March, 1914 



THE GARDEN AND FIELD. 



488 



THE LATE WALTER HACKETT 



A Pioneer of the Agricultural and Horticultural Industries. 



Few names havei been better 

 known to the A<;r:cultural and 

 Horticultural communities of South 

 Australia than that of the late 

 Walter Hackett (of the firm of 

 Messrs. R. & W. Ilackett, seeds- 

 men, etc., of Rimdle Street, Ade- 

 laide"), who passed away on the 

 I :th of February, at his residence 

 at Rriofhton, in his eighty-seventh 

 ^■ear. 



Walter Hackett was of English 

 \ eoman stock, and had three 

 lirothers and three sisters, 

 ^iz., Richard, Klisha, George, 

 and Emina, Matilda, and Isa- 

 liel. He was the vounijest 

 son of Champion Hackett, 

 and was born in the year 

 1S27 at a Sussex farm, "Sum- 

 luersdale," on the road to 

 I.a\ ant, and near the old and 

 tMiical rural town of Chi- 

 chester, but for more than 

 sixtv vears he lived and 

 worked in South Australia. 



Sixty years takes us back 

 a Ion? wav, practically to the 

 betrinnino^ of the Aj^ricixltural 

 and Horticultural develop- 

 ment of the State, and from 

 this be^innmT Walter Hackett 

 was one of the pioneers and 

 leaders in its proTress. In 

 political and municipal affairs 

 he took little •^■^rt l^evond 

 the ordiuprv duties and re- 

 snonsibiM'ties of "^ood citizen- 

 ship : for his interest and 

 activitie'; were centred in the 

 sphere with which, from his 

 earliest irrival in the State, 

 he quii ly became identified. 



The ■''Victorian croldfields of 

 the earlv fifties first, attract- 

 ed him to Australia, as they 

 did so many youngs Kng-lishmen of 

 his class endo\^'ed principally with 

 health, streneth, and a determina- 

 tion to succeed. The ship b>y which 

 he arrived, the " Francis Henty," 

 reached Port Melbourne in 1852, 

 and from there he went to Forest 

 Creek diETPinffs, where hei remained 

 for several months- Fortune, how- 

 ever, did not choose for him any spe- 

 cial mark of favour, and he decid- 

 ed to join his brother in the busi- 

 ness which the latter had already 

 established in Rimdle Street, near 

 the present premises which the firm 

 have for so many years occupied. 



The next ten years were busy ones 

 for the brothers, for during that 

 term the firm established itself 

 on that broad basis of integrity 

 and commercial foresight, which 

 .S'Cicured a leading and jiermanent 

 l)osition among business houses 

 of the State. Some time after- 

 wards they were .joined by their bro- 

 ther, Mr. (>'eor<re Hackett, who con- 

 tinued a partner until his death in 

 b<ngland on March ^oth, i'S95. 

 Following these strenuous years 



THE LATE WALTER HACKETT. 



he ^'isited England, for the purpose, 

 of seeing the great Exhibition of 

 i'8'62, and also to become thorough- 

 ly m -touch with the leading Eng- 

 lish and Continental firms. He 

 returned in the following year, 

 and since then resided first at 

 Marryatville, and for the last 

 thirty years at Brighton. Shortly 

 after his return he accepted the 

 ])osition of honorary secretary of 

 the then infant Horticultural So- 

 ciety, which position he held for 

 over thirtv-five years, resigning the 

 office in 1898, in favour of his son 

 (Mr. W. Champion Hackett). 



In 1867 he became a Vice-Presi- 

 dent of the .\gricultural and Hor- 

 ticultural Society ; and in iSSs, 

 when the funds of that society 

 were not as buoyant as they are at 

 jjresent, he came forward as one of 

 the three guarantors of the then 

 considerable financial deficit, for 

 which valuable and opportune ser- 

 vice he was, with his fellow guar- 

 antors, subsequently presented by 

 the society with a framed photo, 

 of themselves. At the first 

 Rose show for the year i89'8, 

 which was held on October 

 20th, Mr. Hackett was the 

 recipient of a handsome pre- 

 sentation made by the Presi- 

 dent (Mr. E. J. Cox) of the 

 Horticultural and Floricul- 

 tural Society. The Register 

 of October 21st contained the 

 (following : — " His Excellency 

 the Lieut. Governor and Mrs. 

 Way, attended by Capt. Wal- 

 lington, arrived at about 

 2.30, and almost immediately 

 an adjournment was made to 

 the cloakroom, where the Pre- 

 sident of the Society (IMr. E. 

 J. Cox), on behalf of the 

 committee, presented the se- 

 cretary (Mr. Walter Hackett) 

 with a handsome writing 

 cabinet, in recofnition of ser- 

 \-ices to the society during 

 .T,3 years in which he had 

 been connected with it. In 

 making the presentation ]\Ir. 

 Cox said that at the conclu- 

 sion of the last annual meet- 

 the sutrgestion had been made 

 that it would be a fitting 

 thing to show, in some small 

 wav, the ap]Dreciation of the 

 members for the services ren- 

 dered by the secretary. Mr. 

 Hackett's connection with the so- 

 ciety had been unique. He had 

 been office-bearer for 35 years ; 

 and during most of the time had 

 held the position of hon. secretary. 

 They were extremely grateful for 

 what he had done, not only for the 

 society, but for the whole of the 

 Colony. He trusted that Mr. 

 Hackett would be lonsf spared to 

 continue the work which he had so 

 much at heart. The form which 

 the presentation had taken was 

 the outcome of a suggestion made 

 to the committee by His Excel- 

 lency the Lieut. -Governor. 



