Francis Hartwell Henslowe (1811–1878) was a British-born

civil servant The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil servants hired on professional merit rather than appointed or elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leaders ...

, business manager and

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...

who worked in England, Australia and India. Born in England, Henslowe was the son of Edward Prentis Henslowe (1772–1857) and Cecilia Maria Barthelemon. In 1839, he emigrated to

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

, then moved in 1841 to

Hobart Hobart ( ; Nuennonne/Palawa kani: ''nipaluna'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian island state of Tasmania. Home to almost half of all Tasmanians, it is the least-populated Australian state capital city, and second-small ...

Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...

. In Tasmania, Henslowe was appointed private secretary to

Sir John Franklin Sir John Franklin (16 April 1786 – 11 June 1847) was a British Royal Navy officer and Arctic explorer. After serving in wars against Napoleonic France and the United States, he led two expeditions into the Canadian Arctic and through t ...

and then became the Police Magistrate at

Campbell Town, Tasmania Campbell Town is a town in Tasmania, Australia, on the Midland Highway. At the 2021 census, the town had a population of 823. History Traditional owners of the Campbell Town area The traditional custodians of the Campbell Town area were t ...

in 1843. In 1851, Henslowe was appointed Clerk of the Executive and Legislative Councils of the

Parliament of Tasmania The Parliament of Tasmania is the bicameral legislature of the Australian state of Tasmania. It follows a Westminster-derived parliamentary system and consists of the Governor of Tasmania, the Tasmanian House of Assembly (the lower house), and T ...

. As described by a contemporary. "from his amiable and obliging disposition secured the esteem of the members of the House." Henslowe retired from his government post due to bad health and weak eyesight in 1864. Henslowe then moved to the

Madras Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

area of India, where he worked as the manager of a large

irrigation Irrigation (also referred to as watering) is the practice of applying controlled amounts of water to land to help grow Crop, crops, Landscape plant, landscape plants, and Lawn, lawns. Irrigation has been a key aspect of agriculture for over 5,00 ...

company. He held this job for ten years with a salary of 1,500 pounds a year. Around 1874, Henslowe returned to England, where he retired permanently. Henslowe died in England in 1878. Henslowe married the daughter of Canon Allwood, a resident of

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

. The couple had two sons and two daughters. Both sons held appointments in the Madras Survey Department.

References

External links

* http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A010492b.htm 1811 births 1878 deaths 19th-century composers Australian male composers Australian composers 19th-century male musicians {{Australia-musician-stub