Thomas Livingston Learmonth

Thomas Livingstone Learmonth
An 1888 illustration of Learmonth
Born	1818
Died	1903
Spouse(s)	Louisa Jane Florence Harriett
Parent(s)	Thomas Learmonth (father)
Relatives	Somerville Learmonth (brother)

Thomas Livingstone Learmonth of Parkhill (1818-1903) was an early settler of Scots descent who established land around Ballarat, Victoria.

He was born simply Thomas Learmonth in Calcutta in India on 2 May 1818, the son of Thomas Learmonth (1783-1869), and his wife, Christian Donald (1788-1843). His parents were both Scots.

His parents settled in Tasmania in his youth. The family adopted the name Livingstone-Learmonth after Margaret Livingstone, an heiress living at Parkhill House in Polmont around 1825.

Having been attracted to the new settlement at Port Phillip, he started with a pioneering party from the shores of Corio Bay, in August 1837, to explore the unknown country to the north-west, directing their course, in the first instance, to Mount Buninyong, near to which, in conjunction with his brother, Somerville Livingstone Learmonth, Mr. T. L. Learmonth subsequently entered on pastoral pursuits on the fine country the party then discovered farther to the north-west. In the following year the two brothers and some friends explored the course of the Loddon, and reached a prominent peak, which they afterwards called Ercildoune, from an old keep on the Scottish border associated with their ancestral history. Here the brothers established a second station. After many years of prosperity the Messrs. Learmonth disposed of their Buninyong property, and subsequently sold the famous Ercildoune estate to Sir Samuel Wilson.

Mr. Learmonth was for some time a member of the Upper House in Victoria, and finally left for England in 1868. Mr. Learmonth, later lived at Parkhill House in Polmont near Falkirk, and was a Justice of the Peace for Stirlingshire.

He died at his Edinburgh house at 28 Northumberland Street on 28 October 1903. He is buried with his siblings in Warriston Cemetery in north Edinburgh. The distinctive grave lies on the south wall of the main cemetery, backing onto the Water of Leith Walkway.