Portrait of P. Levi from Mount Margaret from the S.A. Northern Pioneers' composite, 1850-1859 (shown in position on B 6912/3).

PHILIP LEVI

Born 1822 in Brixton Hill, Surrey, England. Died at Vale House, Walkerville 13 May 1898 aged 76. He was buried at the Jewish cemetery, West Terrace.

At age 16, Philip Levi arrived in South Australia aboard the Eden (ship) 1838 with his father, Nathaniel Philip Levi. Philip was involved in both pastoral and mercantile business and never married. He was one of the largest stockholders in the country and had properties in the north and north east and on Eyre Peninsula, including Gum Creek. At the height of his pastoral career it was estimated he had 172, 000 sheep and cattle. A well known and influential businessman and pastoralist, Levi was one of the founders and a trustee of the Adelaide Club and aso a renowned horseman who enjoyed a busy Adelaide social life. He had a large family.

Vale House is Adelaide's earliest surviving substantial residence, and is listed on the South Australian Heritage Register and The National Estate. Built in the first five years of white settlement in South Australia, Vale House was occupied by several noted colonists including Captain Edward Frome, and William Clark. In 1853 it was purchased by Philip Levi. During the following 96 years of ownership by the Levi family Vale House became a popular centre of social activity for the Adelaide gentry.

The photographic composite image (B 6912 ) of South Australian pastoral pioneers began as a display of 121 individual portraits, each attached to a board and labelled with the name and location of the pioneer in northern South Australia. The individual portraits are available to view on SA Memory, Foundation of South Australia 1800-1851, 'S.A. Northern Pioneers' along with updated information about the individual people. The composite was compiled in 1908 by Mora Studio, 83 Rundle St. Adelaide. All of the portraits are of a later date than the 1850s decade, but many are considerably earlier than 1908. However, the pioneers pictured were active in the late 1840s and early 1850s era.

The text which features a selection ofPastoral pioneers of South Australia began a publication of a long series of biographical sketches dealing with the lives of South Australia's Pastoral Pioneers and Old Colonists. The first hundred articles were published in 'Pastoral Pioneers of South Australia, Vol. 1' and the remainder was published in Vol. 2 with a total of 230 articles. Publication began 1 October 1923 and continued weekly until 10 August 1927.

Levi, Philip, 1822-1898

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