EXTRACT FROM "DAILY MAIL" 6 OCTOBER 1904

A GRAND OLD COLONIST

DEATH OF MR CB YOUNG

Mr Charles Burney Young*, old time pastoralist, politician and vigneron, one of the best know citizens of Adelaide (says the Adelaide "Register"), died suddenly at his residence, Walkerville, at 8.00am on Thursday morning, 27 September. He was apparently in good health when he entered the breakfast room to partake of his morning meal, but a biting wind was blowing through the open window, and he requested that the entrance should be closed. Just as his wish was being given effect to, however, he gave a groan and passed away. Mr Young was universally loved, and was widely respected as one of South Australia's most enterprising colonists. He had as happy a disposition as ever mortal possessed, and was an exceedingly active man. Right up to the time of his death - and he was in his 81st year - Mr Young took a lively interest in all manner of sport and society engagements, and was a regular attendant at healthy athletic functions. He was a great devotee of the ballroom and even in his old age was frequently to be seen dancing the evening away with a full program of engagements. The family possesses a remarkably interesting history.

AN INTERESTING HISTORY

The deceased gentleman was an Englishman by birth, but was of Scottish descent, and he could trace the family tree back to the reign of Mary Queen of Scots. It begins with Sir John Young, Bart Chamberlain of Mary Queen of Scots, and owner of the Manor of Lenny, in the Trossacks. Sir John's grandson, David Young, who inherited the estate, married the Lady Jane Grey early in the seventeenth century. The Lady was the daughter of Henry Grey, first Earl of Stamford, who was fourth in descent from the Lady Elizabeth Woodville by her first husband, Sir John Grey, and afterwards became Queen of England by her marriage with Edward IV. In 1715 the two leaders of the Young family, who were stalwart supporters of the Stuart cause, sold the Scottish estates and took up sugar plantation in the West Indies.' No fewer than four male members of the family were lost at sea during the West India period, and so far as Mr Charles Burney Young could ascertain, only his grandfather and his great uncle, Admiral William Young, returned to the old country. Two of the family lost their lives fording rivers in New Zealand, two baronets who succeeded each other during the Crimean War were killed, and two met with untimely deaths in Australia. Mr Young took his name from four generations of Charles Burneys, all eminent personages.

IN THE WINE INDUSTRY

When both were of an early age, Mr Young married the daughter of General and Lady Charlotte Bacon. The General who was born in 1796, fought with his regiment, the 10th Hussars, at Waterloo, where he was badly wounded, while Lady Charlotte, Lord Byron's lanthe (sic), was the daughter of the fifth Earl of Exford and sister of the sixth Earl. The present Duchess of Wellington is a niece of the late General Bacon. Soon after their marriage Mr and Mrs Young essayed the journey to South Australia, and purchased a house and a few acres of land at Walkerville, where they had resided ever since. Shortly after their arrival, Mr Young secured land at Kanmantoo, and started his well-known vineyards there. The soil was good, and the grapes yielded bounteously of claret, but the industry was greatly retarded for many years on account of the difficulty in finding a market. However, by the time the London trade was established in 1884 the Kanmantoo Vineyards were giving excellent returns. The deceased's son, Mr Burney Young, was for a long period manager of the South Australian Wine Depot in London, which, recently passed into the hands of a private company.

 Editor's Note: Born on 7 July 1824, see Family of Young Pedigree.

A BIG PASTORALIST

Mr Young also engaged extensively in pastoral pursuits, and purchased a large tract of country on the Blyth Plains. Much of this was stocked with sheep, while some was leased to farmers, and thousands of acres yearly were cultivated for wheat by the proprietor. He also rented an extensive area beyond Port Augusta for depasturing purposes. Before he had been many years in South Australia, Mr Young was one of the largest freehold landowners in the state. In the early days he bought a great part of the town of Port Pirie at five pounds an allotment, and sold at from 100 pounds upwards. With a couple of hundred pounds, he secured all the suburban block facing the town, and the lot was laid out by him in suburban townships and sold for big figures. A capital article in a recent number of A.A.A on Charles Burney Young, who was numbered among "Australia's grand old men", concluded: "Truly this old English gentleman has been a pioneer of development, a captain of industry, a benefactor to his country and his race. Mr Young was never quite absorbed with business. He was a member of the first Polo Club and the Hunt Club, with which he always rode when in town, and he never missed a first class cricket match if he could help it. I have often seen him on the Adelaide Oval intent on the game. He was a member of the Church of England Synod almost from its inception, and scarcely ever missed the committee meeting. He was a governor of St Peter's College, where all his sons were educated, and promoter of the Aborigines' Friends' Association, in which he has always been deeply interested. Governor Sir James Fergusson appointed him a member of the Education Board, and it has been a great sorrow to him that the New Act made no provision for religious teaching". For some time Mr Young faithfully served the Northern District in the Legislative Council, whither he was elected at the head of the poll. Mrs Young survives her husband.

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