Barbara Lawes papers related to the Hordern family, ca. 1882-1950

MLMSS 8537

fonds

ca. 1882-1950

411617

0.16 metres of textual material (1 box)

Anthony Hordern (1819-1876), merchant, was born on 16 July 1819 in London, the eldest son of Anthony Hordern and his wife Ann, née Woodhead, of Retford, Nottingham. He migrated in the Phoenix, arriving at Sydney in March 1825.

His eldest son, Anthony, was born on 24 July 1842 at Melbourne. Educated in Sydney and at Rugby, England, he toured Europe and at 18 entered his father's firm, Anthony Hordern & Sons. In 1878 Hordern and his brother Samuel signed a formal deed of partnership for thirty years. According to the Bulletin, 22 May 1880, they 'fairly rule[d] the retail trade of the metropolis and the colony in general'. They adopted the trade-mark of the spreading oak over the motto, 'While I live I'll grow'. In 1878 Anthony had visited America and London, and in 1879 opened the 'Palace Warehouse' and the 'Palace Emporium' in the Haymarket. In 1881-82 he opened offices in Britain, the Continent, America and China. Interested in Western Australia, he put to the Colonial Office in 1873 a scheme for 10,000 settlers and in 1883 proposed to the Legislative Council a land-grant railway; later he formed a syndicate in England to construct the line and encourage migration. Leaving an estate of £190,800, Hordern died at sea from brain fever on 16 September 1886 and was buried at Albany where in 1889 an obelisk was erected to his memory. He was survived by four children and his wife Elizabeth, née Bull, whom he had married in 1864.

Samuel was born on 14 July 1849 at Sydney. Educated at Fort Street School and Camden College, he joined his father's firm at 17 and in 1886 paid £158,252 for Anthony's share, becoming sole proprietor of 'Anthony Hordern and Sons, Universal Providers, Palace Emporium, Haymarket [ONLY]', to distinguish it from five other competing Hordern shops in Sydney. On 10 July 1901 fire destroyed all the Haymarket complex but Samuel leased the Exhibition building and opened there next day. In 1905 he had new premises on Brickfield Hill. Samuel gave privately to many charities. A federalist and imperialist, he gave £10,000 to the Dreadnought Fund. In 1892 he was commodore of the Prince Alfred Yacht Club and an active member of the Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron. His love of the country led him in the 1880s to buy Wilton Park, Picton, and in 1887 to build Retford Park, near Bowral, where he bred Jersey and Ayrshire cattle. After wining the Sydney Cup in 1893 with Realm and the Metropolitan in 1896 with The Skipper, he concentrated on breeding horses. He kept homing pigeons and was vice-president of the Royal Agricultural Society. He died at Darling Point on 13 August 1909 and was buried in the Anglican section of Rookwood cemetery. His eldest son, Sir Samuel (1876-1956), became governing director of Anthony Hordern & Sons when it was made a private company in 1912.

Reference:
Teale, Ruth, 'Hordern, Anthony (1819–1876)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/hordern-anthony-3796/text6009, accessed 6 June 2012.

Collection of papers related mainly to Anthony Hordern (1842-1886) and Samuel Hordern (1849-1909), including:

Letters received by Samuel Hordern and Anthony Hordern & Sons from the firms agents in London, ca. 1882-1885.

Letters received by Samuel Hordern from Anthony Hordern in London, ca. 1884-1885.

Papers regarding Anthony Hordern’s interest in a land company in Western Australia, ca. 1880. Including correspondence and speeches by him designed to encourage emigration to Western Australia.

Letters by Samuel Hordern, ca. 1890.

Papers related to the sale of Samuel Hordern’s properties, 1916-1918.

Printed catalogues, 1912 and 1950 of Hordern family effects, and property conveyances, 1927 and 1937.

Copyright status:: In copyright
Please acknowledge:: Mitchell Library, State Library of New South Wales

Information upgraded as part of the Manuscripts Unprocessed eRecords Project 2011-2012