George Brookman

Brookman was born on 15 April 1850 in Glasgow, Scotland, the eldest son of typesetter Benjamin Brookman (16 September 1826 – 11 June 1917) and his wife Jane née Wilson (d. 1 March 1881).[1][2][3] The family emigrated to South Australia in 1852 on the Water Lily, arriving at Port Adelaide on 5 May and settled in Prospect. After completing his education at the schools of James Bath and E. C. Mitton,[2] he found employment with grocery firm D & J Fowler. Then, with fellow-employee William Finlayson jun., he took over Fowler's retail arm in King William Street.[2] He set himself up as a stock and share broker and earned a position in the Adelaide Stock Exchange in 1890.[4]

In 1893 he founded, with brother William Brookman and Sam Pearce, the Coolgardie Gold Mining and Prospecting Co. Ltd. syndicate which financed the exploration and proving of a mining lease "Ivanhoe" in Kalgoorlie, Western Australia, in what was later dubbed the "Golden Mile" and made its backers incredibly wealthy. The syndicate owed its success to dogged determination in the face of criticism from experts, as the mineral was in a form that had not been encountered before[4] and through "Brookman's extraordinarily skilful financial transactions and able administration".[2]

He stood successfully for the Central District vacancy in South Australia's Legislative Council in 1901[5] caused by the resignation of Charles Kingston, who took up a seat in the new Federal Parliament. He was re-elected,[6] but did not stand for the elections of 1910.[7]

Brookman Building, Grenfell Street, c. 1907; to the left is Commercial Street

UniSA City East Campus, Brookman Building which incorporates Brookman Hall (c.1903).

• In 1896 he commissioned a four-storey block of offices "Brookman Building(s)" at 35 Grenfell Street, Adelaide,[8] previously the site of the Commercial Hotel.[9] The architect was Alfred Wells.[10]
• He was chairman from 1898 to 1922 of the South Australian Electric Light and Motive Power Company and its successor, the Adelaide Electric Supply Company.
• He was a director of the Bank of Adelaide.[11]
• He was a director of the Mintaro Slate Company.[8]

• He was a member of the North Adelaide Congregational Church, and for many years Finance Secretary of the Congregational Union.
• He gave £15,000 towards the eventual £50,000 cost of the School of Mines and Industries building on the Frome Road corner of North Terrace. The School had been housed in the Jubilee Exhibition Building (which was adjacent on the west side, and is now the site of the University of Adelaide's Ligertwood and Napier buildings), but had long since outgrown the space available to it.[12]

A feature of the building is the great stained-glass windows in Brookman Hall, locally produced by E. F. Troy, celebrating the British Empire, and those to the south of the building, adjacent the stairway, made by the firm of H. L. Vosz, depicting British scientists and technologists Watt, Newton, Stephenson, Bessemer, Kelvin, Faraday, Wren and Dalton.[13]

• He gave practical support to the University of Adelaide and was for many years a member of its council.
• He was also strongly associated with the Adelaide Children's Hospital.
• He was involved with various patriotic movements, especially during the Great War: the State Repatriation Board, the Red Cross Society, the Anzac Hospitality Committee,[14] and other organisations with similar aims.

• The large assembly hall of the School of Mines building, for which he contributed so generously, was named for him,[15] as colloquially has the building itself.
• He was knighted (KBE) on 19 October 1920 for his "Services during the War" to the State, the Commonwealth, and the Empire.[8][16]

• "Mr. G. Brookman". The Advertiser. 27 February 1901. p. 8. Retrieved 1 December 2012 – via Trove.
• "The State Parliament". The Advertiser. 24 May 1901. p. 6. Retrieved 1 December 2012 – via Trove.