W. V. Ralston

He returned to Australia as a teenager, settling in Queensland, where he worked on William Forrest's Mount Hutton cattle station, near Roma.

He was later employed as manager of Forrest's Mount Larcom cattle station, near Gladstone, but suffered from "ague" (perhaps malaria), and around 1868 returned to Melbourne, where he found employment with the London Chartered Bank of Australia, followed by the National Bank of Australasia.

[1] In 1874 he returned to Brisbane, where he worked as a teller at the Queensland National Bank, and later opened branches at Dalby, Tambo, and Cunnamulla.

In 1881 he was appointed manager of the branch at Cooktown, and in 1888 promoted to the Townsville branch and in 1895 Rockhampton and in 1897 was acting manager at head office, Brisbane, made permanent the following year as successor to Edward Robert Drury CMG.

[1] He was considered a top authority on financial matters, and was consulted by several State Treasurers and other politicians on likely consequences of implementation of policies.