| Honorific prefix | Mr |
|---|---|
| Office 1 | South Australian Commissioner of Crown Lands and Immigration |
| Term start 1 | 24 October 1856 |
| Term end 1 | 21 August 1857 |
| Premier 1 | Boyle Finniss |
| Successor 1 | William Milne |
| Constituency mp 2 | East Torrens |
| Parliament 2 | South Australian |
| Term start 2 | 26 February 1857 |
| Term end 2 | 26 January 1858 |
| Predecessor 2 | New District |
| Successor 2 | John Barrow |
| Alongside 2 | George Waterhouse, Lavington Glyde |
| Birth date | 31 October 1813 |
| Birth place | Sandon, Staffordshire, England. |
| Death date | 14 March 1897 (aged 83) |
| Death place | Woollahra, New South Wales |
Charles Bonney (31 October 1813 – 15 March 1897) was a pioneer and politician in Australia.
Early life
Bonney was the youngest son of the Rev. George Bonney, a fellow of Jesus College, Cambridge, and his wife Susanna, née Knight. He was born at Sandon, Staffordshire, England.[1] After his father died in 1826 his brother Thomas, headmaster of Rugeley Grammar School, gave him an education and a home for seven years. (Two of Thomas's sons, Edward and Frederic Bonney, later went to Australia.)
Pioneering in Australia
Bonney left Britain on 5 August 1834 in the John Craig and arrived at Sydney on 12 December 1834. This was up to twenty times a typical ship load of sheep,[2] eliminated catastrophic losses of entire ship loads[3] and transformed the economics of the wool industry in Victoria as other overlanders followed his path. On about 21 March 1837 he discovered the rich, fertile Kilmore Plains in a journey that included blazing the trail of the Sydney Road. Kilmore became the inland agricultural powerhouse of the infant State of Victoria. These discoveries had a major impact on the economy of Victoria.[4] p108 p117. Bonney later wrote that amongst his proudest achievements were founding the fertile district of Kilmore and the route of the Sydney Road.[5]
See also
Notes
- ^
- ^ Cornwall Chronicle, 24 October 1835, p. 2.
- ^ Bent's News and Tasmanian Three-Penny Register, 27 February 1836, p. 3.
- ^ Williams, Martin. Charles Bonney and the fertile Kilmore Plains, Victorian Historical Journal, Vol. 90, No. 1, June 2019.
- ^ Bonney, Charles. Autobiographical Notes, National Library of Australia, NLA digitised item, JAFp BIO 55 copy
References
- H. J. Gibbney, 'Bonney, Charles (1813 - 1897)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 3, Melbourne University Press, 1969, pp 188–190.