Tait, John (1813–1888) by Martha Rutledge
This article was published in the Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 6, 1976 online in 2006
John Tait (1813-1888), racehorse owner and trainer, was born on 5 November 1813 at Melrose near Edinburgh, son of Robert Tait, jeweller and engraver, and his wife Margaret, née Maitland. Trained as a jeweller he with his wife Janet, née Buchanan (d.1880), and daughter, reached Hobart Town in the Hindo on 2 November 1837 and opened a business. He soon moved to New South Wales and in June 1843 became the licensee of the Albion Inn, Hartley, and in 1847 took over the Black Bull Inn at Bathurst. Strong and wiry, his 'great skill as a boxer' enabled him to cope with his rougher patrons.
In 1847 Tait…