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    His excellency Sir Henry Barkly, K.C.B., 1863, by Samuel Calvert, courtesy of State Library of Victoria.
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Barkly, Sir Henry (1815 - 1898)

Born
1815
Scotland
Died
1898
United Kingdom
Occupation
Governor

Sir Henry Barkly was appointed governor of Victoria in 1856 and arrived in Melbourne on Christmas Eve of that year. He had the highest salary in the empire because the Colonial Office considered the post particularly difficult. Barkly’s function as governor was that of a constitutional ‘sovereign’ in the new environment of responsible government in Victoria. In addition to his duties as Governor, Barkly was a founder and president of the Royal Society of Victoria, and helped to found the National Gallery, the Acclimatization Society and the National Observatory.

Cate Elkner

References
Knox, B. A., 'Barkly, Sir Henry (1815 - 1898)', in Australian Dictionary of Biography, vol. 3, Melbourne University Press, 1969, pp. 95-96. Details