Sir John Lackey

Sir John Lackey was the son of a convict, toll collector at Lansdowne Bridge at age of 19, a Member of Parliament at 30, Minister for Justice at 47 and subsequently land developer. He rose to President of the Legislative Council. In 1851 he married the widowed daughter of William Hutchinson, (Superintendent of Prisons), himself a member of the first congregation. Sir John was also a pastoralist and horse breeder and even a selector for the site and layout of Randwick Racecourse. He lived at “Austermere” near Bong Bong, the property established by his late father-in-law and whose grant covered much of Burradoo today. He and John Oxley were two of the founding members of the Bank of NSW (later Westpac).