TitleMrGiven NamesThomas SutcliffeSurnameMortBiographyPresident Agricultural Society of New South Wales 1863-64.
Thomas Mort grew up in Manchester and arrived in Australia in 1838 to take up a clerk’s position.
In a few years he'd set himself up as an auctioneer and was the first to introduce regular and organised wool sales. His business interests burgeoned: he auctioned stock and pastoral properties, became a wool broker, had railway, mining and engineering interests and was a pioneer in refrigeration, setting up the world’s first freezing works at Darling Harbour.
He acquired the Bodalla estate on the south coast in 1860 which he developed into a dairy property and ran ‘on advanced lines’.
Severe drought struck during Mort’s presidency of the Agricultural Society and a full-scale Show was not held in 1863, just a ploughing match. Mort went on to serve as vice-president throughout the 1860s and was on the committee which managed the Society’s first exhibition in Sydney.
From 1870, the Society’s annual wool show was held in Mort’s storerooms each January. His grand dream was to establish an export frozen meat trade. Recognising the potential of this innovation, the Society raised £62,000 to help him test his theories. In 1876 a ship was fitted out, but the meat spoiled before it sailed. Disappointment hastened Mort’s death but only a year later a shipment was successfully sent to England.
