Alexander Kethel (1832 - 1916), by unknown photographer, courtesy of State Library of New South Wales. GPO 2 - 08237. .Image Details

KETHEL, ALEXANDER (1832-1916), seaman, timber merchant and politician, was born on 2 November 1832 at Perth, Scotland, son of William Kethel, carpenter, and his wife Mary, née Watson. Briefly attending village schools, at 10 he became an errand boy for his grandfather and in 1845 was apprenticed to the master of a schooner engaged in the Baltic trade. After many adventures at sea, he jumped ship in Sydney in March 1853, worked on coastal vessels under an assumed name and visited the Victorian goldfields. Back in Sydney he obtained his master's certificate but a third shipwreck led him to abandon the sea in 1857.

Employed by John Booth at his sawmill at Balmain, Kethel soon became foreman of the timber-yard and in 1870, when Booth retired, leased the business ...

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Source:

Australian Dictionary of Biography