Early Life
James Munro was born in Armadale, Sutherland, Scotland, to Donald Munro and his wife, Georgina. James Munro's grandparents were an Alexander Munro of the family of Foulis, Ross-shire and Barbara Mackay, a relative of the chief of Clan Mackay. After a primary education at a village school in Armadale, Sutherland he left home for Edinburgh and joined a firm of publishers. He married in December 1853, Jane Macdonald, and had a family of four sons and three daughters. In 1858 he emigrated to Victoria where he set up a printing business. In the 1860s he expanded into banking and then promoting building societies. In 1865 he founded the Victorian Permanent Building Society of which he was manager for 17 years. By 1870 he was a very wealthy man, and he continued to engage in speculation, particularly in land, after entering politics, as was then the common practice. He was also a leading temperance advocate and prominent in the Presbyterian church.
Read more about this topic: James Munro (Australian Politician)
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