A big businessman, brawler, benevolent Osmond Gilles kept early colony in cash
Osmond Gilles, South Australia's first colonial treasurer, as sketched by S. T. Gill in 1849.
Image courtesy State Library of South Australia
Osmond Gilles was South Australia’s first colonial treasurer, who arrived with governor John Hindmarsh on the Buffalo in 1836 and remained one of his few supporters.
The “very irritable” Gilles engaged in public brawls, most notably with colonial secretary Robert Gouger. His failures as an official were offset by his success in business. Gilles kept the colonial treasury going by loaning it nearly £12,000, which second governor George Gawler repaid.
Gilles is memorialised in Adelaide place names such as OG Road and Glen Osmond.
A merchant in partnership with his brother in law Philip Oakden, Gilles was among the mainly radical, dogmatic, independent, intractable, some (including Gilles) republican men seeking positions in the projected colonyof South Australia in 1835.
As one of the few who uniformly supported governor Hindmarsh in the colony, Gilles was under fire from opponents and many detractors. The colony’s treasury was generally empty but Gilles kept it going by personal loans, and carried on his land deals and other businesses.
Despite his public brawls and official independence, Gilles retained Hindmarsh’s favour. Governor George Gawler also regarded him highly but he failed to get satisfactory statements of accounts from his treasurer.
As agent for colonisation commission chairman Colonel, Gilles had powerful friends but Gawler made him to resign his offices of treasurer and accountant-general in 1839. When Gilles left, the Treasury owed him nearly £12,000, which Gawler repaid.
Gilles’ many interests, included land, stock, moneylending and general trading. His ventures in land were among the most extensive in the province and included town acres in Adelaide (the largest holder in 1837) and Port Lincoln, sections in the suburbs and country, and a special survey of 4000 acres (1619 ha) on the Murray River.
Profiting by his experience in Germany, he was among the first to import sheep from Van Diemen's Land and sheep and rams from Saxony. In 1839, he discovered silver/lead on his property at Glen Osmond. This brought big royalties until the mine was worked out.
Gilles was also known for strong religious beliefs and generosity. Soon after arriving, he helped Charles Howard, the Anglican colonial chaplain (a concept opposed by Dissenter colonists), drag a handcart from Holdfast Bay to Adelaide where they draped a sail over a branch and held the first official chuch service in Adelaide. Trinity Church was built on the North terrace site with Gilles was an active trustee and generous supporter. He gave land and materials for St Saviour’s at Glen Osmond.
Gilles also gave ready aid to many other churches, societies and charities. Fluent in French and German, he was especially interested in immigrant welfare and in 1852 gave land in Adelaide for a German hospital. Annual gatherings of the German Rifle Club were on his property.
