Henry Gilbert Smith

Henry Gilbert Smith (1802 – 1 April 1886) was an English-born Australian businessman, banker and politician, known as the "Father of Manly".[1] He was the founder and developer of the Sydney suburb of Manly, where he built Fairlight House facing Delwood Beach. He was otherwise the chairman of the Commercial Banking Company of Sydney (now National Australia Bank), of which his nephew Thomas Smith had been deputy chairman.[2]

Henry Gilbert Smith

MLC
Member of Legislative Council of New South Wales
In office
11 September 1856 (1856-09-11) – 11 December 1858 (1858-12-11)
Personal details
Born(1802-09-26)26 September 1802
Northamptonshire, England
Died4 January 1886(1886-01-04) (aged 83)
Brighton, England
CitizenshipAustralian
RelativesThomas Smith (nephew)

Life and career

Smith was born in Northamptonshire, England to Thomas Smith and Frances Flesher. He migrated to Tasmania in 1827 and from there to Sydney, acquiring land on the Molonglo Plain. In 1839 he married Eleanor Whistler; he would later remarry Anne Margaret Thomas in 1856 and Anna Louisa Lloyd later than that.[3] With his brothers brothers Eustace Smith and Thomas Smith, he ran an importing and mercantile firm called Smith Bros in the early 1830s. He later became a director of the Commercial Banking Company of Sydney (now NAB. He was the brother of Thomas Smith and thereby the uncle of Australian politician and banker Thomas Whistler Smith, who was the deputy chairman and managing director of the Commercial Banking Company of Sydney.[4] From 1856 to 1858 he was an appointed member of the New South Wales Legislative Council. Smith died at Brighton in England in 1886.[5]

Legacy
Fairlight House, Manly

Smith was the founder and developer of the Sydney suburb of Manly, where he built a home called Fairlight House facing Delwood Beach. It was demolished in 1939.[6] A more lasting memorial was erected by Smith in 1856, in the form of a large statue of a kangaroo, located in Kangaroo Street, Manly.

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References
  1. "Manly Heritage Plaques - Manly & Northern Beaches Australia". www.manlyaustralia.com.au. Retrieved 16 February 2020.
  2. Pike, A. F., "Smith, Henry Gilbert (1802–1886)", Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, retrieved 16 February 2020
  3. Pike, A F. "Smith, Henry Gilbert (1802–1886)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Melbourne University Press. ISSN 1833-7538 – via National Centre of Biography, Australian National University.
  4. Parsons, Vivienne, "Smith, Thomas Whistler (1824–1859)", Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, retrieved 16 February 2020
  5. "Mr Henry Gilbert Smith (1802-1886)". Former Members of the Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 25 May 2019.
  6. Forever Nine, John Kidman and Denise Hofman (Five Mile Press), 2013, p.344 ISBN 978-1-74346-706-0


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