Joseph Mighell SmithPrint Page

The brass plaque commemorates Joseph Mighell Smith (1859-1947), a pioneer of Renmark who worshipped in the church for 42 years.

Mr. Joseph Mighell Smith, the chairman of the Renmark Railway Committee, was born at Chelsea in Eng land in 1859. At the age of 17 he was apprenticed to a line of sailing ships trading to the East Indies. He made a voyage to Honolulu in 1880. He first arrived at Port Adelaide in 1881, and took up sea faring life on the Australian Coast, acting as second mate of the brig Bengal. Mr. Smith settled in South Australia in 1884. He spent some years at American River, Kangaroo Island, and made a trip to England In 1887. After his return to Australia he was engaged in Railway work in the far north. He took up land at Renmark in 1889, and was engaged for a few years by Chaffey Bros. in their office with the late Mr. A. Roper. In 1903 he again visited the old country. Mr. Smith was a member of the Renmark Irrigation Trust for 19 years, and chairman of that body for 11 years. He was chairman on the local repatriation committee and has shown himself possessed of a fine public spirit. No man is more respected in Renmark. He is a justice of the peace and a past master of the Renmark Masonic Lodge.
Murray Pioneer and Australian River Record (Renmark, SA),
4 February 1927.

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