Stephen Henty

Stephen George Henty (3 November 1811 – 18 December 1872)[1] was a farmer and politician in colonial Victoria, a member of the Victorian Legislative Council.[1]

Henty was born in West Tarring, Sussex, England,[1] the son of Thomas Henty (1775–1839) and Frances Elizabeth, née Hopkins.[2]

Henty arrived at the Swan River settlement with brothers James and John in 1829.[2] In 1836 Stephen settled in Portland.[2]

In 1839, Henty led an overland expedition to explore the Mount Gambier region. He was the first white man to climb the peak and view the blue crater lake.[3] In 1842, Henty and his brother Edward laid claim to the land around Mount Gambier and established a sheep station there.[4] Conflict with the local Aboriginal residents quickly ensued that same year with Henty's men shooting a number and burning their corpses.[5] In March 1844, a band of Aboriginal people led by Koort Kirrup took a large number of Henty's sheep. Henty's men pursued and engaged them in a prolonged skirmish which resulted in the colonists having to retreat.[6][7] The Southern Australian reported that other white pastoralists in the region were also having difficulties with Aboriginal attacks on their farmsteads and they resolved to form hunting parties and raid them "indiscriminately" if police protection did not come.[8] The situation proved too hard for Stephen Henty, and even though Koort Kirrup was captured,[9] Henty abandoned the Mount Gambier property later in 1844 with significant loss of capital.[10]

In November 1856, Henty was elected to the Victorian Legislative Council for Western Province,[1] a position he held until November 1870.[1] For much of the period of Henty's Council membership, he and his family lived at Findon[2] a mansion he built in Kew[11] Melbourne.

  1. ^ a b c d e "Stephen George Henty". Re-Member: a database of all Victorian MPs since 1851. Parliament of Victoria. Archived from the original on 23 April 2023. Retrieved 28 August 2022.
  2. ^ a b c d Bassett, Marnie. "Henty, Stephen George (1811–1872)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Canberra: National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. ISBN 978-0-522-84459-7. ISSN 1833-7538. OCLC 70677943. Retrieved 7 August 2014.
  3. ^ Henty, Richmond (1886). Australiana. London: Sampson Low.
  4. ^ "To the editors of the Courier and teetotal advocate". Launceston Courier. 8 November 1842. p. 4. Retrieved 9 July 2021 – via Trove.
  5. ^ Robinson, George Augustus; Clark, Ian D (2014). Travels of George Augustus Robinson, Chief Protector, Port Phillip Aboriginal Protectorate.
  6. ^ "Portland Bay". Southern Australian. 2 April 1844. p. 2. Retrieved 10 July 2021 – via Trove.
  7. ^ "Port Phillip Extracts". Morning Chronicle. 20 April 1844. p. 3. Retrieved 10 July 2021 – via Trove.
  8. ^ "Local News". Southern Australian. 20 August 1844. p. 3. Retrieved 10 July 2021 – via Trove.
  9. ^ "Portland Bay". South Australian. 19 November 1844. p. 3. Retrieved 10 July 2021 – via Trove.
  10. ^ "Portland Bay". South Australian Register. 15 May 1844. p. 3. Retrieved 10 July 2021 – via Trove.
  11. ^ "Henry "Money" Miller".