{{Short description|Australian pioneer (1820–1907)}} {{More citations needed|date=January 2023}} {{Use Australian English|date=July 2022}} {{Use dmy dates|date=July 2022}}
{{Infobox person | name = Walter Padbury | image = Walter Padbury photograph c 1880.jpg | caption = Walter Padbury, around 1880 | birth_name = Walter Padbury | birth_date = {{Birth date|1817|12|22|df=y}} | birth_place = Fawler, Oxfordshire, England | death_date = {{Death date and age|1907|04|18|1817|12|22|df=y}} | death_place = Perth, Western Australia, Australia | education = | occupation = squatter, pastoralist, politician, philanthropist | title = | spouse = Charlotte Nairn | children = | parents = Thomas Padbury & Ruth (''née'' Holloway) | signature = | known for = }}
'''Walter Padbury''' (22 December 1817 – 18 April 1907) was a British-born Australian pioneer, politician and philanthropist.<ref name="tdn07">{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article207336277 |title=Death of Mr Walter Padbury |newspaper=The Swan Express |location=Western Australia |date=1907-04-20 |access-date=2019-12-25 |page=3 |via=Trove }}</ref><ref name="eastperthcemeteries">{{cite web|url=https://eastperthcemeteries.com.au/index.php/explore/stories-and-people/88-walter-padbury|title=Walter Padbury|publisher=East Perth Cemeteries|access-date=5 May 2024}}</ref>
== Early life == Padbury was born in Fawler in the English county of Oxfordshire on 22 December 1817 and baptised on 11 January 1818 at St James Church in nearby Stonesfield. Earlier sources gave his birthdate as 1820, but this has been shown to be incorrect.<ref name="eastperthcemeteries"/> At the age of 12, Padbury was brought by his father to Fremantle, Western Australia, aboard the {{ship||Protector|1827|2}} on 25 February 1830, before his father's death in July of that year. Padbury was left in the care of a married couple, who absconded with his inheritance, leaving Padbury as a homeless orphan. He held multiple occupations in an attempt to support himself, including shepherding near York for a £10 salary at the age of 16. By 1863, Padbury had saved enough money to arrange for his mother and other family members to immigrate to Australia, becoming one of the first settlers in North West Australia, squatting on the territory of the indigenous Nyamal people surrounding the De Grey River. This venture failed after several years.{{sfn|Coppin|Read|2010|pp=3-4}}
== Career == Despite his prior business failure, he remained interested in the North West. Later in life he found success in his ownership of a profitable flour-mill at Guildford. He was a committed member of the Royal Agricultural Society of Western Australia, serving as president from 1874 to 1876 and again in 1885. With the capital and stability afforded to him from his successful businesses, including a line of general stores, he often donated to charitable institutions and financially supported the endeavours of his extended family.
He had a long political career as well, serving as a member of the Perth City Council, chairman of the Guildford Municipal Council, and the member for Swan in the Western Australian Legislative Council from 1872 until his resignation in 1877.<ref name=":0">[http://www.parliament.wa.gov.au/ParliamentaryHandbook/23rd%20Edition%20of%20the%20Parliament%20Handbook%20-%20Final%20Version.pdf ''The Western Australian Parliamentary Handbook (Twenty-Third Edition)''] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303183010/http://www.parliament.wa.gov.au/ParliamentaryHandbook/23rd%20Edition%20of%20the%20Parliament%20Handbook%20-%20Final%20Version.pdf|date=3 March 2016}}, p. 370.</ref>
== Death and legacy == He died in Perth on 18 April 1907 at the age of 89.<ref name="tdn07" /><ref name="eastperthcemeteries"/> His wife, Charlotte, had died earlier in February 1895. He was buried together with her in the family vault of East Perth Cemetery.<ref name="eastperthcemeteries"/>
Padbury's will continued his philanthropy, leaving large sums of his money to multiple charitable institutions including the Waifs Home at Parkerville and the Swan Boys Orphanage.<ref name="tdn07" />
The northern Perth suburb of Padbury was named for him in 1971.<ref>{{LandInfo WA|m|P|13 February 2018}}</ref>
==See also== * Padbury Buildings – Former development in Perth with a nearby plaque dedicated to him in 1990 * Thornlie, Western Australia – Suburb of Perth beginning as a farm owned by his niece and financed by Padbury.
==Notes== {{Reflist}}
==References== {{refbegin}} *{{Cite book| title = Kangkushot: The life of Nyamal lawman Peter Coppin | last1 =Coppin | first1 = Peter | last2 =Read| first2 = Jolly | year = 2010 | orig-year=1999 | publisher = Aboriginal Studies Press | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=d-B8AwAAQBAJ&pg=PR6 | isbn = 978-1-922-05963-5 }} *{{Dictionary of Australian Biography|First=Walter|Last=Padbury|shortlink=0-dict-biogP-Q.html#padbury1}} *Cara Cammilleri, '[https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/padbury-walter-4355 Padbury, Walter (1820 - 1907)]', Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 5, MUP, 1974, pp 388–389. {{refend}}
==Further reading== *{{cite book|title=Walter Padbury : his life and times|first=John|last=Nairn|publisher=North Stirling Press|year=1985|isbn=0959752757}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Padbury, Walter}} Category:1817 births Category:1907 deaths Category:People from Perth, Western Australia Category:British emigrants to colonial Australia Category:Settlers of Western Australia Category:People from West Oxfordshire District Category:19th-century Australian philanthropists Category:19th-century squatters Category:Burials at East Perth Cemeteries