William Henry Walsh

The Hon William Walsh
File:Wiliam Henry Walsh (1828-1888).jpg W. H. Walsh about 1860
Speaker of the Queensland Legislative Assembly
In office 6 January 1874 – 20 July 1876
Preceded by	Frederick Forbes
Succeeded by	Henry King
Constituency	Warrego
Member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly for Leichhardt
In office 15 June 1859 – 10 December 1859
Preceded by	New seat
Succeeded by	Seat abolished
Member of the Queensland Legislative Assembly for Maryborough
In office 1 February 1865 – 4 November 1873
Preceded by	New seat
Succeeded by	Berkeley Moreton
Member of the Queensland Legislative Assembly for Warrego
In office 4 November 1873 – 12 December 1878
Preceded by	Archibald Buchanan
Succeeded by	Ernest Stevens
Member of the Queensland Legislative Council
In office 20 February 1879 – 5 April 1888
Personal details
Born	William Henry Walsh (1823-12-18)18 December 1823 Milton, Berkshire, England
Died	Traffic accident Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
Resting place	Toowong Cemetery
Nationality	English
Spouse(s)	Elizabeth Brown (b.1828 m.1857 d.1913)
Children	Kathleen Maude Walsh, Eliza Walsh, Western Walsh, Alfred Degilbo Walsh, Hilda Walsh, William Walsh & Nugent Walsh
Occupation	Squatter, Investor
Religion	Church of England

William Henry Walsh (1823–1888) was an Australian pioneer pastoralist or squatter and politician in early Queensland. He was a Member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly from 1859 to 1860, Member of the Queensland Legislative Assembly from 1865 to 1878, and a Member of the Queensland Legislative Council, from 1879-1888. He was the Queensland Minister of the Crown from 1870 to 1873, Speaker in the Queensland Legislative Assembly from 6 January 1874 to 20 July 1876.

Early life

Walsh was supposedly born on 18 December 1823 at Milton, Berkshire, England, son of Charles Walsh, and his wife Elizabeth.

Pastoralist in New South Wales and Queensland

He migrated to Australia on the Mary Sharp arriving 11 June 1844, afterwards gaining a few years of colonial experience working for David Perrier at Bathurst. He then went north to begin a squatting career of his own. In early 1847 he set up, for his former employer, a new station on the Macintyre River in the south-eastern part of the territory of the future Queensland. Shortly thereafter he went into the northern 'unknown' with men and a large flock of sheep financed by the Sydney-based Griffith, Fanning & Co. He subsequently formed the Degilbo and Monduran stations near the present day township of Gayndah in the North Burnett.

Working still for the same company, of which he had then become a co-proprietor, Walsh went further north in July 1853. During this venture he and his men made their mark on Queensland history as the first whites to 'blaze the track' from Burnett to the Boyne Valley near Gladstone, now a section of the Bruce Highway. Here Walsh formed yet another sheep station which he named Milton, allegedly after his birthplace or childhood home.

On 20 February 1857 at Parramatta, New South Wales, he married the Danish-born (yet Scottish and English descended) Elizabeth Brown (1828–1913), daughter of the Copenhagen-born merchant, John Brown (proprietor of Coulston House, Patterson River, from 1829 to 1837 the proprietor of the North Zeeland situated Kokkedal Castle in Denmark). Afterwards he settled initially as the part owner, later sole proprietor of the vast Monduran and Degilbo stations, setting up the latter as a domicile for himself and his growing family.

Political life

He was a Member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly in 1859, Member of the Queensland Legislative Assembly from 1865 to 1878, and a Member of the Queensland Legislative Council, from 1879-1888. He was the Queensland Minister of the Crown from 1870 to 1873, Speaker in the Queensland Legislative Assembly from 6 January 1874 to 20 July 1876. Walsh was arguably the most conspicuous and outspoken Tory-conservative politicians in northern New South Wales and Queensland in the period up to the 1870s.

Later life

On 4 April 1888, he was walking from his home in Bulimba towards the Brisbane CBD along Shaftson Road. As he passed the ropeworks, he was hit by a parcel delivery van and was knocked unconscious and died the following day (5 April 1888). He was buried in Toowong Cemetery.

Named in his honour

A number of Queensland places were named after him:

• the Walsh River
• the Shire of Walsh (previously the Walsh Division)
• Walshs Pyramid

Further reading

• Ørsted-Jensen: Robert: The Right To Live – the Troubled Conscience of an Australian Journalist (yet unpublished thesis and manuscript)

External links

Parliament of New South Wales
New seat	Member for Leichhardt 1859	Abolished
Parliament of Queensland
Preceded by Frederick Forbes	Speaker of the Legislative Assembly 1874 – 1876	Succeeded by Henry King
New seat	Member for Maryborough 1865–1873	Succeeded by Berkeley Moreton
Preceded by Archibald Buchanan	Member for Warrego 1873–1878	Succeeded by Ernest Stevens