Deposit 165 - The Australian Estates Company London Office deposit 2

The Australian Estates Company Limited, formerly the Australian Estates & Mortgage Co Ltd, carried on business as wool and produce selling brokers, stock and station agents, pastoralists, raw sugar millers and cane growers. The Australian Estates & Mortgage Co Ltd was formed in 1894 as a subsidiary of The Union Mortgage & Agency Company of Australia Ltd and was registered in London on 5 December 1894. The Australian Estates & Mortgage Co Ltd acquired mortgages, properties and stock from The Union Mortgage & Agency Company of Australia Ltd in 1894 and 1896. In 1899, the company was amalgamated with the parent company, but took until 1902 to complete. In 1924 The Australian Estates & Mortgage Co Ltd's sugar business was expanded when the company amalgamated its mill "The Palms" at Mackay witht the nearby "Pleystowe" mill, and formed the Amalgamated Sugar Mills Ltd. In 1927, the same year that G S Colman became joint General Manager in Australia, the New South Wales Pastoral Co Ltd was formed in London in order to acquire properties in NSW, which included "Burra Burra", "Jemalong" and "Raby".

On 21 July 1936 the name of the company changed to The Australian Estates Company Limited. After the Second World War, the company underwent extensive growth and expansion, acquiring Kamilaroi Pastoral Co (1946), a half share in F A Hill & Co, Edward Trenchard & Co (1947), John McNamara & Co (1950) and other McNamara companies. In 1954 the Australian Estates Co (Agencies) Pty Ltd was set up to acquire new branches in Victoria, and in 1956 the Australian Estates Co (Queensland) Pty Ltd was set up to do the same in Queensland. In the following years a series of subsidiaries were established and the company acquired more businesses and properties. In 1973 the company further diversified purchasing an interest in the Denny Group in the United Kingdom - E M Denny (Holdings) Ltd were meat processors and traders in the UK and Ireland. Much of the post-war growth and expansion of the company had been carried out under D C F (Sir Denys) Lowson as Chairman and Managing Director, who resigned in 1974 after investigations into his involvement in share dealings. After attracting the interest of Rupert Murdoch and B H South, the company was taken over by CSR Limited in March 1975.

In 1884 the business of William Sloane & Co, stock and station agents established in Melbourne around 1861 by William Sloane and R J Jeffray, became The Union Mortgage & Agency Company of Australia Ltd. R J Jeffray became its Chairman and General Manager. During 1885 the company acquired the pastoral business of James Turner & Son and later that year the wool-selling business of M D Synott. The company extended its scope to sugar, and had representatives in Sydney, Brisbane and Rockhampton. The Company's agents for the disposal of wool in the United Kingdom were Young Ehlers & Co. In 1886 the company went into liquidation and a new company of the same name was formed in London, with an Australian Head Office in Melbourne and branches in Sydney, Brisbane, Rockhampton and later Townsville. In 1899 the new company went into liquidation and almagamated with its subsidiary company The Australian Estates & Mortgage Company Limited, which later became The Australian Estates Company Limited. The amalgamation took until 1902 for The Union Mortgage & Agency Company of Australia Ltd to finally wound up.