[1] He was intensely religious, setting up the first Church of Christ in Australia by 1849, and later joined the Plymouth Brethren, being interested in their writings since 1873.
[3] He was very public spirited "At quite an early stage of his life he had embarked on a project of acquiring blocks of land in the country, and renting them to struggling farmers, to whom he would give the right of purchase.
Over the years he had the satisfaction of seeing a number of poor men become comparatively well-off landowners through their application and industry".
His brother James Magarey (c. 1818 – 11 August 1859) ran Gannawarra Station on Gunbower Creek (a tributary of the River Murray), later owned a flour mill in Hindmarsh, South Australia, then moved to "Laurel Bank Villa", Geelong, Victoria.
[12] His son, William James Magarey (1840 – 15 December 1920), worked on the station, moved to Geelong with his father; owned flour mills at Hindmarsh and Port Pirie, and sat in the House of Assembly seat of West Torrens from April 1878 to March 1881.