Lot 995

Description

Riverina Pastoral Society, in silver (45mm) by G.Crisp Melbourne and J.Hagarth for stokes, reverse inscribed '1st Prize/To/Samuel Wilson/Two Ewes/with lambs at foot/bred by exhibition in N.S.Wales/JERILDERIE/1871'. Unevenly toned, nearly extremely fine and rare.

This and the following five lots were all awarded to (Sir) Samuel Wilson (1832-1895) who was born in Ireland and moved to Victoria in 1852. He worked with the Acclimatization Society and donated Å“30,000 to the University of Melbourne to build the Gothic Wilson Hall later destroyed by a fire in 1960. He was knighted in 1875 and became the owner of the largest sheep holding in the world. He purchased Ercildoune homestead in 1873 (see Sale 33, lot 2571) and retired to England in 1881.