Frederick Wolseley

Frederick York Wolseley (16 March 1837 – 8 January 1899) was an Irish-born New South Wales inventor and woolgrower who invented and developed the first commercially successful sheep shearing machinery after extensive experimentation. It revolutionised the wool industry.

The former Murray Shire Council erected a monument to him where he lived at the time, referring to his invention: "It has become part of the rich history of the wool industry and is now perpetuated in poem and song."

Family Born in Kingstown (now Dún Laoghaire) in County Dublin Ireland, Frederick was the third son of the seven surviving children of Major Garnet Joseph Wolseley (1780–1840) of The King's Own Scottish Borderers (25th Foot) and of the family of Mount Wolseley, co. Carlow, and Frances Anne (1801–1883) daughter of William Smith of Dublin. His eldest brother became Field Marshal Wolseley and a hero of the Victorian era, another brother became General Sir George Wolseley. Their father died in 1840 leaving their mother little more than his army pension and the brothers were educated at the local day school instead of being sent to England. The seven children remained close-knit throughout their lives.

He married his nurse, Ellen Elizabeth Clarke (1850–1922), in Melbourne in 1892. She looked after him through his long final illness. They had no children. aged 17, to be a jackaroo on his future brother-in-law's sheep station. His sister Fanny's husband, Gavin Ralston Caldwell, they married in Dublin in 1857, held Thule, on the Murray River, and later added nearby Cobran near Deniliquin; both stations were in New South Wales.

Caldwell died in 1868.

Having acquired an interest in them, Wolseley lived on Cobran and Thule until 1876, 22 years in the same district. In 1871, he acquired Toolong in the Murrumbidgee district, five years later another property, Euroka near Walgett. Now living at Euroka, he continued testing and on 28 March 1877 he and Robert Savage (1818–1888), the inventor of various items of mining and agricultural machinery, were granted a patent. Another patent was granted in December; He made further developments with Richard Pickup Park, and they patented an 'Improved Shearing Apparatus' on 13 December 1884.

The Wolseley Sheep Shearing Machine Company Limited of London The prospectus issued in London on 12 October 1889 stated:

National Museum of Australia There is a Wolseley brand two-stand portable shearing plant in the collection of the National Museum of Australia in Canberra. Manufactured in Birmingham, England, around 1930, the shearing plant is powered by a 32-volt, three horsepower single-cylinder petrol engine, mounted on a wooden trolley base with four cast iron wheels. The plant incorporated a revolutionary mechanised shearing handpiece, one of which is also in the museum's collection. The engine is painted green and inscribed with the brand name Wolseley, and has a metal manufacturer's plate which reads: Wolseley Sheep Shearing Machine Company Ltd Birmingham England. The plant, weighing 550 kg, was used on a sheep property named 'Emoh Ruo' in the Rockley-Black Springs area of New South Wales. It was used by Roy and George Keogh between 1948 and 1976.

Monument

A memorial to Wolseley has been placed on the site of Cobran homestead by Wakool Road near Wakool, New South Wales.