Obituaries Australia

Austin Piesse, n.d.

from Pastoral Review and Graziers' Record, 16 June 1956

One of Western Australia's best-known agricultural and wool growing personalities, Mr. G. A. W. (Gerald Austin) Piesse, of Tillellan, Wagin, passed away on 6th May, at the age of 71. Mr. Piesse was the eldest son of the late Mr. C. A. Piesse, M.L.C., one of the first settlers to take up country in the Wagin district, and a brother of Hon. F. H. Piesse, one-time Cabinet Minister and early settler and prominent businessman of Katanning. Four other members of the Piesse families served in State and Federal Parliaments.

Mr. Austin Piesse was for many years chairman of the Wagin Road Board and was at one period mayor of the town. He was an active member of the Royal Agricultural Society and president of that body in 1934 at the time of the visit of the Duke of Gloucester.

Mr. Piesse obtained top price for the State in 1924 with wool from the Tillellan Merino stud, and held that record until after the second world war. In 1951 he was honoured with the Order of the British Empire [MBE] in recognition of his services to the State.