William Brookman
| William Brookman | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Mayor of Perth | |
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In office 1 December 1900 – 26 June 1901 |
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| Preceded by | Alexander Forrest |
| Succeeded by | Stephen Parker |
| Member of the Legislative Council of Western Australia |
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In office 29 August 1900 – 15 December 1903 |
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| Preceded by | None (new seat) |
| Succeeded by | Joseph Langsford |
| Constituency | Metropolitan-Suburban Province |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
8 August 1859 Prospect, South Australia, Australia |
| Died | 5 January 1910 (aged 50) Prospect, South Australia, Australia |
William Gordon Brookman (8 August 1859 – 5 January 1910) was an Australian mining entrepreneur and politician. He made a fortune in the Western Australian gold rush of the 1890s, and later served as Mayor of Perth from 1900 to 1901 and as a member of the Legislative Council of Western Australia from 1900 to 1903.
Brookman was born in Adelaide, South Australia, to Jane (née Wilson) and Benjamin Brookman, his father being a printer. His parents, originally from Glasgow, Scotland, had moved to Australia seven years before his birth. Brookman attended North Adelaide Grammar School, leaving in 1875 after securing a position as a government clerk. He considered the civil service monotonous, and in 1880 left to work for his older brother George Brookman, a land agent and general merchant. Brookman later bought into Chance & Co., a jam and pickle manufacturer. The company went bankrupt in 1890 (with insolvency proceedings dragging on for two years), and Brookman received most of the blame for its collapse.
After the collapse of his company, Brookman and a schoolmate, Charles De Rose, went to the Glen Taggart goldfields (near Mount Burr). They staked a small claim after partnering with a more experienced prospector, Sam Pearce, but had little success. In late 1892, the three men heard the news that gold had been discovered at Coolgardie, Western Australia. Brookman convinced his brother to form a syndicate to finance a prospecting party, and in June 1893 he and Pearce set off for Western Australia. They travelled from Perth to York by train and then proceeded to Coolgardie on foot, walking ahead of a dray carrying their equipment. On their journey, they heard of Paddy Hannan's discovery of gold at what would become Kalgoorlie, and chose to continue there rather than examine the Coolgardie field.
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