Alexander Forrest Research Paper

Alexander Forrest was a explorer, politician and investor, was born on 22 September 1849 at Picton, near Bunbury, Western Australia. His older brother was John Forrest. After education at Bishop Mathew Hale 's School in 1863 through 1865, he worked at his father 's mill until in 1868 he advertised himself as a surveyor. By 1870 he was experienced enough to serve as second-in-command of John 's first transcontinental expedition, along the edge of the Great Australian Bright. On January 1, 1871 he was appointed to the Survey Department as surveyor-in-charge of the Albany district but he became an independent licensed surveyor working by contract for the department. This kept him constantly at work during the pastoral expansion of the

Forrest was a man of stalwart physique, though in middle age he carried less weight than his brother. Although fully bearded as a young man, after his marriage he was clean shaven except for a moustache. He was a keen patron of sport, and as a committeeman of the Western Australian Turf Club was responsible for the establishment in 1887 of the first Perth Cup, which was won by his own horse First Prince. As a capitalist he was an uncomplicated believer in the development of Western Australia 's natural resources, enjoying the gamble of speculative investment, generous in prosperity and uninterested in the acquisition of power beyond the extent necessary to serve his immediate interests. But he was careless of appearances and failed to realize that the casual practices of a small-town business community, linked by kinship and connexion, could be interpreted unkindly in a more sophisticated commercial and political milieu. Extremely kind-hearted to those in need, he tended to be imperceptive about the need for government initiatives in social welfare. On issues such as Aboriginal policy and women 's suffrage he was a conservative paternalist. To his daughter and his four sons he was a devoted family man, especially after his wife 's