Six hungry families
Encyclopedia
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:
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:
Colony
In politics and history, a colony is a territory under the immediate political control of a state. For colonies in antiquity, city-states would often found their own colonies. Some colonies were historically countries, while others were territories without definite statehood from their inception....
Western Australia
Western Australia
Western Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east...
, with extensive influence in judicial, political, mercantile and social circles. It was first used by John Horgan
John Horgan (Australian politician)
John William Horgan was a Member of the Western Australian Legislative Council in 1888–89. He is remembered most for his aggressive election campaigns in which he characterised six of the most prominent families in colonial Western Australia as the "six hungry families".John Horgan was born...
during his unsuccessful 1886 campaign for election
Election
An election is a formal decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy operates since the 17th century. Elections may fill offices in the legislature, sometimes in the...
to the Western Australian Legislative Council
Western Australian Legislative Council
The Legislative Council, or upper house, is one of the two chambers of parliament in the Australian state of Western Australia. Its central purpose is to act as a house of review for legislation passed through the lower house, the Legislative Assembly. It sits in Parliament House in the state...
.
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
Working class
Working class is a term used in the social sciences and in ordinary conversation to describe those employed in lower tier jobs , often extending to those in unemployment or otherwise possessing below-average incomes...
. He was later successfully sued for libel by George Walpole Leake
George Walpole Leake
George Walpole Leake was a Western Australian barrister and magistrate and nephew of George 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 LeakeGeorge Walpole LeakeGeorge Walpole Leake was a Western Australian barrister and magistrate and nephew of George Leake...
- George LeakeGeorge LeakeGeorge Leake CMG QC was Premier of Western Australia from 27 May 1901 to 21 November 1901, and again from 23 December 1901 until his death on 24 June 1902.-Early life:...
- Sir Luke Leake
- George Walpole Leake
- Stone family:
- Alfred Hawes Stone
- Sir Edward Albert StoneEdward Albert StoneSir Edward Albert Stone KCMG was an Australian lawyer, lieutenant governor, politician and the fourth Chief Justice of Western Australia....
- Frank Mends Stone
- George Frederick StoneGeorge Frederick StoneGeorge Frederick Stone was a Western Australian lawyer and Attorney General of Western Australia from 1854–57 and again from 1860–70.-References:...
- Patrick StonePatrick StonePatrick Stone was a Member of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly from 1901 to 1904, and from 1905 to 1908....
- Lee-Steere family:
- Sir Ernest Augustus Lee-Steere
- Sir James George Lee-SteereJames George Lee-SteereSir James George Lee Steere KCMG was a Western Australian politician and a prominent member of the six hungry families....
- Sir Ernest Henry Lee-SteereErnest Henry Lee-SteereSir Ernest Henry Lee-Steere, KBE was a prominent Australian businessman. He was particularly noted for his involvement in horse racing in Western Australia, becoming chairman of the Western Australian Turf Club from 1963 to 1984. He was also Lord Mayor of Perth from 1972 to...
- Shenton family:
- Arthur Shenton
- Edward ShentonEdward Shenton- History :Edward Shenton was an American illustrator, author, editor, poet, and teacher.Between 1923 and 1976 Shenton illustrated over 130 books including The Yearling, Tender Is the Night, Green Hills of Africa, Freedom River Florida 1845, and three volumes of the Rivers of America Series...
- Ernest ShentonErnest ShentonErnest Shenton was one of the driving forces behind an embryonic and brought one-hour photo processing to the high street in the Eighties with his chain of Photo Shop minilabs. The Austrian-born refugee helped the Dixons founder Charles Kalms and his son Stanley, later Lord Kalms, to build the...
- George Shenton SrGeorge Shenton SrGeorge Shenton was a pharmacist, merchant, banker and philanthropist in colonial Perth, Western Australia.George Shenton was born in Winchester in England on 2 January 1811, the second of four sons of a wealthy silk manufacturer. At the age of fifteen, he was apprenticed to a pharmacist named...
- Sir George ShentonGeorge ShentonSir George Shenton was a prominent businessman in colonial Western Australia, the first Mayor of Perth, and a Member of the Western Australian Legislative Council for over thirty years.-Early and family life:...
- William Kernott Shenton
- Lefroy family
- Sir Anthony O'Grady LefroyAnthony O'Grady LefroyAnthony O'Grady Lefroy CMG , often known as O'Grady Lefroy, was an important government official in Western Australia before the advent of responsible government....
- Sir Edward Lefroy
- Gerald de Courcy Lefroy
- Henry LefroyHenry LefroySir Henry Bruce Lefroy KCMG was the eleventh Premier of Western Australia.-Biography:Lefroy was born in Perth, Western Australia on 24 March 1854. His father was Anthony O'Grady Lefroy, Colonial Treasurer of Western Australia for over 30 years...
- Sir Anthony O'Grady Lefroy
- Burt family
- Sir Archibald BurtArchibald BurtSir Archibald Paull Burt Kt QC was a British lawyer from the colonies of the West Indies, and was the first Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Western Australia, which is the highest ranking court in the Australian State of Western Australia.-Biography:Archibald Paull Burt was born in 1810, in...
- Sir Francis BurtFrancis BurtSir Francis Theodore Page Burt, AC, KCMG, QC , commonly known as "Red", Australian jurist, served as Chief Justice of Western Australia from 1977 until 1988 and as Governor of Western Australia from 1990 to 1993. He was also Lieutenant Governor of the State from 1977 to 1990...
- Septimus BurtSeptimus BurtThe Hon Septimus Burt KC was a Western Australian lawyer, politician and grazier, the son of Sir Archibald Burt.He was born on 25 October 1847 at St Kitts in the West Indies, and educated at a private school at Melksham, Wiltshire, England...
- Octavius Burt
- Sir Archibald 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), Sept. 2005, p.27-28.