GILLESPIE, James McGregor (1859-1936) OBE Enrolment Register Detail, 1871. |
Pegasus in October 1936 recorded his death:
'James Macgregor Gillespie, (1871), died at his home Toolang’, St. Kilda Road, on Monday, 7 September. After leaving the College he joined the staff of the National Bank, (1874.) For some years he was a Stock and Station Man with the firm of Kirby and Gillespie, and later, after a wide experience in land and finance, was appointed Chairman of the first Victorian Closer Settlement Board from 1904—1909. He acted as director on many influential companies, including Robertson and Mullens Ltd., Allan and Coy. Pty. Ltd., Lincoln Mills, and he filled the position of first chairman at the inaugural meeting of the Taxpayers' Association in 1919. A member of the Kyabram movement, also chairman of the Victorian State Recruiting Committee in 1917 and 1918, his services were rewarded with the Order of the British Empire. The Returned Soldiers' League awarded him a gold medal and certificate of appreciation for his work for Soldiers and their dependants. For some years he controlled the finances of the Berry Street Foundling Home, and he was a member of the Board of the Melbourne Benevolent Asylum.' His brothers,
Robert Kerr Gillespie (1856-1929) and
John Alexander Gillespie (1861-1932), were also educated at Geelong College.
Sources: Enrolment Register 1871-1901 p36 Entry No 0010; Pegasus October 1936 pp59-60.