Charles Bonney
Mr Charles Bonney | |
|---|---|
 | |
| South Australian Commissioner of Crown Lands and Immigration | |
| In office 24 October 1856 – 21 August 1857 | |
| Premier | Boyle Finniss |
| Succeeded by | William Milne |
| Member of the South Australian Parliament for East Torrens | |
| In office 26 February 1857 – 26 January 1858 | |
| Preceded by | New District |
| Succeeded by | John Barrow |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 31 October 1813 Sandon, Staffordshire, England. |
| Died | 14 March 1897 (aged 83) |
Charles Bonney (31 October 1813 – 15 March 1897) was a pioneer and politician in Australia.
Early life
Bonney was the youngest son of the Rev. George Bonney, a fellow of Jesus College, Cambridge, and his wife Susanna, née Knight. He was born at Sandon, Staffordshire, England.[1] After his father died in 1826 his brother Thomas, headmaster of Rugeley Grammar School, gave him an education and a home for seven years. (Two of Thomas's sons, Edward and Frederic Bonney, later went to Australia.)
Pioneering in Australia
Bonney left Britain on 5 August 1834 in the John Craig and arrived at Sydney on 12 December 1834. This was up to twenty times a typical ship load of sheep,[2] eliminated catastrophic losses of entire ship loads[3] and transformed the economics of the wool industry in Victoria as other overlanders followed his path. On about 21 March 1837 he discovered the rich, fertile Kilmore Plains in a journey that included blazing the trail of the Sydney Road. Kilmore became the inland agricultural powerhouse of the infant State of Victoria. These discoveries had a major impact on the economy of Victoria.[4] p108 p117. Bonney later wrote that amongst his proudest achievements were founding the fertile district of Kilmore and the route of the Sydney Road.[5]
See also
Notes
- ↑ Serle, Percival (1949). "Bonney, Charles". Dictionary of Australian Biography. Sydney: Angus & Robertson.
- ↑ Cornwall Chronicle, 24 October 1835, p. 2.
- ↑ Bent's News and Tasmanian Three-Penny Register, 27 February 1836, p. 3.
- ↑ Williams, Martin. Charles Bonney and the fertile Kilmore Plains, Victorian Historical Journal, Vol. 90, No. 1, June 2019.
- ↑ Bonney, Charles. Autobiographical Notes, National Library of Australia, NLA digitised item, JAFp BIO 55 copy
References
- H. J. Gibbney, 'Bonney, Charles (1813 - 1897)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 3, Melbourne University Press, 1969, pp 188–190.
- Serle, Percival (1949). "Bonney, Charles". Dictionary of Australian Biography. Sydney: Angus & Robertson.
Further reading
- Mennell, Philip (1892). . The Dictionary of Australasian Biography. London: Hutchinson & Co – via Wikisource.
- 1813 births
- 1897 deaths
- Explorers of South Australia
- Settlers of South Australia
- Members of the South Australian House of Assembly
- Members of the South Australian Legislative Council
- 19th-century Australian politicians
- Mayors of places in South Australia
- British emigrants to the Colony of New South Wales
- Politicians from the Colony of South Australia
- British emigrants to the Colony of South Australia