Hovenden Hely

Hovenden Hely (born January 1, 1823 in Tullamore , County Offaly , Ireland , † October 8, 1872 in Sydney , New South Wales , Australia ) was an explorer, landowner and politician.

Hovenden Hely was the son of Frederick Augustus Hely, a large landowner and chief superintendent for Australian convicts , and his wife Georgina Susannah Lindsay, née Bucknell. His family emigrated with him to Sydney. He went to school at The King School in Parramatta . After graduating from school, he worked for two years as an employee in the colonial administration. In 1841 he inherited a fifth of his father's lands.

The discoverer Ludwig Leichhardt , who thought Hovenden Hely was a lazy man and accused him of disloyalty, nevertheless included him in his expedition from 1846 to 1847. Although this was known, in December 1851 Hely was appointed leader of the search expedition for the missing Leichhardt. The search was not only unsuccessful, he is also said to have pursued it without a concept.

From 1856 to 1857 he was a representative for the districts of Northcumberland and Hunter in the first legislative assembly of New South Wales. He is said to have acted ineffectively as a politician and, above all, pursued his own interests. In 1859 he married Mary Gertrude Church. The marriage resulted in six sons and one daughter.

Hely had constant financial problems. In July 1862, he and three judges were dismissed from their offices for irregularities. In 1865 he became insolvent. He became legally competent again in 1866 when iron ore and coal deposits were discovered on his property.

He died in 1872 at the age of 49.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ parliament.nsw.gov.au : Mr Hovenden Hely (1823–1872) , in English, accessed April 12, 2013.
2. ↑ Ken Elford: Hely, Hovenden (1823–1872) . In: Douglas Pike (Ed.): Australian Dictionary of Biography . Volume 4. Melbourne University Press, Carlton (Victoria) 1972, ISBN 0-522-84034-5 (English).