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Biographical Register of Members of the Parliament of Western Australia

Hon Henry Boan

Parliamentary Service

House

MLC

Party

National

Date Elected

14 April 1917

Electorate

Metropolitan; Metropolitan–Suburban

Service

Electorates

MLC Metropolitan Province 14 April 1917–21 February 1918 (resigned)
MLC Metropolitan–Suburban Province 15 November 1922 (by-election)–24 May 1924

Private Member's Bills

Inaugural Speech

Boan, Henry, Inaugural Speech.pdf

Year Retired/Resigned

1924

Personal Information

Birth date

4 November 1860

Place of birth

Jones Creek, near Dunolly, Victoria, Australia

Death date

18 March 1941

Cause of death

Place of death

Caulfield, Victoria, Australia

Cemetery

Karrakatta Cemetery, Western Australia

Arrived in WA

1895

Parents

Son of Thomas, miner and road contractor, and Rachel Isaacs

Marriage and Family

Married Sophie Bebarfald (born circa 1868), daughter of Barnett and Fanny Davis on 17 June 1896 at the Hebrew Church, Bayswater Road, Sydney, New South Wales
Children: one son and two daughters

Religion

Church of England

Education

Dunolly, Victoria, Australia

Occupation

Businessperson

Employment History

At age 16 years commenced work at Flegeltaub’s Ballarat warehouse, then a variety of jobs in Queensland, Victoria and New South Wales mercantile houses
Street trader in Broken Hill 1888
With brother Ernest opened firm of Boan Brothers Limited in 1890, soon the leading drapery establishment
1895 to Western Australia with brother Benjamin
Established branch of Boan Bros, opened 7 November 1895
1900 sold interest in Broken Hill business, assumed sole proprietorship in WA after Benjamin’s death in 1901
1918 branch of State Savings Bank opened in store, criticism of this led to resignation from Legislative Council
1918 floated store as limited company
1918–1920 in England where his wife and children had settled in 1913
1929 relinquished control of store to son Frank

Local Government

Principal Honours

Background/Membership

Gave substantial financial support to Children’s Hospital
President of Hospital Board
Prominent race horse owner and breeder
Member Australian Jockey Club
Chairman Western Australian Turf Club
Member Victorian Racing Club
Circa 1932 settled in Melbourne

References

D Black and G Bolton, eds, Biographical register of members of the Parliament of Western Australia: volume one 1870-1930, Parliamentary History Project, Perth, 2010, p. 34.

Bibliography

Further Information

Toby Manford, 'Boan, Henry (1860–1941)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/boan-henry-5274/text8891, published first in hardcopy 1979, accessed online 2 December 2015. Includes a family tree.