Joseph Waldo Rice
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Joseph Waldo Rice | |
|---|---|
 Joseph Waldo Rice circa 1900 | |
| Born | 8 February 1828 Lincoln, Massachusetts, US |
| Died | 26 February 1915 Moama, New South Wales, Australia |
| Resting place | Barmah, Victoria, Australia |
| Known for | early pioneering of Moira Lakes Region of Victoria, Australia and proprietor of the Murray Fishing Company |
| Spouse | Mary Ann (Gill) Rice |
Joseph Waldo Rice (1828–1915) was an American-born entrepreneur who was the first person of European descent to settle the Moira Lakes region near Barmah, Victoria, Australia. He was the proprietor of the Murray Fishing Company serving to provision prospectors and gold miners in the Bendigo region beginning in the early 1850s.
Joseph Waldo Rice was born on 8 February 1828, in Lincoln, Massachusetts, to Henry Rice and Mary (Sherbourne) Rice.[1] After attending public schools in Lincoln, Massachusetts, he set out as prospector in the gold fields of California about 1850. In 1853 with several colleagues from California, he chartered a vessel in San Francisco to sail for the gold fields of Bendigo, Australia.