Thomas HENTY, born 1775, Sussex, England, son of William HENTY and Jane OLIVER married Frances Elizabeth HOPKINS 2 Dec 1779 at Lyminster, Sussex. Frances Elizabeth HOPKINS born 1775, Poling Sussex, England, daughter of Joseph HOPKINS & Philadelphia PENFOLD.
Thomas HENTY was a banker and landowner in West Tarring, Sussex. Family of Seven boys-Stephen, George, John, William, Charles, Edward, Francis and one daughter-Jane. Hearing of the Swan River settlement in Western Australia, where land was given away according to property introduced, he decided to set his sons up there, and in March, 1829, chartered and despatched the barque "Caroline" with his three sons, James, Stephen, and John carrying twelve laborers, six women, fifteen children, ten horses, ten cattle, and one hundred and fifty pure Merino sheep.
Mr. Thomas HENTY, wife and family of Edward, Frank, Charles and Jane sailed from Sussex in October, 1831, in the "Forth of Alloway." They arrived Van Diemen's Land in 1832 and settled upon the Tamar. In 1833 he visited Western Australia and advised sons to give up settlement.
Thomas HENTY died in 1839 at Launceston, Van Diemen's Land and Frances also died there in 1848.
Thomas and Francis HENTY had the following family:
Time of Arrival: 12 October 1829
Nation: British
From: London
Master: Fewson
No. of Tons: 330
No. of Guns: 6
No. of Men: 22
HENTY James 29 Single With bros. John and Stephen. [Departed 1832 for Tasmania.]
HENTY John 16 Single With bros. James and Stephen. [Departed 1833 for Tasmania.]
HENTY Stephen 18 Single With bros. James and John. [Married 1836 Jane Pace at Fremantle. Departed after marriage for Tasmania.]
"Mrs. S. G. Henty, widow of the late Hon. Stephen G. Henty, of Victoria, Australia died recently at her home in Victoria, in her ninetirth year. The Hentys were the pioneers and founders of Portland, Western Victoria. Mrs Henty was the first white woman to set foot in the state of Victoria, and her son, Richard Henty was the first white child born in the Colony. The father of the four pioneering brothers was Thomas Henty, landowner and banker, of West Tarring, Sussex, who emigrated to Tasmania with his family in the ship 'Caroline', taking with him stock of all kinds, such as merinos from the flocks of George III, and blood horses from the stud of the Earl of Egremont. Although the Hentys intended at first to follow pastoral pursuits at Portland, they found both sperm and black whales so plentiful that Edward and Stephen went into partnership as whalers. In their first season they killed 61 whales and landed 300 tons of oil.
The late Mrs. Henty went to Australia from Yorkshire, at the age of sixteen, with her mother, and became the wife of Stephen George Henty, who was for many years a member of the Legislative Council of the Colony. Mrs. Henty was a woman of remarkable type, and her interesting and romantic career and high character made her a personality of great distinction in the Colony.
She was the grandmother of Mrs. Edward Starkey, of Tang Hall, York."
The above note with its accompanying portrait is extracted from the 'Graphic' of April 7th, 1906.
The portrait of Thomas Henty may still be seen in the south vestry of the Tarring Church, and a tablet over the vestry door has the following inscription:-
"Sacred to the memory of Thomas Henty, the second son of Thomas and Frances Henty, many years resident in this Parish, who after having served in H.M.S. 'Minden' at the battle of Algiers under Lord Exmouth in 1816, proceeded in his ship to the East Indies where where the rupture of a blood-vessel occasioned his immediate return to this country and his subsequent death on 28th June, 1819, in the eighteenth year of his age.
His parents now living in a distant land have placed this tablet to record their affection for his memory."
This note is offered freely to the residents of the parish, hoping it may prove an interesting link between the ancient parish and the comparitively modern over-sea colony.
April, 1906. Charles LEE, Rector.
Source : Article by Charles Lee, Rector, West Tarring, Sussex,