Henry Gawler (1827–1894) was the eldest surviving son of

George Gawler Lieutenant-Colonel George Gawler, KH, (21 July 1795 – 7 May 1869) was the second Governor of South Australia, at the same time serving as Resident Commissioner, from 17 October 1838 until 15 May 1841. Biography Early life Gawler, born on 2 ...

. He first travelled to

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

with his parents and siblings in the ''

Pestonjee Bomanjee The ''Pestonjee Bomanjee'' was a wooden sailing ship built in 1834 by James Lang of Dumbarton, Scotland. She was a three-masted wooden barque of 595 tons, 130 feet in length, 31.5 feet in breadth, first owned by John Miller Jnr and Company, Glas ...

'', arriving on 12 October 1838 when his father took over the role of Governor of South Australia. They returned to England in 1841. Henry Gawler was

admitted to the bar An admission to practice law is acquired when a lawyer receives a license to practice law. In jurisdictions with two types of lawyer, as with barristers and solicitors, barristers must gain admission to the bar whereas for solicitors there are dist ...

in England in November 1852. He returned to South Australia in 1858 and worked as a solicitor in the Lands Titles Office from July 1858 to September 1884. During that time he spent two short periods as

Attorney-General of South Australia The attorney-general of South Australia is the Cabinet minister in the Government of South Australia who is responsible for that state's system of law and justice. The attorney-general must be a qualified legal practitioner, although this wa ...

. He assisted Robert Torrens in drafting and amending the ''

Real Property Act 1858 The ''Real Property Act 1858'', 21 Vict. c. 15, is the short title of an act of the Parliament of South Australia, with the long title "An Act to simplify the Laws relating to the transfer and encumbrance of freehold and other interests in L ...

'' and in the early operation if the

Torrens Title Torrens title is a land registration and land transfer system, in which a state creates and maintains a register of land holdings, which serves as the conclusive evidence (termed " indefeasibility") of title of the person recorded on the regist ...

system. Gawler was never an elected member of parliament, but he twice served a few days as

, 8–17 October 1861 and 23–25 March 1876. He visited

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

in 1870 to assist the government there to adopt the

system. Gawler married Caroline Augusta Philpot, daughter of Rev.

Benjamin Philpot Benjamin Philpot, MA (b Laxfield 9 January 1790 – d Surbiton 28 May 1889) was Archdeacon of Man from 22 May 1832 until 25 June 1839. Philpot was educated at Christ's College, Cambridge. He held incumbencies in Walpole, Kirk Andreas, Gr ...

(later the Archdeacon of Man) on 25 June 1857. One of their sons,

Douglas Gawler Douglas George Gawler (9 November 1860 – 6 May 1915) was an Australian lawyer and politician who was a member of the Legislative Council of Western Australia from 1910 until his death, representing Metropolitan-Suburban Province. Gawler was ...

moved to

Perth, Western Australia 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 i ...

and established a law firm there and was later elected to 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 ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gawler, Henry Australian people of English descent 1827 births 1894 deaths Attorneys-General of South Australia Lawyers from Adelaide 19th-century Australian politicians