George Eliot was a founding member of the Western Australian Turf Club in 1852 and the organisation's first set of racing rules were drawn up by him and several of his fellow pioneering thoroughbred enthusiasts.
George Eliot was a founding member of the Western Australian Turf Club in 1852 and the organisation's first set of racing rules were drawn up by him and several of his fellow pioneering thoroughbred enthusiasts.
Born in the United Kingdom in 1816, Eliot arrived in what was then known as the Swan River Colony in 1829 aboard the Parmelia, whose passengers included his uncle, James Stirling, who was the settlement's first Governor. As a young man, Eliot accompanied Stirling on many expeditions that paved the way for new towns. Later in life, Eliot served as a magistrate for more than 30 years and then as a senior tax official before retiring from public life in 1886, attracting a glowing report from Frederick Broome, who was Western Australia's Governor at that time. Eliot died in 1895 aged 78.