Australian Women's Weekly (1933 - 1982), Saturday 15 December 1934, page 19


BUILDING an Aristocracy for

AUSTRALIA

Tracing the Family Tree

of Famous Pioneers

Aristocracy is not a matter of titles—it is a matter of breeding. Celebrations such as the Melbourne Centenary bring before the public the fact that Austra-lia is fast developing an aristocracy of birth surpassed by no other in the world. The Henty family is a fine

example.

SURELY not in any history of

the British Empire has there been such a family gathering as that of the Henty family in Victoria at the recent Portland celebrations.

Descendants and connections of this historic family foregathered from all parts of the world to do honor to their pioneer forbears.

Merino Downs, the home of the Misses Hindson, descendants of Francis Henty, who settled there, received a steady flow of "family" visitors. Mrs. Kenneth McWhae and Mrs. L. Sylvester also re-present that branch of the family. Amongst other "Hentys" who arrived in Portland were Mrs. Steven Henty, Mrs. Coster (N.Z.), Dr. Edward Henty Smalpage (N.S.W.), Mr. R. Smalpage (W.A.). Mrs. Keith Daniels (W.A.), Mrs.

Hall (W.A.), Miss Olive Bree, Mr. Mar-tin Bree, Mrs. Bert Grice, Mr. Arthur Henty, Mrs. Margaret Henty (Glenbrie), Mrs. Henty (London), Mr. A. O. Henty, Miss Ethel Henty (Melbourne), Mrs. Woods (a great-granddaughter), and Mrs. Henty Wilson.

It was just 100 years, to a day, since Edward Henty, greatly daring,

landed at Portland.

Actually, the adventures of the Hentys began five years before November 19, 1834, when Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Henty, of Tarring, Sussex, decided to send some of their seven sons to take up a Gov-ernment grant of land—80.000 acres of it—in Western Australia.

The Hentys were already famous sheep breeders in England, and they caused quite a stir when they chartered the good ship Caroline, and James. Stephen and

DIANA, Ian, and Helen, children of Dr. and Mrs. E. Henty Smalpage, of Sydney, and great - great -grandchildren of the Hon. Stephen George Henty, one of the original pioneers of Port-

land, Victoria.

—Montgomery Dunn.

LORRAINE CUMMING. daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Ronald Cumming. She is one of the youngest of the

Henty family group.

—Spencer Shier photo.

INTERESTING PHOTOS of the original Hentys.

Above: Mr. and Mrs. Stephen Henty—1836.

John Henty departed for the new land with a complete shipment of sheep, cattle, and horses and many dependents. The merino sheep, which had just been shorn, were so valuable that each one wore a little, red woollen coat for pro-tection.

In 1829 they reached W.A., only to be disappointed in the poor land they had been allotted. James, the eldest son. who was also the brains of the enter-prise, moved on to Tasmania to view the land there, and soon after this Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Henty came out with the rest of their family. They soon realis-ed that Launceston could only be a base for their operations.

Several of the som set off in whale boats to explore the south coast of Aus-tralia, and Edward landed at Portland, in the Port Phillip district.

JAMES, the business man, was des-

patched home to England to try, un-successfully, to have the grant of land moved from W.A. to Port Phillip.

Edward set out in the Thistle and, after 34 days, landed at Portland on November 19, 1834, to found the settle-ment. Exactly one month later, to the day, Francis arrived, bringing the first merino sheep to Victoria—four merino rams and six ewes.

Major Mitchell, the famous explorer, who was the first white man to cross the Murray River, was surprised to find a white settlement at Portland. He told Edward and Francis about what he call-ed Australia Felix. Edward hurried across to Launceston to ask his father's advice.

James, who had married an English bride in W.A., accompanied by his four year-old son, Henry, came back with him, and the property in the western district was occupied. Two years after the first landing Stephen arrived in Portland from Western Australia and later brought his young bride there. John arrived towards the end of 1836.

James Henty has a large number of descendants.

His son, Henry, had a large family. Henry's eldest son, the late Mr. Harry Henty, has left two sons, Major Edric Henty, who divides his time between Green Timbers, his house at Mt. Mar-tha, and his flat at South Yarra; Mr. Basil Henty, who lives in England, but will be here for the Centenary, and one daughter, Mrs. Ronald Cumming, of Camperdown, who has two charming daughters, Lorraine and Dawn, and one schoolboy son.

Trials

MR. AND MRS.

FRANCIS HENTY

(1834). This set of photos covers the three Henty brothers and their wives, who landed at Portland in

1831.

THE second son, Charles, went to Syd-

ney, and he left two sons. Mr. Gordon Henty has one daughter, and Mr. Douglas Henty two sons and one daughter, and they are all in Sydney.

The third son, Gilbert, has no children.

The fourth son, Mr. A. O. Henty, is a well-known Melbourne solicitor. Though a bachelor, he is keenly inter-ested in education for boys. He has been on the Council of the Melbourne Grammar School for 25 years. His sister is Miss Ethel Henty.

In his garden is the tiny cannon that was a valuable part of the equipment brought to Portland by his ancestors, and he also has in his possession Edward Henty's diary, which was on show at the Portland celebrations for the first time.

Another sister is Mrs. G. F. Blandy, C.B.E., of Austinmer, on the South Coast of New South Wales, and the eldest sister was the wife of Bishop Armstrong of Wangaratta. Her son, Brian Arm-strong, who was born on the same day as the Prince of Wales, is a member of his uncle's law firm, and his sister is Miss Dorothy Armstrong of Hawthorn. JAMES HENTY'S second son, Herbert,

has left two children, Mr. A. F. Henty, who recently built a very modern home at Frankston and called it Port-land Cottage, and Miss Florence Henty, who lives in Melbourne.

Another daughter of James Henty, Mary Jane, became Mrs. John Wilson. Her son, Mr. John A. Henty Wilson, lives at Kew with his wife and family. Another daughter, Frances, married the Hon. James Balfour, and members of her family are well known in Mel-bourne. They include Dr. J. J. Balfour W. G. Balfour, H. R. Balfour, Mrs. Michael Elliott, Miss Charlotte Balfour, and Mrs. Matthews.

James Henty's youngest son, Thomas,

PERHAPS THE MOST MODERN of the Hentys to-day—Major and Mrs. Edric Henty, who divide their time between their country home, Green Timbers, Mount Martha, and their flat at South

Yarra, Melbourne.

—Spencer Shier photo.

MR. AND MRS. EDWARD HENTY (1834). See if you can trace the likeness in the living Hentys on this page.

like his grandfather and namesake, had seven sons and one daughter. Norman is a merchant in Launceston. Arthur still lives in Heidelberg. Cecil and Ed-ward both have young families and live on farms at Cohuna, and Guy is in Hobart. Mrs. C. V. Macarthur, of Brighton, is the one daughter. She has a grown-up family.

The original Edward Henty left no children, but his brother, Francis, though he had no sons, has several descen-dants through his daughters. Mrs. John Hindson has left four daughters, who live at Sorrento, and one son, Mr. John Henty Hindson, who is at present in England. The third daughter, Mrs. Alec McLeod, has left two daughters, Mrs. Ken McWhae of Barwon Heads, and Mrs. Grenville Sylvester, of Casterton. All his grandchildren have a share in Francis Henty's famous property, Merino

Downs.

Widespread

STEPHEN HENTY and his famous wife

have many descendants. One son, George, still lives in Sydney, and their only remaining daughter is Mrs. Edward Coster, of New Zealand.

The late Mrs. Stapleton Bree, of Ham-ilton, was another daughter. Her child-ren are Mr. Martin Bree, of Harrow; Mrs. Bert Grice, of Frankston; and Miss Olive Bree, of Hamilton.

A great-grandson of Stephen Henty is young Edward Henty, whose father was killed at the war. He is a student at Melbourne University.

John Henty has two grandsons liv-ing. They are Dr. de Whitt Henty, of Ararat, and Mr. Frank Henty. The lat-ter has one son, Stephen.