Edward Quin set up in business in Wilcannia, New South Wales when that town was in its infancy, then in 1872 took over Tarella Estate, a station of 685,000 acres 50 miles from Wilcannia, and spent £70,000 on improvements on the property, which eventually was carrying 120,000 sheep, 1000 Shorthorn cattle, and around 180 pure bred horses, plus draught horses and Arabs. He formed a business Quin, Currie and Co. to operate the business. In 1881, he purchased, with Alfred Kirkpatrick of Wilcannia, Merweh station, in the Warrego River in Queensland. They bought Buckanbe station near Tilpa later the same year. He was elected a member for Wentworth in the New South WalesLegislative Assembly in a by-election 1882, and returned in December that year then again, unopposed in 1885, and declined to stand in 1887. He was later appointed to the committee which was concerned with the rabbit pest. He later purchased the Leasowes property, of 505 acres, near Fern Tree Gully. He retired to live in "Warwillah" in Wangaratta, where he died after a prolonged illness.
Family
Quin married Edith Dollman, daughter of an Adelaide chemist, on 15 June 1871. They had two sons, and six daughters. Their eldest son, Edward Parmeter Quin, dubbed "Quin of Tarella", moved to Aruma on the Monaro in 1902, then Narromine, then Cobar, where he established for himself a reputation as a drover, being involved in many long-distance droving trips to Queensland. He retired to Sydney around 1937 but soon moved to a small property "Kismet" at Kemps Creek, and it was there that he died. His wife, Edith Alice Quin, died in West Hoxton Park, leaving four children: Keith, Eileen and Doreen. A sister, Mary Theresa Quin, married his partner Alfred Kirkpatrick in 1869. Their son Hedley John Kirkpatrick D.S.O. was an officer with the 6th Dragoon Guards then Lieutenant Colonel in command of the 2ndSouth African Scottish Regiment. then commanded the 9th South African Infantry in the German East Africa campaign of 1916–1917. He was appointed Commissioner of Police in South West Africa before retiring to the Seychelle Islands in 1934.
