Henry Cary
| Town/City | Brisbane |
|---|---|
| First name | Henry |
| Last name | Cary |
| Country of Origin | England |
| Date of Birth | 12th Feb 1804 |
| Year of Arrival in Australia | 1849 |
| Submitted by | Jennifer Helyar |
Story
In September,1827 Henry Cary married 19 year old Isabella Carlton Dawson at St George Hanover Square, London. Isabella was the daughter of George D.L. Dawson, Esq, (who died 1/5/1832) and his wife Elmira, of Sloane St, Chelsea. Isabella’s ancestry is recorded in Burke’s Royal Families of England, Scotland & Wales.
Already a well-known scholar on law and the classics, Henry was called to the Bar in England, in November 1827, and chose the Oxford circuit, continuing to research and publish his writings. In 1832, after the death of his mother, he took Holy Orders and was ordained by Bishop C.R. Sumner of Winchester in July 1833, during which role he continued his classical studies.
In 1849, 5 years after the death of his father, Henry decided to emigrate to Australia, after his sense of fun attracted unpleasant gossip.
He was welcomed in Sydney, by Bishop Broughton who licensed him and helped him set up a classical school at Alexandria (Darling Point). While he failed to win appointment as a lecturer in the classics at the the new Sydney University, he was nominated as a university examiner and was much sought after as a coach.
In 1855 he returned to law, and on 11 April 1859 he presided over the first District Court sittings in the Colony under the District Courts Act, 1858, began at Windsor in the Cumberland and Coast District, a role in which he continued to the end of his working life. The year 1867 was marked by heavy rain and floods through which he had to travel by horse transport to perform his judicial duties. The inconvenience and privations he suffered affected his health. He retired on medical gounds, two years later, and died the following year in 1870.
He was a prolific writer on law and the classics, and wrote a biography on his father, Reverend Henry Francis Cary, translator of Dante’s Divine Comedy. His mother was sister to Sir Charles Montagu Ormsby, Bart.
From 1859, they were living at Arborfield Lodge, Liverpool. It was here that his wife, Isabella died 19/11/1862 and was buried at Liverpool Pioneers’ Memorial Park. Arborfield Hall, in Berkshire, UK, was the home of Isabella’s brother, George.
They had two sons, Henry Francis, who was working in customs, and whose large family produced many descendants, and George “William”, a barrister, who later disappeared on the diamond fields of South Africa.