Henry Copeland (politician)

Henry Copeland, (6 June 1839 – 22 June 1904) was a member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly.^[1]

Henry Copeland, 1880

Copeland was born in Hull, Yorkshire, England. Aged 18 years, he arrived in Williamstown, Victoria and spent around 15 years on the goldfields as a digger, farmer and contractor.^[2] In 1863 he visited England where he married Hannah née Beecroft on 20 April. He would later marry her sister Mary and had 4 sons and 7 daughters from both marriages. He moved to New South Wales in 1872.

Copeland was elected unopposed to the New South Wales Mining Board in 1874.^[2] He entered the New South Wales Legislative Assembly and represented six different seats between 1877 and 1900.^[2]

He was briefly Secretary for Public Works in the Stuart ministry appointed in January 1883, defeated in the resulting ministerial by-election and was returned to the assembly at the East Sydney by-election held the following week, before resigning from the ministry in March 1883 following a speech he made, whilst intoxicated, at the St Patrick's day banquet.^[1] He was Secretary for Lands in the Jennings ministry from February 1886 to January 1887. In October 1891, when the third Dibbs ministry Government was formed, he was again appointed Secretary for Lands from October 1891 until August 1894.^[3]

He was appointed Agent-General for New South Wales in London in May 1900, serving until 18 July 1903.^[1]

Copeland died in Twickenham, London, England on 22 June 1904(1904-06-22) (aged 65).^[1]

His brother was the Rev. G.D. Copeland of St Stephen's, London.

References

1. Rutledge, Martha. "Copeland, Henry (1839–1904)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Canberra: National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. ISBN 978-0-522-84459-7. ISSN 1833-7538. OCLC 70677943. Retrieved 3 December 2013.
2. "The Hon. Henry Copeland (1839-1904)". Former members of the Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 23 May 2019.
3. Mennell, Philip (1892). "Copeland, Hon. Henry" . The Dictionary of Australasian Biography. London: Hutchinson & Co – via Wikisource.

 

Parliament of New South Wales
Political offices
Preceded by John Lackey	Secretary for Public Works January – March 1883	Succeeded by Francis Wright
Preceded by Gerald Spring	Secretary for Lands 1886 – 1887	Succeeded by Thomas Garrett
Preceded by James Brunker	Secretary for Lands 1891 – 1894	Succeeded by Joseph Carruthers
New South Wales Legislative Assembly
Preceded by Robert Forster	Member for Goldfields North 1877 – 1880	Abolished
Preceded by Samuel Terry	Member for New England 1880 – 1882 With: William Proctor	Succeeded by James Farnell
Preceded by William Foster Joseph Mitchell	Member for Newtown 1882 – 1883 With: Frederick Gibbes	Succeeded by Joseph Mitchell
Preceded by John McElhone	Member for East Sydney 1883 – 1887 With: Edmund Barton George Griffiths / George Reid George Reid / Sydney Burdekin	Succeeded by William McMillan John Street
Preceded by William Proctor	Member for New England 1887 – 1894 With: James Inglis none / Edmund Lonsdale	Abolished
New district	Member for Armidale 1894 – 1895	Succeeded by Edmund Lonsdale
Preceded by Richard Meagher	Member for Sydney-Phillip 1895 – 1900	Succeeded by Daniel O'Connor
Diplomatic posts
Preceded by Sir Julian Salomons	Agent-General for New South Wales 1900 – 1903	Succeeded by The Earl of Jersey