Six hungry families

Six hungry families was a phrase used in the 1880s and 1890s to describe six of the most prominent and powerful families in colonial Western Australia, with extensive influence in judicial, political, mercantile and social circles. It was first used by John Horgan during his unsuccessful 1886 campaign for election to the Western Australian Legislative Council.

Horgan used the phrase to imply that the families were hungry for more wealth, power, influence and land, and that this was at the expense of the working class. He was later successfully sued for libel by George Walpole Leake, a member of one of the "six hungry families", and fined £500.

Roughly speaking, the "six hungry families" were:

• the Leake family;
• the Stone family;
• the Lee Steere family;
• the Shenton family;
• the Lefroy family;
• the Burt family.

However, there was extensive intermarriage between these and other influential families, and a person could be a member of one or more of these families without possessing any of the six surnames. Essentially, the term six hungry families referred to a single nebulous class of colonists, rather than six distinct families.

Prominent members of the "six hungry families" included:

• Leake family:
  • George Walpole Leake
  • George Leake
  • Sir Luke Leake
• Stone family:
  • Alfred Hawes Stone
  • Sir Edward Albert Stone
  • Frank Mends Stone
  • George Frederick Stone
  • Patrick Stone
• Lee Steere family:
  • Sir James George Lee Steere
  • Sir Ernest Augustus Lee Steere
• Shenton family:
  • Arthur Shenton
  • Edward Shenton
  • Ernest Shenton
  • George Shenton Sr
  • Sir George Shenton
  • William Kernott Shenton
• Lefroy family
  • Sir Anthony O'Grady Lefroy
  • Sir Edward Lefroy
  • Gerald de Courcy Lefroy
  • Henry Lefroy
• Burt family
  • Sir Archibald Burt
  • Sir Francis Burt
  • Septimus Burt
  • Octavius Burt

Further reading

• Altham, John.(2005) The unveiling of portraits of former Chief Justices, Sir Alexander Onslow, Kt (1842-1908), Sir Edward Stone, Kt (1844-1920) Brief (Law Society of Western Australia), September 2005, p. 27-28.