sketcher, settler, merchant and banker, eldest of the eleven children of Frances and Thomas Henty, a farmer and banker of West Tarring, Sussex, arrived at Fremantle on 12 October 1829 on board the Caroline , chartered by his father to establish the family in the Swan River Colony. Soon afterwards Henty was appointed magistrate for Fremantle and was granted vast tracts of land. His fiancée, Charlotte Carter (1806-68) of Worthing, Sussex, joined him in Western Australia in April 1831; they were married in Fremantle on 2 May. Disillusioned with their prospects, they left for Launceston early in 1832 where Henty set up business as a general merchant. Bankrupted in 1846, the Hentys and their seven children returned to England in 1848. In 1851 the family returned to Australia, this time to Melbourne, where James started a business. The following year he was elected representative of Portland in the Legislative Council and remained a member of the Upper House for the rest of his life. He died on 12 January 1882.
Henty’s artistic activity was confined to amateur sketching. A sketchbook containing four Western Australian pencil views is in the possession of a descendant. The views depict Fremantle in 1829 , Rottnest Island (1829 and 1832) and Albany, King George’s Sound (1832).
- Writers:
- Staff Writer
- Date written:
- 1992
- Last updated:
- 2011
