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1890s, but was able to avoid bankruptcy due to a little-known loophole in the insolvency law of the time which was exploited by his solicitor, Theodor Fink. As a result of the loophole, Baillieu was able to clear his debts by paying only a tiny fraction of the sum owed, and was able to escape the stigma of bankruptcy. Despite this hitch, he had developed a reputation as an able and competent financier, and became a director of the
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in 1859. He was the second son of James George
Baillieu and his wife Emma Lawrence, nÊe Pow, relatively recent immigrants. He was educated at the local state school. He began working as an office boy in the Bank of Victoria at the age of fifteen, and remained with the bank for eleven years. In 1885,
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Two years later, he married Bertha Latham, with whom he would later have three sons and four daughters. The partnership with Munro broke up in 1892 and
Baillieu founded his own business as an auctioneer, land agent and finance broker. He made and lost a fortune in the Victorian land boom of the
22:(29 April 1859 â 6 February 1936) was an Australian financier and politician. He was a successful businessman, having developed significant business interests from his relatively humble beginnings. He associated with many of the most influential people of his era, and served in the
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on 6 February 1936. His own estate at his death was sworn at only sixty-thousand pounds (Australian) although he was reputed to be a millionaire. However, he had made substantial contributions to charity; among other things, he founded the Anzac Hostel in
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as a home for permanently disabled ex-soldiers. His descendants have become part of one of
Melbourne's wealthiest and most prominent families.
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and Health. He also served as leader of the
Legislative Council until 1917. Baillieu served as an honorary minister in the Murray,
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for 21 years, including stints as
Minister for Works and Health and leader of the Legislative Council. As such, he began the
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Towards the end of his political career, Baillieu began to take advantage of the need for
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dynasty, several members of which remain prominent figures in public life today.
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he went into partnership with J.D. Munro as auctioneers and estate agents.
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William
Lawrence Baillieu: Founder of Australia's greatest business empire
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In 1901, Baillieu entered politics, standing for and being elected to the
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in New South Wales, Baillieu worked with W.S. Robinson and Sir
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governments before retiring from politics altogether in 1922.
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to reorganise the Broken Hill
Associated Smelters at
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351:Members of the Victorian Legislative Council
199:. He was also involved with the prestigious
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155:that had been made clear as a result of
227:Information sourced from obituaries in
239:Baillieu, William Lawrence (1859â1936)
381:Ministers for Public Works (Victoria)
288:. Richmond, Vic: Hardie Grant Books.
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366:Australian people of Belgian descent
189:Institution of Mining and Metallurgy
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346:Victoria (state) state politicians
265:Dictionary of Australian Biography
244:Australian Dictionary of Biography
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331:Australian pastoralists
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270:Angus & Robertson
193:Dunlop Rubber Company
161:Zinc Corporation Ltd.
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104:Baillieu was born in
284:Yule, Peter (2012).
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260:"Baillieu, William"
251:, 1979, pp 138â145.
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201:Victoria Golf Club
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64:Please help
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130:John Murray
315:Categories
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223:References
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230:The Times
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258:(1949).
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