Henry O'Brien (179327 January 1866) was an Irish-born politician and pastoralist in New South Wales, Australia.

Early life

He was born at

Hollymount Hollymount () is a village on the R331 regional road in County Mayo, Ireland. It lies midway between the towns of Ballinrobe and Claremorris in the plains of south Mayo. It has a post office, a mini-mart, a community centre (Cois Abhainn), a ...

County Mayo County Mayo (; ga, Contae Mhaigh Eo, meaning "Plain of the Taxus baccata, yew trees") is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. In the West Region, Ireland, West of Ireland, in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Conn ...

to farmer Henry O'Brien and Catherine Browne. His father died when he was young and he and his brothers Cornelius and Thomas were raised by their uncle William Browne. He worked on his uncle's properties before migrating 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 ...

via

Calcutta Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, the official name until 2001) is the Capital city, capital of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal, on the eastern ba ...

, arriving in April 1816. His mother, uncle and brothers all arrived in Sydney in 1816. Henry assisted in managing a property at

Abbotsbury Abbotsbury is a village and civil parish in the English county of Dorset. The settlement is in the unitary authority of Dorset about inland from the English Channel coast. The village, including Chesil Beach, the swannery and subtropical g ...

, while Cornelious managed a property in the Illawarra. From 1821 Henry was granted at Bathurst where he established a sheep station. Thomas disappeared on a journey to Bathurst in 1823. O'Brien also acquired a sheep station at

Jugiong Jugiong is a locality and town on the banks of the Murrumbidgee River near its confluence with Jugiong Creek. in the Hilltops Council Local Government area, New South Wales, Australia. It is situated just off the Hume Highway, by road, about 30& ...

, which he named Douro. On 25 July 1836 he married Isabella Macdonald, however she died two years later (aged 27). O'Brien remarried on 28 November 1840 to Elizabeth Sadlier Cruden, with whom he had a son also named Henry. There was a depression in New South Wales in 1843 and sheep were unsaleable. O'Brien popularised the process of boiling down wethers to produce

tallow Tallow is a rendering (industrial), rendered form of beef or mutton fat, primarily made up of triglycerides. In industry, tallow is not strictly defined as beef or mutton fat. In this context, tallow is animal fat that conforms to certain techn ...

which restored some value to the sheep. He had introduced

merino sheep 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 breed ...

to the Yass district, having bought 5 rams from

John Macarthur John MacArthur or Macarthur may refer to: *J. Roderick MacArthur (1920–1984), American businessman *John MacArthur (American pastor) (born 1939), American evangelical minister, televangelist, and author * John Macarthur (priest), 20th-century pro ...

, which he crossed with Saxon sheep and subsequently imported Negretti sheep as part of his breeding activities. O'Brien returned to England with his family in 1856 and his son was educated at

Eton College Eton College () is a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI under the name ''Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore'',Nevill, p. 3 ff. intended as a sister institution to King's College, C ...

Political career

O'Brien was elected a member of the Yass District Council in 1844, along with his brother Cornelious In 1860 he was elected unopposed to the Legislative Assembly for Yass Plains, but he resigned in 1861 due to ill health.

Later life and death

O'Brien was winding up his affairs in New South Wales, intending to join Elizabeth in England, however he died at Douro near Jugiong on the Yass Plains in 1866 (aged 73). He was survived by Elizabeth, his son having died in August 1865. Elizabeth died at Bishopthorpe in

Goulburn Goulburn ( ) is a regional city in the Southern Tablelands of the Australian state of New South Wales, approximately south-west of Sydney, and north-east of Canberra. It was proclaimed as Australia's first inland city through letters pate ...

on 21 June 1892.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Obrien, Henry 1793 births 1866 deaths Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly 19th-century Australian politicians Politicians from County Mayo People from Hollymount Irish emigrants to colonial Australia