Henry Roberts Williams (c. 1848 – 12 November 1935) was an Australian politician. Born in

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...

to William James Lanyon Williams and his wife, Henry and his mother followed his father to

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 ...

in 1860, moving to

Bendigo Bendigo ( ) is a city in Victoria, Australia, located in the Bendigo Valley near the geographical centre of the state and approximately north-west of Melbourne, the state capital. As of 2019, Bendigo had an urban population of 100,991, makin ...

. Williams was educated at Bendigo and became a mine manager in 1874; he was an

Eaglehawk The wedge-tailed eagle (''Aquila audax'') is the largest bird of prey in the continent of Australia. It is also found in southern New Guinea to the north and is distributed as far south as the state of Tasmania. Adults of this species have lon ...

Borough Councillor from 1874 to 1877. In 1877 he was elected to the

Victorian Legislative Assembly The Victorian Legislative Assembly is the lower house of the bicameral Parliament of Victoria in Australia; the upper house being the Victorian Legislative Council. Both houses sit at Parliament House in Spring Street, Melbourne. The presiding ...

as the member for

Mandurang Mandurang, is a locality in the City of Greater Bendigo, in the Australian state of Victoria. It grew and developed as a goldfield settlement and logging locality, though today mostly consists of small farms and wineries. Mandurang Primary Scho ...

, serving until 1883. He was Minister of Mines from 1880 to 1881. In 1878 he married Kate Gruby at Eaglehawk, with whom he had five children (one of whom,

William William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Engl ...

, played VFL football for St Kilda in 1907). He would, later, marry Louisa Cyrena Davidson. In 1889 Williams returned to the Assembly as the member for

, serving until 1902. He was

Minister for Health A health minister is the member of a country's government typically responsible for protecting and promoting public health and providing welfare and other social security services. Some governments have separate ministers for mental health. Coun ...

from 1895 to 1899. Williams died

Murrumbeena Murrumbeena is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 13 km south-east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Glen Eira local government area. Murrumbeena recorded a population of 9,996 at the 2021 cen ...

in 1935.

Notes

1840s births 1935 deaths People from the Colony of Victoria Members of the Victorian Legislative Assembly Ministers for Health (Victoria) Australian people of Cornish descent British emigrants to Australia Victoria (state) local councillors People from Bendigo Ministers of Railways (Victoria) Ministers of Mines (Victoria) {{Australia-politician-stub