and became pastor of the Central Circuit, retaining that position until 1864, when he went to Auburn, and had oversight of the circuit there for three years. In 1867 he was again stationed on the Gawler Circuit, where he remained a similar period. In 1870 he removed to Willunga, and undertook the charge of Port Elliot, Willunga, and Clarendon circuits. Mr. Keen occupied a very prominent position in the administration of the church affairs of the Bible Christian denomination in this colony, and was a member of the district committee. As a preacher and platform speaker his orations were characterised by vigour and effectiveness. He died at Willunga, aged fifty-three, on June 21, 1871.
Thomas Gilbert,
ONE of the early pioneers of South Australian colonization. In company with his brother they carried on the business of opticians to the Hon. East India Company in London, and their experiments for the improvement of glasses were so extensive that the Government assisted them by a suspension of the Excise supervision, so that their large outlay should not be increased by the payment of duty. When first the project of colonizing South Australia was mooted, Mr. Gilbert entered into it with great energy, and from March 1834 up till his departure from England two years afterwards, devoted to it his entire time, and no small amount of money, acting in conjunction with Mr. (afterwards) Sir E. D. Hanson, Sir Geo. Kingston, Dr. Everard, Mr. John Brown, and other early colonists, who were endeavouring to bring into action the plan suggested by their coadjutor, Edward Gibbon Wakefield. In March 1836, the Act for the establishment of the colony being passed, Mr. Gilbert sailed in the "Cygnet," (Capt. Rolls) with other pioneers and a large party of surveyors and labourers. On Sept. 10 of the
