Albert Young Hassell (15 November 184120 September 1918) was a prominent

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

n pastoralist and politician. Born in Albany, on 15 November 1841, Albert was the second son of pastoralist

John Hassell John Hassell (c. 1767 – 1825) was an English watercolour landscape painter, engraver, illustrator, writer, publisher and drawing-master. He wrote a biography of fellow artist George Morland. Hassell first appeared as an exhibitor at the ...

who had pioneered the area around Kendenup in the Great Southern region of

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

in 1840. The young Albert was educated at a private school in Albany leaving at age 11 to work on the family farm. Working on the property Albert Hassell eventually became manager of another of his father's properties near Jerramungup from 1861 to 1863. He became the first European to overland to Esperance during the time. From 1864 to 1878 Albert and his brother, John Frederick Hassell, ran the family businesses. Hassell ran for parliament and won a by-election representing the seat of Albany in the colony's first part-elective Legislative Council from 1871 to 1874; after the term expired he resigned from the post. Under

responsible government Responsible government is a conception of a system of government that embodies the principle of parliamentary accountability, the foundation of the Westminster system of parliamentary democracy. Governments (the equivalent of the executive bran ...

he later represented

Plantagenet The House of Plantagenet () was a royal house which originated from the lands of Anjou in France. The family held the English throne from 1154 (with the accession of Henry II at the end of the Anarchy) to 1485, when Richard III died in batt ...

in the Legislative Assembly from 1890 to 1904. During his time he was also elected as the Western Australian representative at the Australasian Constitutional Convention from 1897 to 1898. After an electoral redistribution in 1904 Hassell stood for the seat of Albany and lost the seat; he then resigned from politics. Hassell married Ethel Clifton in June 1878 and had four sons and three daughters. Well known in the racing industry, Hassell bred, owned and successfully raced several horses. He was a foundation member of the Albany Club, a member of the

Weld Club The Weld Club is a private male-only social club in Perth, Western Australia. Founded in 1871 as a gentlemen's club, it is named after Frederick Weld, the chronologically first patron of the club and the Governor of Western Australia at the tim ...

, a founder of the Plantagenet Lodge of

Freemason Freemasonry or Masonry refers to fraternal organisations that trace their origins to the local guilds of stonemasons that, from the end of the 13th century, regulated the qualifications of stonemasons and their interaction with authorities ...

s, a long serving member of the Albany Roads Board, a Justice of the Peace and a long time representative for P&O Shipping in Albany. As pastoralists the family introduced Saxon sheep onto their properties. Hassell improved the flocks and was awarded a grand prix in 1889 at the Paris Universal Exposition for twenty-five fleeces and later won more gold medals for his wool displays in exhibitions in France and Western Australia. Hassell died in 1918 in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

; his body was buried at Memorial Park Cemetery in Albany. In 1887, the Victorian government botanist,

Ferdinand von Mueller Baron Sir Ferdinand Jacob Heinrich von Mueller, (german: Müller; 30 June 1825 – 10 October 1896) was a German-Australian physician, geographer, and most notably, a botanist. He was appointed government botanist for the then colony of Vict ...

named ''Chorilaena Hassellii'' (now '' Muiriantha hassellii'') in honour of Hassell, who had collected specimens of the plant from the western end of the

Stirling Range The Stirling Range or Koikyennuruff is a range of mountains and hills in the Great Southern region of Western Australia, south-east of Perth. It is over wide from west to east, stretching from the highway between Mount Barker and Cranb ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hassell, Albert Young 1841 births 1918 deaths Australian pastoralists Members of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly People from Albany, Western Australia 19th-century Australian businesspeople