Charles Edward Bright (20 May 1829 – 17 July 1915) was an English businessman in colonial

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

. Bright belonged to an old Worcestershire family possessing estates in the counties of Worcester and Hereford. He was the fifth son of Robert Bright, of

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

and

Abbots Leigh Abbots Leigh is a village and civil parish in North Somerset, England, about west of the centre of Bristol. History The original Middle English name was ''Lega'', and the village became Abbots Leigh in the mid-12th century when Robert Fitzhardi ...

, Somerset, by Caroline, daughter of

Thomas Tyndall Thomas Tyndall (bapt. 26 March 1723 – 17 April 1794) was an English merchant and banker from Bristol with extensive slave trade connections. Tyndall was the son of Onesiphorus Tyndall and Elizabeth Cowles and baptised in the Unitarian church. ...

, of The Fort, Bristol. The Bright family were merchants who owned land in the

West Indies The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Greater A ...

, and were compensated £8,384 by the British government for 404 slaves upon the

abolition of slavery Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the movement to end slavery. In Western Europe and the Americas, abolitionism was a historic movement that sought to end the Atlantic slave trade and liberate the enslaved people. The British ...

. Bright's brothers were Richard Bright, who was elected M.P. for East Somerset in 1868, and Lieut.-General Sir

Robert Onesiphorus Bright General Sir Robert Onesiphorus Bright (7 July 1823 – 15 November 1896) was a British Army officer. He was born the son of Robert Bright and the brother of colonial businessman Charles Edward Bright and the MP Richard Bright. He was educat ...

. Bright emigrated to Australia, arriving in Melbourne in Jan. 1854. He became a partner in the firms of Messrs. Antony Gibbs & Co., and Gibbs, Bright & Co. He was twice Chairman of the

Melbourne Harbor Trust The Melbourne Harbor Trust was established in 1877 to improve and operate port facilities for the growing city of Melbourne. It was superseded by the Port of Melbourne Authority in 1978 and later by the Port of Melbourne Corporation. Creation ...

, and for many years Trustee of the Public Library, Museum, and

National Gallery of Victoria The National Gallery of Victoria, popularly known as the NGV, is an art museum in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Founded in 1861, it is Australia's oldest and most visited art museum. The NGV houses an encyclopedic art collection across two ...

. He was Commissioner to the

Exhibition An exhibition, in the most general sense, is an organized presentation and display of a selection of items. In practice, exhibitions usually occur within a cultural or educational setting such as a museum, art gallery, park, library, exhibition ...

of London, 1861-2; Dublin, 1864; Melbourne, 1866–7; London, 1873–4; Melbourne, 1880; Calcutta, 1883; Adelaide, 1887; and Melbourne, 1888. On 25 August 1868 he married the Hon. Anne Maria Georgiana Manners-Sutton, daughter of the third Viscount Canterbury (Governor of Victoria 1866–73), by Georgiana, youngest daughter of Charles Tompson, of Witchingham Hall, Norfolk; and was created CMG in the 1883 Birthday Honours.

References

1829 births 1915 deaths Companions of the Order of St Michael and St George Australian justices of the peace English emigrants to Australia 19th-century Australian businesspeople {{Australia-business-bio-stub