Alexander Berry - Legacy

Legacy

Alexander Berry died on 30 November 1873 at Crows Nest House. He was buried in family vault in St. Thomas' cemetery with his wife and Edward Wollstonecraft. The cemetery is now known as St Thomas Rest Park, and the graves are still present.

The probate value of the estate he created was £1,252,975 sterling; an enormous sum in that day. The estate passed to his brother David, 14 years his junior. He had no children. Charles Nicholson wrote in a letter to The Times in 1889 that Berry had prepared a will to bequeath the greater part of his estate to the University of St Andrews, but died a few hours before the time appointed to sign it.

David Berry in his will fulfilled Alexander's desire by making a bequeath to the University of St. Andrews in Scotland of £100,000. In 1889 St Andrews used the £100,000 legacy to establish the Berry Chair of English Literature, which still continues today.

Berry was possibly Australia's first millionaire, and founder of the dairy industry in New South Wales.

The New South Wales South Coast town of Berry was named after the brothers after their death.

Berry Island, near the present day suburb of Wollstonecraft, and originally part of the Wollstonecraft estate was named after Alexander Berry. Berry Street in North Sydney and Alexander Street in Crows Nest are both named after him.

Berry's Canal, the small canal that was constructed under direction of Alexander Berry at the Coolangatta Estate to link the Shoalhaven River and the Crookhaven River now forms the main Shoalhaven River estuary, with the former entrance to the Shoalhaven River at Shoalhaven Heads usually closed to the ocean, except during floods.