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Members’ biographical register

Hon Henry Boan

House

MLC

Party

Nationalist

Date first elected

14 April 1917

Year Retired/Resigned

1924

Electorate(s)

Metropolitan
Metropolitan–Suburban

Inaugural Speech

Boan, Henry, Inaugural Speech.pdf

Parliamentary Service

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

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 mercantile houses in Queensland, Victoria and New South Wales
Street trader, Broken Hill, 1888
Established firm of Boan Brothers Limited in 1890 with brother Ernest, soon the leading drapery establishment
Moved to Western Australia with brother Benjamin, 1895
Established branch of Boan Bros, opened 7 November 1895
Sold interest in Broken Hill business, 1900 assumed sole proprietorship in WA after Benjamin’s death in 1901
Branch of State Savings Bank opened in store, 1918. Criticism of this led to resignation from Legislative Council
Floated store as limited company, 1918
Relinquished control of store to son, Frank, 1929

Local Government

Principal Honours

Background/Membership

Living in England, 1918–1920 where his wife and children had settled in 1913
Gave substantial financial support to Children’s Hospital
President, Hospital Board
Prominent race horse owner and breeder
Member, Australian Jockey Club
Chairman, Western Australian Turf Club
Member, Victorian Racing Club
Settled in Melbourne, circa 1932

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.