he began lengthy talks with the Presbytery of Melbourne, calling for the establishment of a parish in Skipton. He persevered in 1857, when a small brick church was constructed in the town and a minister finally consigned to the newly devised Parish of Mount Emu Creek/Skipton. As a magistrate, Ormond investigated a murder that took place near Ballarat in 1858, and concluded that the death of the man in question was accidental. However, unknown to him, his findings were never presented at the trial. Some time later, he read in the newspaper that the man accused had been sent to appear at the Supreme Court of Victoria in Melbourne and found guilty by a jury. After reading that the man had been sentenced to death by hanging, to take place in two days, he ordered his best horses to be saddled and hastily made the long and difficult journey to the city. Ormond rode all night and the following day, crossing bridgeless and flooded rivers, to arrive in Melbourne on the evening before the hanging was to take place. He immediately went to the office of the Attorney-General, who told him it was too late for anything to be done. However, Ormond demanded the Attorney-General relentlessly to view the documents of his findings. When he eventually yielded and went through the documentation, sighting the grave miscarriage of justice, he immediately postponed the hanging pending a full investigation. The man accused's innocence was later proven and his pardon ordered by the Governor of Victoria, Sir Henry Barkly. Growing wealth and move to Melbourne First European tour As his wealth grew, Ormond continued to take an interest in education and even established a school on his station for the children of his employees. In 1860, during a trip to Europe, he was impressed by an appeal he had heard by Thomas Guthrie on behalf of the Ragged Schools charity. Upon his return to Victoria, he began to take a greater interest in philanthropic endeavours. His first substantial donation was in 1872, when he donation £1,000 towards the establishment of a scholarship at the Presbyterian Theological Hall in Melbourne. Ormond College After his father died in 1875, Ormond and his wife moved from Skipton to Melbourne. He purchased the mansion house, "Ognez", in Toorak, and later assisted with the establishment of the Presbyterian church in Toorak. Ormond was a devout Presbyterian and an