It is with great regret that we have to record the death of Mr. Philip Oakden, of Lerida, Cobar, N.S.W., and president of the Pastoralists' Union of New South Wales. He was a great pastoralist, a man of sterling character, and his death will be a great loss to the community as a whole, because through the medium of his presidency of the Pastoralists' Union his wide knowledge and practical experience were always at the service of the country.
He was born in Tasmania, and was the eldest son of the late Philip Oakden, of Launceston, who was one of the first directors of the Union Bank of Australia when it was formed in 1837. He proposed and carried a junction with the Tamar Bank at Launceston, vacated his seat on the London board at the end of 1837, and became a local director. His son, the subject of this obituary, when a young man went to New Zealand (in 1868) and devoted himself to pastoral pursuits. He became an expert judge of sheep, and during his stay in the country a number of the most noted stud Merino and Longwool flocks were under his superintendence. With Mr. John Booth he bought Te Anau Downs, in Southland, and in partnership with the late Mr. M. I. Browne, of Victoria, purchased Tapui Downs, in the Oamaru district. The former property was sold in 1876 and the latter in 1878, and Mr. Oakden then left New Zealand for New South Wales, where with Messrs. Browne and Booth he purchased Wirlong Station, in the Hillston district. After a while it was sold, and Lerida was then acquired, and it was here that Mr. Oakden made his home and died. He held many public positions, and had been a member of the council of the Pastoralists' Union of New South Wales ever since its formation. He was also president of the New South Wales Sheepbreeders' Association, for many years president of the Cobar Pastoral and Agricultural Association, and in addition acted for a long term as chairman of the local Pastures Board and of the Sheep and Stock Protection Board. Mr. Oakden had been in failing health for some time, and his death was not altogether unexpected. He was seventy-six years of age, and leaves a widow, to whom we extend our sincere sympathy.
'Oakden, Philip (1840–1916)', Obituaries Australia, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, https://oa.anu.edu.au/obituary/oakden-philip-771/text772, accessed 5 December 2024.
from Pastoral Review, 16 March 1916
7 October,
1840
Launceston,
Tasmania,
Australia
17 February,
1916
(aged 75)
Cobar,
New South Wales,
Australia
Includes subject's nationality; their parents' nationality; the countries in which they spent a significant part of their childhood, and their self-identity.