George Shenton - Business Activities

Business Activities

On 5 March 1867, George Shenton Snr drowned when his schooner, The Lass of Geraldton, capsized off Mandurah in a storm. George Shenton Jnr then took over his father's businesses. The Shenton family's businesses continued to prosper over the next thirty years, but as George Shenton became more involved in politics he had less time to invest in his business activities. From 1884, his youngest brother Ernest gradually took over the running of the Perth store, and another brother, Edward, took the Geraldon business as his inheritance. This left George with responsibility for the shipping business that his father had established.

Shenton ran a number of coastal vessels in partnership with John Monger, and the two men had some of the best-known sailing ships of the era. He exported substantial quantities of wool, timber, sandalwood and minerals to London, and pioneered Western Australia's trade with Singapore. He was an agent for a number of firms, including Lloyd's of London, and Felgate's, a London company that controlled most of Western Australia's trade with Britain in the 1870s.

George Shenton also invested profitably in gold mining. He was a member of the syndicate that financed Leslie Menzie's 1894 prospecting expedition that resulted in the discovery of the Menzies gold field. The first lease became the famous Lady Shenton mine, which yielded over 130000 ounces of gold and paid out over £150000 in dividends. Shenton later became a shareholder and director of the Gold Estates Mining Company.

Shenton became a director of a number of local companies, and was Chairman of Directors of the Western Australian Bank from 1886 until his death. On the establishment of a Perth Chamber of Commerce in 1890, he became its first president.

In 1886, Shenton appointed H. F. Payne to manage his shipping agency. As he became increasingly involved in politics, his involvement in his shipping business decreased, and he came to rely more and more heavily on Payne. In 1903 he merged his company with the South Australian company Elder Smiths, to form a new company under the name Elder Shenton and Co. Ltd. This company survives today as the well-known Australian rural services provider Elders Limited. George Shenton became a principal shareholder and Chairman of Directors of the new company, but was largely uninvolved in the day-to-day running of the firm.