Anthony Hordern III (1842 - 1886)

Born 24 Jul 1842 in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

Ancestors

Husband of Mary Elizabeth (Bull) Hordern — married 12 Oct 1864 in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

Descendants

Died 16 Sep 1886 at age 44 in At sea

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Biography

Anthony Hordern III, the eldest son of Anthony Hordern and Harriet Marsden, was born on 24 July 1842 at Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.^[1]

He married Elizabeth Mary Bull on 12 October 1864 at Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.^[2]
MARRIAGE.
HORDERN—BULL.—On the 12th instant, by special license, at Christ Church, by the Rev. Canon Walsh, M.A., Anthony, eldest son of Mr. Anthony Hordern, junior, of George-street, Sydney, and the eldest grandson of Anthony Hordern, senior, esq. of Russell-street, Melbourne, Victoria, to Elizabeth Mary, fourth daughter of John Bull, Esq., of Liverpool, New South Wales.^[3]

BUSINESS. Following the death of their father in 1876 he and his brother Samuel signed a formal deed of partnership in 1878 intended to last for 30 years. In 1879 they opened the 'Palace Warehouse' and the 'Palace Emporium' in the Haymarket. In 1881-82 he opened offices in Britain, the Continent, America and China. In addition to successful retail businesses in Sydney, Anthony Hordern III became interested in development opportunities and business ventures in Western Australia, such as the construction of the Albany-Beverley railway line. He raised capital for these activities in England. On 26 November 1884 he sailed from Albany on the "Carthage" bound for London via Colombo.^[4]

On the return voyage of one such journey via the ship "Carthage", having boarded in Egypt from the Brindisi boat, Anthony Horden III died from "the result of an attack of brain fever supervening, it would seem, upon a sunstroke."^[5]
DEATHS.
HORDERN.—September 16, on board R.M.S. Carthage, in the Indian Ocean, Anthony Hordern, aged 44 years.^[6]

Obituary
The Late Mr. Anthony Hordern.
IT is our painful duty to record the death of Mr. Anthony Hordern, of the firm of Anthony Hordern and Sons, of this city. This unfortunate and unexpected event took place on board the R. M. S. Carthage, on the 16th September, between Colombo and Albany, of brain fever. The subject of this notice was born in Melbourne in 1842, was educated partly in Sydney and partly in England, was made a partner, in conjunction with his brother Mr. Samuel Hordern, in the business for so many years carried on by Mr. Anthony Hordern, Senior, in George Street, Sydney, and very early in life exhibited those signs of shrewdness and foresight, which afterwards so signally distinguished him.
The career of the lately deceased gentleman, closed as it has been at the early age of 44, was essentially one of activity, for, into his comparatively short life, he filled enough good work to have satisfied the sternest stickler, had he attained man's allotted, though seldom reached, three score years and ten. We turn to his life and its results, and find in Anthony Hordern, the man who, from small beginnings, raised up perhaps the largest, and certainly the most remarkable trade concern in the Australias; for to his comprehensive grasp of the wants of Sydney and its surroundings, is mainly due the existence of the widely known Palace Emporium in the Hay-market. It is evident he thought he could do something for the people, as well as for himself ; and in creating a splendid investment for the capitalist and at the same time conferring a benefit on his fellow citizens, he reached what should be the prime end of all business exertion. But the cosmopolitan genius of the man must needs turn another way for occupation; and for many years before his schemes were given to the world, Anthony Hordern entertained grand, and as it has proved, practical ideas of the future of Western Australia. Most men would have rested content with an interest in such a concern as that in the Haymarket, but not so Anthony Hordern, for no sooner were the new buildings in Sydney completed, and the venture fairly afloat, than he commenced to devote a large share of his time and attention to his Western Australia schemes, which consisted of a railway from Albany to Beverly, and a gigantic land project for the conversion of something like 5,000 square miles of territory, afflicted with poisonous scrub, into an arable and prosperous country. How far he succeeded is pretty well known to our readers, how he induced the government of Western Australia to fall in with his views, and how the needful capital was raised, are almost matters of history; and how the deep thinking, hard headed, enterprising Australian citizen was struck down on the very threshold of success, is a sad end to a story full of meaning and instruction.
For the last three or four years Mr. Anthony Hordern resided principally in London, and although he nominally managed the affairs of Anthony Hordern and Sons in the old country, the Western Australia schemes were of such an absorbing character, that the whole weight and responsibility of the Sydney concern have rested upon Mr. Samuel Hordern, now the sole surviving partner, and who will, we are informed, carry on the business in the future. The funeral took place at Albany, on the 22nd September, and was a public one; all the public offices and houses of business being closed on the occasion, and the people turning out en masse to do honor to the dead. It is singular, and certainly savours of poetical justice, that the deceased gentleman should find a sepulchre in the country to which he devoted so much thought, and in a place where he frequently expressed a desire to be buried.^[7]

Anthony Hordern III was buried at Albany, Western Australia, Australia.
Inscription: Sacred to the Memory of Anthony Hordern of Sydney N.S.W. who died on board S. S. Carthage on 18th September 1886 when on his way from England to Albany W. Australia Aged 44 years. As a citizen he enjoyed the respect and confidence of his fellows As a husband and father he was loved While to the people of West Australia he endeared himself by his efforts on their behalf.^[8]

There is also a memorial to him at his wife's grave, Rookwood General Cemetery, New South Wales, Australia.^[9]

Sources

1. ↑ VIC birth registration number 13001/1842 HORDERN ANTHONY (Parents) ANTHONY and HARRIET HORDERN (MELBOURNE) https://my.rio.bdm.vic.gov.au
2. ↑ NSW marriage registration number 846/1864 HORDERN ANTHONY married BULL ELIZABETH MARY (SYDNEY) https://familyhistory.bdm.nsw.gov.au
3. ↑ "Empire" (Sydney, NSW : 1850 - 1875), Friday 14 October 1864, page 1 column 1 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/60560797?searchTerm=Hordern%20Bull%20marriage#
4. ↑ 'Arrival of the S. S. Cathage' "Daily News" (Perth, WA : 1882 - 1955), Thursday 27 November 1884, page 3 column 2 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/76214669?searchTerm=carthage#
5. ↑ VIGILANS ET AUDAX. PERTH, WEDNESDAY, SEPT. 21, 1886. "West Australian" (Perth, WA : 1879 - 1954), Wednesday 22 September 1886, page 3 column 1 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/3757984?searchTerm=death%20Anthony%20Hordern%201886&searchLimits=l-state=Western+Australia#
6. ↑ "Sydney Mail and New South Wales Advertiser" (NSW : 1871 - 1912), Saturday 2 October 1886, page 724, column 2 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/164376041?searchTerm=Anthony%20Hordern%201886&searchLimits=l-state=New+South+Wales|||l-category=Family+Notices#
7. ↑ "Illustrated Sydney News" (NSW : 1881 - 1894), Saturday 16 October 1886, pages 9-10 columns 1-2 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/63620333/5788415#
8. ↑ Find a Grave, (has images) database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/179864352/anthony-hordern: accessed 5 May 2024), memorial page for Anthony Hordern (24 Jul 1842–16 Sep 1886), Find a Grave Memorial ID 179864352, citing Memorial Park Cemetery, Albany, Albany City, Western Australia, Australia; Maintained by Bilbo Senn (contributor 48214134
9. ↑ Find a Grave, (has images) database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/184090278/elizabeth_mary-hordern: accessed 5 May 2024), memorial page for Elizabeth Mary Bull Hordern (23 Feb 1846–21 Nov 1919), Find a Grave Memorial ID 184090278, citing Rookwood General Cemetery, Rookwood, Cumberland Council, New South Wales, Australia; Maintained by Bilbo Senn (contributor 48214134)

See also

• ANTHONY HORDERN THE YOUNGER His Biggest Scheme and Boldest Enterprise. "Star" (Sydney, NSW : 1909 - 1910), Tuesday 18 May 1909, page 14 colümns 3-4 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/228070728?searchTerm=Anthony%20Hordern%201842&searchLimits=#

• A Great Colonising Scheme. "Australian Town and Country Journal" (Sydney, NSW : 1870 - 1919), Saturday 11 October 1884, page 14 column 2 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/71018625?searchTerm=Henry%20Hordern#

• THE HORDERNS & WINDSOR "Windsor and Richmond Gazette" (NSW : 1888 - 1961), Friday 21 May 1926, page 8 column 1 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/85948880?searchTerm=Hordern%2C%20Anthony%20Marsden%20marriage#

• Teale, Ruth. Article in Australian Dictionary of Biography

• Note: Date of birth on both cemetery memorials is given as 1 November 1842.