Frédéric Guillaume de Pury

{{short description|Swiss-Australian winemaker and public official}}

{{Infobox officeholder

| name = Frédéric Guillaume de Pury

| image = Frederic Guillaume de Pury.png

| caption = de Pury in the 1880s

| birth_date = 15 December 1831

| birth_place = Neuchâtel, Switzerland

| death_date = 11 November 1890

| death_place = Lausanne, Switzerland

| other_names =

| office = Swiss Honorary Consul to Australia

| term_start = 1875

| term_end = 1890

| predecessor = Samuel Rentsch

| successor = Charles Martin

| occupation = winemaker, statesman, diplomat

| spouse = Adelaide Augusta Ibbotson

| children = 2

| parents = Baron Edouard Charles Alexandre de Pury
Julie de Sandoz-Travers

| image_size = 200px

| honorific_prefix = Consul

| title = Baron

| relations = De Pury family

}}

Baron Frédéric Guillaume de Pury (15 December 1831 – 11 November 1890) was a Swiss Australian winemaker, farmer, statesman, and diplomat who served as the Swiss Honorary Consul to Australia in Melbourne from 1875 to 1890 (his death) as well as justice of peace. De Pury owned several vineyards in Australia (Yering) and exported his vines to England, France, and other European countries. He was the founder of the Australian branch of the De Pury family.

Biography

De Pury was born on 15 December 1831 in Neuchâtel to Baron Edouard Charles Alexandre de Pury, a member of the Grand Council of Neuchâtel, and his second wife, Julie de Sandoz-Travers.{{Cite book|url=http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/de-pury-frederic-guillaume-3397|title=Cultural Advice|first=G. G. De|last=Pury|chapter=De Pury, Frédéric Guillaume (1831–1890) |publisher=National Centre of Biography, Australian National University|via=Australian Dictionary of Biography}} His family had been ennobled by Frederick II of Prussia. De Pury was the granduncle of Roland de Pury.

In 1851 he moved to England to study English and agriculture. On 6 May 1852, de Pury left England for Victoria, Australia.{{Cite web|url=https://www.saan.com.au/?cat=4|title=News/Events Australia | Swiss Australian Academic Network|date=8 November 2015 }} He first worked tending cattle on a property in Yering that was owned by Paul de Castella. In 1855 he and Hubert de Castella purchased Dalry, a former out-station of Yering. They were joined in business by de Pury's brother, Samuel, who had recently arrived from Switzerland. In 1858 he sold Dalry and rented land near Darlot Creek to graze sheep and breed horses. In 1860 de Pury purchased land near Lilydale and named it Cooring Yering, planting a vineyard and building a house and wine cellar there. In 1863, along with George Langdon, he purchased nine-hundred acres in Yering from de Castella's creditors, which he named Yeringberg, starting a vineyard there.{{Cite web|url=https://obcwines.com/yeringberg/|title=Old Bridge Cellars|date=24 November 2014 }} In 1869 he bought out Langdon. Yerinberg was later enlarged to 1,160 acres and produced over 90,922 litres of wine annually. The wine was exported to Europe.{{Cite web|url=http://www.kedingtonwines.com/yeringberg|title=Yeringberg Kedington Wines|website=www.kedingtonwines.com}}

De Pury was a leader of the Swiss community in Lilydale. He became a justice of the peace in 1862 and was a member of the Upper Yarra District Roads Board for twenty-one years. When the Shire of Lillydale was established in 1872, he served as one of its first councilors and later as its president. From 1875 to 1890 he served as an honorary consul for the Swiss Confederation in Melbourne.

A devout Protestant, de Pury supported the construction of an Anglican church in Lilydale. He had an interest in Aboriginal Australians and was an adviser of William Barak.{{Cite web|url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-08-29/william-barak-and-frederic-guillaume-de-pury/6734586|title=William Barak (left) Frederic Guillaume de Pury (right)|first=Supplied: Yarra Ranges Regional|last=Museum|date=August 29, 2015|website=ABC News}} In 1881 he served on a government inquiry into the condition of the Aboriginal station at Coranderrk.