George Tinline

George Tinline (28 October 1815 – 4 February 1895) was a nineteenth-century South Australian banker and politician.

Tinline was born near Jedburgh, Scotland, and on completing his education worked for twelve years in the Jedburgh branch of the Bank of Scotland. In 1838 he emigrated to Sydney, Australia, where he was employed by the Bank of Australasia. He was shortly transferred to the bank's Adelaide branch but was not long there when he accepted the position of accountant with the Bank of South Australia at £400 a year. In 1860 the manager Stephens left for England, and Tinline was appointed acting manager. This was the time of the gold rush, and the Colony was beset with, apart from the shortage of workers, a financial crisis due to the sudden increase in the availability of gold and the lack of sufficient currency to pay for it. He pushed for the establishment of an assay office and mint, and the conversion of some of the diggers' gold to bullion which could be used as a form of currency. A Bullion Act was passed and some 25,000 ₤1 coins were minted, but were not recognized as legal currency by the Bank of England. In recognition of his work in staving off a crisis Tinline was awarded a purse of 2,000 guineas (£2,200; several millions of dollars in today's money), and an elaborate silver salver (now in the Art Gallery of South Australia), for his service to the business community.

He was sacked by the bank in 1859 after severe losses caused by a customer defaulting, and joined A. B. Murray in developing a pastoral lease at Wirrabara.

He was one of the Lands Commissioners when he was elected in April 1860 to fill one of two vacancies in the Legislative Council, then created a vacancy when he abruptly retired to England in May 1863. The house which he had commissioned near the summit of Mount Lofty was sold, half completed, later to become Stawell School for Girls.

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