Robert Davenport (1816 – 3 September 1896) was a pioneer and politician in the early days of the Colony of South Australia. He was a brother of Sir Samuel Davenport.

History

Robert Davenport was born in

Shirburn Shirburn is a village and civil parish about south of Thame in Oxfordshire. It contains the Grade I listed, 14th-century Shirburn Castle, along with its surrounding, Grade II listed park, and a parish church, the oldest part of which is from ...

, Oxfordshire and trained for the law."Robert Davenport" in DAAO online accessed 15 September 2014
/ref> He and his brother (George) Francis Davenport arrived in South Australia in 1843 and settled at "Battunga" on the "Davenport survey". His more famous brother Samuel lived nearby. The "Davenport survey" was an area defined by "special survey" east of "The Three Brothers survey" (which may have been originally selected for the Davenport brothers, then relinquished), and spreading south of Mount Barker to the source of the Angas, and incorporated the town of

Macclesfield Macclesfield is a market town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East in Cheshire, England. It is located on the River Bollin in the east of the county, on the edge of the Cheshire Plain, with Macclesfield Forest to its e ...

, named in honor of the Earl of Macclesfield (presumably the 6th Earl 1850–1896 ). Lower down the Angas was the "Angas survey", which incorporated the town of Strathalbyn. Davenport lived on his original holding at "Battunga" for more than half a century. He was a capable watercolorist, and produced many studies of South Australian landscapes, some of which are held by the

Art Gallery of South Australia The Art Gallery of South Australia (AGSA), established as the National Gallery of South Australia in 1881, is located in Adelaide. It is the most significant visual arts museum in the Australian state of South Australia. It has a collection of ...

. His family photograph album has been digitised by the

State Library of South Australia The State Library of South Australia, or SLSA, formerly known as the Public Library of South Australia, located on North Terrace, Adelaide, is the official library of the Australian state of South Australia. It is the largest public research ...

and is available online. Most of the information about the Mount Barker district in

Francis Dutton Francis Stacker Dutton CMG (18 October 1818 – 25 January 1877) was the seventh Premier of South Australia, serving twice, firstly in 1863 and again in 1865. History Dutton was born at Cuxhaven, Germany, where his father was British vice-con ...

's book ''South Australia and Its Mines'' (1848) was provided to its author by Robert Davenport.

Political life

Robert Davenport was on 9 July 1851 elected as member for the electoral district of Hindmarsh in the second

South Australian Legislative Council The Legislative Council, or upper house, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of South Australia. Its central purpose is to act as a house of review for legislation passed through the lower house, the House of Assembly. It sits in Parlia ...

. He resigned his seat on 29 June 1854, his brother, Sir Samuel entering the Council again a few months later and remaining a member, even after the advent of constitutional government, until 30 August 1866. Robert took no further part in the politics of the Colony.

Family

Davenport died at South terrace Hospital and was buried at the Battunga cemetery.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Davenport, Robert Members of the South Australian Legislative Council Settlers of South Australia 1816 births 1896 deaths People from Oxfordshire 19th-century Australian politicians