George Holden (politician)

George Kenyon Holden, MLC (1808 – 16 April 1874) was an Australian businessman, banker and politician. He was a member of the New South Wales Legislative Council from 1856 to 1861 and from 1861 to 1863. A correspondent of John Stuart Mill, Holden was inspired to propose proportional representation to parliament in 1861 and was one of the first politicians in the world to do so.[1]

George Kenyon Holden

MLC
Member of Legislative Council of New South Wales
In office
11 July 1843 (1843-07-11) – 20 June 1848 (1848-06-20)
Personal details
Born(1808-06-02)2 June 1808
Worcester, England
Died16 April 1874(1874-04-16) (aged 65)
Darlinghurst, Sydney
Citizenship Australia
Political partyFree Trade
RelativesJohn Watt (son-in-law)

Holden was a Crown Prosecutor. He became a trustee of the New South Wales Savings Bank, a director of the Liverpool and London Fire and Life Insurance Company, the chairman of the National Schools Board, and president of the Sydney Mechanics' School of Arts. He was otherwise a pioneering environmentalist and a founding member of the Acclimatisation Society of New South Wales.[2]

Family

He was born in Worcester, England to Adam Holden and Maria (née Gillam). His daughter Mary Jane married another New South Wales politician and businessman, John Brown Watt; their third son was Ernest Alexander Stuart Watt (1874-1954), whose daughter Susan Gai Watt married into the Street dynasty by wedding Sir Laurence Whistler Street. Holden died at Darlinghurst in 1874.[3]

Law

Holden studied law and became a solicitor, migrating to New South Wales in 1831. He was private secretary to Governor Sir Richard Bourke during his term (1831–37), and was also a stipendiary magistrate at Campbelltown. In 1837 he became Crown Prosecutor in the Quarter Sessions, and in 1838 he began private practice as a solicitor.

Politics

He was a member of the New South Wales Legislative Council from 1856 to 1861 and from 1861 to 1863. Holden was inspired by John Stuart Mill to advocate a proportional representation electoral system using the Hare quota, as had been recommended by Mill in their letters. He made the proposal to parliament in 1861. An active member of parliament, Holden was secretary of the Law Commission between 1848 and 1850.[1]

Education

In 1849, Holden was appointed to the Board of National Education, remaining until 1867 when it was replaced by the Council of Education. During his tenure, Holden also served as the chairman of the National Schools Board until 1865. His interest in education, as with land title reform, was likely rooted in his time as Governor Bourke's private secretary, as Bourke had been an advocate of public education in New South Wales.[4]

Environmentalism

In 1861, he was a founding member of the Acclimatisation Society of New South Wales. The Society's aim was the introduction, acclimatisation and domestication of 'useful or ornamental' birds, fish, insects, vegetables and other exotic species. Among other species discussed and introduced by the Society during the 1860s were alpacas, sunflowers, watercress and pheasants. The society was also active in importing Australian species into New South Wales and Sydney, including Murray cod in 1864. During this period, the Acclimatisation Society also erected a number of cages in the Sydney Botanic Gardens in which they kept a collection of introduced birds such as pheasants, blackbirds and thrushes, which acted as part storage aviary and part exotic zoo.[2]

References
  1. Irving, T H (1972). "Holden, George Kenyon (1808–1874)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Volume 4. Melbourne University Press. ISSN 1833-7538. Retrieved 30 December 2020 – via National Centre of Biography, Australian National University.
  2. Wilson, E (1992). The Wishing Tree: A Guide to Memorial Trees, Statues and Fountains in the Royal Botanic Gardens, Domain and Centennial Park Sydney. Sydney: Kangaroo Press. p. 30. ISBN 0864174373.
  3. "Mr George Kenyon Holden (1808-1874)". Former Members of the Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 30 December 2020.
  4. Dunn, Mark. "Holden, George Kenyon". The Dictionary of Sydney. Retrieved 30 December 2020.
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