Sir Thomas Henley KBE (4 February 1860 – 14 May 1935) was an Australian politician, elected as a member of the

New South Wales Legislative Assembly The New South Wales Legislative Assembly is the lower of the two houses of the Parliament of New South Wales, an Australian state. The upper house is the New South Wales Legislative Council. Both the Assembly and Council sit at Parliament Ho ...

Early years

Henley was born in

Wootton Bassett Royal Wootton Bassett , formerly Wootton Bassett, is a market town and civil parish in Wiltshire, England, with a population of 11,043 in 2001, increasing to 11,385 in 2011. Situated in the north of the county, it lies to the west of the major ...

Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated Wilts) is a historic and ceremonial county in South West England with an area of . It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset to the southwest, Somerset to the west, Hampshire to the southeast, Gloucestershire ...

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 ...

and after basic education worked in the building industry for about ten years until he migrated 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 ...

in about 1884. He married Charlotte Smith in 1886. He became a property developer and continued to build up his business during the depression of the 1890s, including acquiring

Sydney Harbour Port Jackson, consisting of the waters of Sydney Harbour, Middle Harbour, North Harbour and the Lane Cove and Parramatta Rivers, is the ria or natural harbour of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The harbour is an inlet of the Tasman Sea (p ...

ferry companies. He was an alderman for

Drummoyne Council Drummoyne is a suburb in the Inner West of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Drummoyne is six kilometres west of the Sydney central business district and is the administrative center for the local government area of the Ci ...

from 1898 to 1934, including four periods as Mayor.

Political career

Henley was elected to the Legislative Assembly in 1904 representing Burwood as a member of the Liberal Reform Party, Nationalist Party and

United Australia Party The United Australia Party (UAP) was an Australian political party that was founded in 1931 and dissolved in 1945. The party won four federal elections in that time, usually governing in coalition with the Country Party. It provided two prim ...

until 1935, except for the period of

proportional representation Proportional representation (PR) refers to a type of electoral system under which subgroups of an electorate are reflected proportionately in the elected body. The concept applies mainly to geographical (e.g. states, regions) and political divis ...

(1920–1927), when he was a member for

Ryde Ryde is an English seaside town and civil parish on the north-east coast of the Isle of Wight. The built-up area had a population of 23,999 according to the 2011 Census and an estimate of 24,847 in 2019. Its growth as a seaside resort came af ...

. He had a forthright parliamentary style, boasting of his own success and the merits of hard work. Opponents called him the "great 'I am". He was a member of the Metropolitan Water Sewerage and Drainage Board, commonly known as the Water Board, for much of the time between 1903 and 1933. He was very briefly appointed as Minister for Public Works and Minister for Railways and Housing, on two occasions, in 1921 and 1922. Henley fell from a Manly ferry and drowned on 14 May 1935 amid rumours of suicide. He was survived by his wife, two daughters and a son

Herbert Herbert may refer to: People Individuals * Herbert (musician), a pseudonym of Matthew Herbert Name * Herbert (given name) * Herbert (surname) Places Antarctica * Herbert Mountains, Coats Land * Herbert Sound, Graham Land Australia * Herbert ...

, who was a member of the Legislative Council from 1937 to 1964.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Henley, Thomas 1860 births 1935 deaths Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly Australian Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire Australian politicians awarded knighthoods People from Royal Wootton Bassett English emigrants to Australia Deaths by drowning in Australia