John Moffat

John Moffat (26 May 1841 – 28 June 1918) was a Scottish-born entrepreneur who developed a mining and industrial empire around Loudoun Mill and Irvinebank in North Queensland which drove the development of north-eastern Australia. He was a devout Swedenborgian who was famous for both vision and enterprise. He was born in Newmilns (New Mills), Ayrshire and spent most of his youth immersed in books. Extremely shy in temperament, he was known to hide whenever visitors approached. It was a habit he was to retain throughout his life. Career Emigration to Australia After learning bookkeeping and working as a clerk in Newmilns and Glasgow, he emigrated to Australia, where he worked as a shepherd on a remote outback station west of Brisbane. He was known to carry a large swag of books and stuffed his saddle-bags with philosophy, theology, engineering and science books. He frugally saved his pennies and entered into business with Brisbane storekeeper, Robert Love. A lot of custom started coming from the tin-fields of Stanthorpe. Moffat started a branch of the business on the tin fields where he traded goods for tin and used his intelligence and savings to invest in the best prospects on the field. Tin smelter Moffat invested the profits of his educated speculations on building a smelter, so the ore could be processed on the field and profits retained. A prosperous community grew around these achievements. In 1879, Moffat sent two of his agents, William Jack and John Newell to survey the wild frontier of north Queensland on the Atherton Tablelands, west of Port Douglas.