Henry Richard Mildred (9 March 1795 – 22 March 1877) was a politician in the early days of the Colony of South Australia.

History

Mildred was born in Portsea,

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...

, England. Trained as a shipbuilder, he was contracted by the

South Australian Company The South Australian Company, also referred to as the South Australia Company, was formed in London on 9 October 1835, after the '' South Australia (Foundation) Act 1834'' had established the new British Province of South Australia, with the S ...

on the ''South Australian'' with

David McLaren David McLaren may refer to: * David McLaren (colonial manager) (1785–1850), colonial manager (CEO) of the colony of South Australia (1837–1841) * David McLaren (politician) (1872–1939), mayor of Wellington and member of the New Zealand Parlia ...

, arriving at

Kangaroo Island Kangaroo Island, also known as Karta Pintingga (literally 'Island of the Dead' in the language of the Kaurna people), is Australia's third-largest island, after Tasmania and Melville Island. It lies in the state of South Australia, southwest ...

on 22 April 1837, to manage the purchase and loading of major machinery which was ultimately used for "Fletcher's Patent Slip", for the Company's flour mill, eventually installed on the Torrens where the Hackney Hotel is now, and for a sawmill which may have been used at Cox's Creek. Mildred was invited to get this equipment running but he demurred, and it lay idle for some time. Shortly after arrival on Kangaroo Island, Mildred, T. H. Beare and William Giles imported a batch of

Merino The Merino is a breed or group of breeds of domestic sheep, characterised by very fine soft wool. It was established in Spain near the end of the Middle Ages, and was for several centuries kept as a strict Spanish monopoly; exports of the bree ...

ewes from

Van Diemens Land Van Diemen's Land was the colonial name of the island of Tasmania used by the British during the European exploration of Australia in the 19th century. A British settlement was established in Van Diemen's Land in 1803 before it became a sepa ...

, some of the first brought into the colony, though stock losses on the unusually long trip aboard the were considerable. The land he selected, on Fourth Creek, and where he lived for the rest of his life, turned out to be quite valuable, and made his fortune.

Politics

He served on the Adelaide Municipal Council from 1841 to 1843. He was one of the colonists who strenuously opposed bringing out boys from the Parkhurst prison. He contested the election for the Legislative Council seat of Burra without success, but in 1850 was appointed to the Main Roads Commission and later that year appointed Justice of the Peace, and in 1858 made a Special Magistrate. In 1851 sat for, but failed to win, one of the first elected positions on the Legislative Council. He represented Noarlunga in the first

House of Assembly House of Assembly is a name given to the legislature or lower house of a bicameral parliament. In some countries this may be at a subnational level. Historically, in British Crown colonies as the colony gained more internal responsible governme ...

from 1857 to 1860,

East Torrens East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the fac ...

from 1860 to 1865, and held a seat in the Legislative Council from 1866 to 1871. He was appointed a member of the Central Road Board Committee in March 1858 and was appointed Special Magistrate in November 1858.

Family

He was married to Elizabeth Sarah, ''née'' Bowyer, and had three sons and two daughters: *Clarissa Martha Margaret Mildred (22 September 1821 – 19 November 1870) married Captain (of the ) Henry Hay ( – ) on 23 April 1840 *Hiram Telemachus Mildred (28 April 1823 – 21 August 1892) preceded his father to South Australia on the ''

Rapid Rapids are sections of a river where the river bed has a relatively steep gradient, causing an increase in water velocity and turbulence. Rapids are hydrological features between a ''run'' (a smoothly flowing part of a stream) and a ''cascade''. ...

''. He was elected to the City Council, was later Harbourmaster at

Port Augusta Port Augusta is a small city in South Australia. Formerly a port, seaport, it is now a road traffic and Junction (rail), railway junction city mainly located on the east coast of the Spencer Gulf immediately south of the gulf's head and about ...

. *Urania Harriet Mildred (30 December 1824 – 30 August 1896) married John Varley S.M. (22 October 1830 – 9 June 1887) of

Kapunda Kapunda is a town on the Light River and near the Barossa Valley in South Australia. It was established after a discovery in 1842 of significant copper deposits. The population was 2,917 at the 2016 Australian census. The southern entrance ...

on 15 April 1854. *William Henry Mildred (1837–1838) *

Henry Hay Mildred Henry Hay Mildred (17 August 1839 – 25 December 1920) was a lawyer and politician in the colony and State of South Australia. History Henry was born in Strangways Terrace, North Adelaide, just two years after the arrival in South Australia of ...

(17 August 1839 – 25 December 1920) represented

from March 1870 to December 1871. He died at the home of Dr. Mortimer, Port Adelaide. Henry's brother George Mildred (c. 1808 – 13 December 1875), arrived in South Australia in 1836 on

William Light William Light (27 April 1786 – 6 October 1839), also known as Colonel Light, was a British- Malayan naval and army officer. He was the first Surveyor-General of the new British Province of South Australia, known for choosing the site o ...

's ship ''Rapid'' with nephew Hiram and settled on

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mildred, Henry Members of the South Australian Legislative Council Members of the South Australian House of Assembly Settlers of South Australia English emigrants to colonial Australia 1795 births 1877 deaths People from Portsea, Portsmouth 19th-century Australian politicians