April 1896 at the age of 64 and was buried with them. The grave is unmarked.
Image credits: Edward Lindley Grundy (1795โ1875) circa 1849 S.T. Gill State Library of South Australia Portrait Collection B 344.
Image editing, restoration and enhancement Copyright ยฉ Rita Bogna 2026.
Copyright ยฉ Rita Bogna 2026. Please share this post, but do not copy text and images without my prior permission.
