Lot 1847

Description

Abstract of Will, of James Bevan, late of the City of Melbourne in the Colony of Victoria, coach proprietor, will dated 25 January 1865, entered at end of handwritten abstract, '10th January 1866 The said testator and the said Elizabeth Bevan were lost in the Steam Ship 'The London', document marked 1894. Very fine.

James Bevan arrived at Port Phillip in 1848. He had contracts to maintain the roads between 1854 and 1859. In 1860 he purchased a Cobb & Co coach route from Melbourne to Beechworth and prospered. He built one of the first mansions in Melbourne and named it Grosport after the town in Monumontshire, England where he was born. He had horse racing interests and in 1859 won the Melbourne Hunt Club Annual Steeplechase with his horse, Bobby. This magnificent trophy was the predecessor of the Melbourne Cup. In 1864 Bevan was one of 32 founder members of the Victoria Racing Club. In 1865 he and his wife Elizabeth took a trip to England and on the return trip in 1866, with their nephew B.Bevan who was emigrating to Australia, the ship sank in the Bay of Biscay with only 19 survivors from 270 passengers. James Bevan's son, James Alfred Bevan, born in Melbourne in 1858 but was educated in England, was appointed as the captain of the first Wales XV. He later went on to become an Anglican Minister. With research including images.