Anthony O'Grady Lefroy (14 March 1816 – 21 January 1897), often known as O'Grady Lefroy, was an important

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a State (polity), state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive (government), execu ...

official in Western Australia before the advent of

responsible government Responsible government is a conception of a system of government that embodies the principle of parliamentary accountability, the foundation of the Westminster system of parliamentary democracy. Governments (the equivalent of the executive br ...

. O'Grady Lefroy was born at

Limerick Limerick ( ; ) is a city in western Ireland, in County Limerick. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and is in the Mid-West Region, Ireland, Mid-West which comprises part of the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern Region. W ...

, Ireland on 14 March 1816. He was the nephew of

Thomas Langlois Lefroy Thomas Langlois Lefroy (8 January 1776 – 4 May 1869) was an Irish-Huguenot politician and judge. He served as an MP for the constituency of Dublin University in 1830–1841, Privy Councillor of Ireland in 1835–1869 and Lord Chief Justi ...

(Chief Justice of Ireland and

Jane Austen Jane Austen ( ; 16 December 1775 – 18 July 1817) was an English novelist known primarily for #List of works, her six novels, which implicitly interpret, critique, and comment on the English landed gentry at the end of the 18th century ...

's youthful love). In 1842, at the age of 27, he migrated to Western AustraliaCranfield, R. E. 1960, From Ireland to Western Australia: The Establishment of a Branch of the Lefroy Family at Walebing, Western Australia, 1842 to 1960, Perth on board the ''Lady Grey''. In 1847, Lefroy and his brother

Gerald Gerald is a masculine given name derived from the Germanic languages prefix ''ger-'' ("spear") and suffix ''-wald'' ("rule"). Gerald is a Norman French variant of the Germanic name. An Old English equivalent name was Garweald, the likely original ...

accompanied

Alfred Durlacher Alfred Durlacher (18181869) was the fifth resident magistrate to be appointed to Toodyay, Western Australia, serving between 1861 and 1865. Durlacher was born on 30 May 1818. As a young man equipped with a sound education, he left for the Swan R ...

in exploring the area that later became known as Gingin. Shortly afterwards, he purchased land at Walebing, where he was a pastoralist until retiring in favour of his son in 1873. Lefroy was private secretary to

Governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

Charles Fitzgerald Charles Fitzgerald ( – 29 December 1887) was an officer in the British Royal Navy and Governor of The Gambia from 1844 until 1847, then Governor of Western Australia from 1848 to 1855. Son of Robert Fitzgerald and Lucinda Jackson of K ...

from 1843 probably until 1853, and again from 1854 to 1855. In 1851 he was Clerk to the

Executive Executive ( exe., exec., execu.) may refer to: Role or title * Executive, a senior management role in an organization ** Chief executive officer (CEO), one of the highest-ranking corporate officers (executives) or administrators ** Executive dir ...

and

Legislative A legislature (, ) is a deliberative assembly with the legal authority to make laws for a political entity such as a country, nation or city on behalf of the people therein. They are often contrasted with the executive and judicial powers ...

Councils. In 1856, Lefroy was appointed Colonial Treasurer, and he would hold that position for over 30 years, until the advent of

in December 1890. He did, however, spend portions of this period in England: he was in England in 1858, 1863–65, and 1868–71. When

Colonial Secretary of Western Australia The colonial secretary of Western Australia was one of the most important and powerful public offices in Western Australia, in the time when Western Australia was a British colony. The colonial secretary was the representative of the British Col ...

Frederick Barlee Sir Frederick Palgrave Barlee (6 February 1827 – 8 August 1884) was Colonial Secretary of Western Australia from 1855 to 1875; Lieutenant-Governor of the British Honduras (now Belize) from 1877 to 1882; and Administrator of Trinidad in 1884. ...

took long service leave in July 1875, Lefroy was appointed acting Colonial Secretary. In December of that year he was appointed a member of 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 Western Australian Legislative Assembly, Legislative A ...

. The following year he became a Justice of the Peace. When Barlee was posted to the

British Honduras British Honduras was a Crown colony on the east coast of Central America — specifically located on the southern edge of the Yucatan Peninsula from 1783 to 1964, then a self-governing colony — renamed Belize from June 1973

early in 1877, Roger Goldsworthy was appointed the new Colonial Secretary; Lefroy ceased to be acting Colonial Secretary and a member of the Legislative Council on 30 August 1877. The following year, he was made CMG. O'Grady Lefroy's 30-year tenure as Colonial Treasurer ended on 29 December 1890 when

John Forrest Sir John Forrest (22 August 1847 – 2 SeptemberSome sources give the date as 3 September 1918 1918) was an Australian explorer and politician. He was the first premier of Western Australia (1890–1901) and a long-serving cabinet minister in ...

, Western Australia's first

Premier Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier. A premier will normally be a head of govern ...

, was sworn into the position. Lefroy retired to Perth, dying there on 21 January 1897. He was survived by his wife of 44 years Mary Bruce, and five children. One of his sons was

Henry Lefroy Sir Henry Bruce Lefroy (24 March 1854 – 19 March 1930) was the eleventh Premier of Western Australia. Biography Lefroy was born in Perth, Western Australia on 24 March 1854. His father was Anthony O'Grady Lefroy, Colonial Treasurer of Wes ...

, who would later become the 11th Premier of Western Australia.

References

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lefroy, Anthony Ogrady Explorers of Western Australia Colonial secretaries of Western Australia Companions of the Order of St Michael and St George 19th-century Irish explorers Members of the Western Australian Legislative Council Irish emigrants to colonial Australia Burials at East Perth Cemeteries 1816 births 1897 deaths Settlers of Western Australia 19th-century Australian politicians