Henry ("Harry") Boan (1860–1941) was an Australian businessman and politician, who was best known for establishing the

Boans Boans was a department store chain that operated in Perth, Western Australia between from the late 19th century to the late 20th century. It was located between Wellington Street and Murray Street and had the Padbury Buildings between it an ...

department store in

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

, Western Australia. Boan was born at

Jones Creek Jones Creek is a village in Brazoria County, Texas, United States. The population was 2,020 at the 2010 census. It is the first location in Texas where Stephen F. Austin settled. History The Father of Texas, Stephen F. Austin, first settled in J ...

near Dunolly,

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 ...

on 4 November 1860. He was the son of English born Jewish parents Thomas, a miner and road contractor, and Rachel Isaacs. Thomas and Rachel had previously lived in California before coming to Australia in about 1850 in relatively poor circumstances. When Harry was about 16 he left home and worked as a messenger in Flegeltaub's

Ballarat Ballarat ( ) is a city in the Central Highlands (Victoria), Central Highlands of Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. At the 2021 Census, Ballarat had a population of 116,201, making it the third largest city in Victoria. Estimated resid ...

warehouse on wages of 10s. per week including lodging. He was later promoted to a position of town-traveller at £2 10s. per week but soon resigned. From here he moved between jobs 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 ...

and later

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 ...

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...

Toowoomba Toowoomba ( , nicknamed 'The Garden City' and 'T-Bar') is a city in the Toowoomba Region of the Darling Downs, Queensland, Australia. It is west of Queensland's capital city Brisbane by road. The urban population of Toowoomba as of the 2021 C ...

and

Charters Towers Charters Towers is a rural town in the Charters Towers Region, Queensland, Australia. It is by road south-west from Townsville on the Flinders Highway. During the last quarter of the 19th century, the town boomed as the rich gold deposits under ...

including positions at 'Anthony Hordern's' and 'David Jones's'.

Broken Hill

In 1886, his parents gave Henry and his brother Ernest, £200 of their savings which the brothers used to open a business called 'Boan Bros Ltd' in

Broken Hill Broken Hill is an inland mining city in the far west of outback New South Wales, Australia. It is near the border with South Australia on the crossing of the Barrier Highway (A32) and the Silver City Highway (B79), in the Barrier Range. It is ...

in western

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 ...

in 1890. The business expanded rapidly and soon became the leading drapery in the prosperous town. However, by the mid-1890s Broken Hill was suffering a downturn, and in 1895 Harry sold his share of the business to Ernest.

Perth

Harry and another brother Benjamin moved to Perth, which was undergoing an economic boom with gold discoveries around Coolgardie and

Kalgoorlie Kalgoorlie is a city in the Goldfields–Esperance region of Western Australia, located east-northeast of Perth at the end of the Great Eastern Highway. It is sometimes referred to as Kalgoorlie–Boulder, as the surrounding urban area includ ...

. The brothers purchased a site on the edge of the city which was directly opposite the

Perth railway station Perth railway station is the largest station on the Transperth network, serving the central business district of Perth, Western Australia. It serves as an interchange between the Airport, Armadale, Fremantle, Joondalup, Mandurah and Midland ...

. They borrowed £62,000 and within a few months had built and opened a single-storey emporium on the site and named it ' Boans Bros.'. The store opened on 7 November 1895 with spectacular results, almost selling out. On 17 June 1896, Harry married Sophie Bebarfald (born 1868). They would have four children. Benjamin died in 1901 and in 1910 Harry bought land adjoining the Boans site so that his holdings now comprised a large single block between Wellington and Murray Streets, near Forrest Place. He travelled to Europe and America to research marketing ideas and in about 1913 his wife and children settled in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. Boan returned to Perth, living alone in Perth hotels. On 14 April 1917 Boan was elected unopposed as a member for the Metropolitan Province in the

Western Australian Legislative Council The Western Australian Legislative Council is the upper house of the Parliament of Western Australia, a state of Australia. It is regarded as a house of review for legislation passed by the Legislative Assembly, the lower house. The two Houses ...

for the Nationalists. In February the following year however, he resigned from parliament after he was criticised for allowing the State Savings Bank (which was taken over in 1931 by the

Commonwealth Bank The Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA), or CommBank, is an Australian multinational bank with businesses across New Zealand, Asia, the United States and the United Kingdom. It provides a variety of financial services including retail, busines ...

) to open a branch in his store. The store was floated as a limited company shortly after and he moved to England, living there between 1918 and 1920. Boan returned to Perth in about 1920 and was re-elected to the Legislative Council in November 1922; he did not renominate in 1924. After his retirement from politics, Boan's consuming passion was horse-racing and hunting. He established a successful racing stud which produced many winners and which won the 1910

AJC Derby AJC may refer to: * Agreement on Journey Continuation, an agreement between European rail operators to allow passengers in case of a missed connection * Allen Jack+Cottier (AJ+C), an architectural practice * American Jewish Committee, an advocacy g ...

with 'Tanami'. Other successful horses included 'Maltfield' and 'Maltblossom'. He served as president of the board of the Children's Hospital and made frequent generous donations. In late 1929, Boan handed control of the Boans store to his son

Frank Boan Frank or Franks may refer to: People * Frank (given name) * Frank (surname) * Franks (surname) * Franks, a medieval Germanic people * Frank, a term in the Muslim world for all western Europeans, particularly during the Crusades - see Farang Curr ...

who had returned from England and by about 1932, Harry resettled in Melbourne near a brother and sister. He died at Caulfield of chronic heart and kidney conditions on 18 March 1941. Harry Boan is buried in

Karrakatta Cemetery Karrakatta Cemetery is a metropolitan cemetery in the suburb of Karrakatta in Perth, Western Australia. Karrakatta Cemetery first opened for burials in 1899, the first being that of wheelwright Robert Creighton. Managed by the Metropolitan Ce ...

, Perth. The Boans department store in Wellington Street Perth was subject to a major fire in 1979, which closed the store for some weeks. The store reopened, prior to its closure in 1986 when it was sold to Coles Myer Ltd to make way for the new Forrest Chase Myer complex. This was later considered as somewhat ironic, as the Boans department store in Morley, was destroyed by fire in 1986. The Morley complex was later rebuilt, housing a Myer department store. The iconic Boans store finally closed on 12 April 1986 after the property was purchased by the

Myer Group Myer (stylised MYER, sometimes known as Myers) is an Australian mid-range to upscale department store chain. It trades in all Australian states and one of Australia's two self-governing territories. Myer retails a broad range of products a ...

to make way for a $60 million site redevelopment.

Broken Hill

Perth

References

Further reading