Sir Simon Fraser (21 August 1832 - 30 July 1919), Australian politician, was a member of the Australian Senate and the grandfather of Malcolm Fraser, Prime Minister of Australia from 1975 to 1983.
Fraser was born in Pictou in Nova Scotia, Canada, the son of a Scottish timber miller and farmer. When he was 21 he emigrated to the goldfields of Victoria in search of his fortune. After a time prospecting in Bendigo he became a contractor, soon moving...
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Sir Simon Fraser (21 August 1832 - 30 July 1919), Australian politician, was a member of the Australian Senate and the grandfather of Malcolm Fraser, Prime Minister of Australia from 1975 to 1983.
Fraser was born in Pictou in Nova Scotia, Canada, the son of a Scottish timber miller and farmer. When he was 21 he emigrated to the goldfields of Victoria in search of his fortune. After a time prospecting in Bendigo he became a contractor, soon moving into railways and becoming by the 1870s a wealthy man. One of the more notable contract was the supply of ballast to the new D & M Railway, a privately owned rail from Moama to Deniliquin in Southern New South Wales. Fraser instead of supplying blue metal, he supplied quartz from the slag heaps of Bendigo. It met the specifications of the contract, but was not what was expected by the owners of the railway. He later bought extensive estates in the Western District of Victoria and became a leader of the wealthy wool-growing class known as the...
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