Henry Copeland, (6 June 1839 – 22 June 1904) was a member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly.[1]

Henry Copeland, 1880

Copeland was born in Hull, Yorkshire, England. Aged 18 years, he arrived in Williamstown, Victoria and spent around 15 years on the goldfields as a digger, farmer and contractor.[2] In 1863 he visited England where he married Hannah née Beecroft on 20 April. He would later marry her sister Mary and had 4 sons and 7 daughters from both marriages. He moved to New South Wales in 1872.

Copeland was elected unopposed to the New South Wales Mining Board in 1874.[2] He entered the New South Wales Legislative Assembly and represented six different seats between 1877 and 1900.[2]

He was briefly Secretary for Public Works in the Stuart ministry appointed in January 1883, defeated in the resulting ministerial by-election and was returned to the assembly at the East Sydney by-election held the following week, before resigning from the ministry in March 1883 following a speech he made, whilst intoxicated, at the St Patrick's day banquet.[1] He was Secretary for Lands in the Jennings ministry from February 1886 to January 1887. In October 1891, when the third Dibbs ministry Government was formed, he was again appointed Secretary for Lands from October 1891 until August 1894.[3]

He was appointed Agent-General for New South Wales in London in May 1900, serving until 18 July 1903.[1]

Copeland died in Twickenham, London, England on 22 June 1904(1904-06-22) (aged 65), survived by 2 sons and 2 daughters.[1]

His brother was the Rev. G.D. Copeland of St Stephen's, London.

References

  1. ^ a b c d Rutledge, Martha. "Copeland, Henry (1839–1904)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Canberra: National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. ISBN 978-0-522-84459-7. ISSN 1833-7538. OCLC 70677943. Retrieved 3 December 2013.
  2. ^ a b c "The Hon. Henry Copeland (1839-1904)". Former members of the Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 23 May 2019.
  3. ^ Mennell, Philip (1892). "Copeland, Hon. Henry" . The Dictionary of Australasian Biography. London: Hutchinson & Co – via Wikisource.

 

Parliament of New South Wales Political offices Preceded byJohn Lackey Secretary for Public Works January – March 1883 Succeeded byFrancis Wright Preceded byGerald Spring Secretary for Lands 1886 – 1887 Succeeded byThomas Garrett Preceded byJames Brunker Secretary for Lands 1891 – 1894 Succeeded byJoseph Carruthers New South Wales Legislative Assembly Preceded byRobert Forster Member for Goldfields North 1877 – 1880 Abolished Preceded bySamuel Terry Member for New England 1880 – 1882 With: William Proctor Succeeded byJames Farnell Preceded byWilliam Foster Joseph Mitchell Member for Newtown 1882 – 1883 With: Frederick Gibbes Succeeded byJoseph Mitchell Preceded byJohn McElhone Member for East Sydney 1883 – 1887 With: Edmund BartonGeorge Griffiths / George Reid George Reid / Sydney Burdekin Succeeded byWilliam McMillanJohn Street Preceded byWilliam Proctor Member for New England 1887 – 1894 With: James Inglisnone / Edmund Lonsdale Abolished New district Member for Armidale 1894 – 1895 Succeeded byEdmund Lonsdale Preceded byRichard Meagher Member for Sydney-Phillip 1895 – 1900 Succeeded byDaniel O'Connor Diplomatic posts Preceded bySir Julian Salomons Agent-General for New South Wales 1900 – 1903 Succeeded byThe Earl of Jersey
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