{{short description|Australian politician}} {{Use dmy dates|date=October 2016}} {{Use Australian English|date=October 2016}} '''William Henry Trimmer''' (c. 1822 – 22 December 1867) was a vigneron and politician in the early colony of South Australia.
Trimmer may have arrived in South Australia on the ''Guiana'' from London in March 1842.
In 1843 he leased farmland on the banks of the Sturt River. Between 1859 and 1861 he planted some {{convert|15|acres|ha|0}} of grapes at his vineyard.<ref>Geoffrey C. Bishop, ''The Vineyards of Adelaide'' Lynton Publications Pty., Adelaide {{ISBN|0 86946 280 6}}</ref> The property, "Fairford" in the Adelaide suburb of Sturt on which he built a modest house and wine cellar. He purchased the property from the South Australian Company in 1862.<ref name=marion/>
He was a Justice of the Peace and Chairman of the District Council of Brighton 1866–1867.<ref name=marion>Dolling, Alison ''The History of Marion on the Sturt'' Peacock Publications, Frewville, South Australia 1901. {{ISBN|0 909209 48 0}}</ref> He was a candidate for one of two seats of Noarlunga in the South Australian House of Assembly in 1865, and came a credible third in the contest (John Colton 348, John Carr 303, Trimmer 261), but votes cast at Happy Valley could not be included, as the returns had been signed by the Poll Clerk rather than the Returning Officer. This put Trimmer in second place, thus giving him a seat.<ref>{{cite news |date=13 March 1865 |title=The Elections |page=3 |newspaper=The South Australian Advertiser |url=https://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article31847481 |accessdate=3 June 2015 |via=Trove}}</ref> His offer to waive any objections could not be accepted, so immediately on taking his seat on 9 March 1865 he resigned in favour of Carr.<ref name="SA parl">{{Cite SA-parl|pid=4000|name=William Henry Trimmer|former=yes|access-date=18 December 2022}}</ref>
His last months were made miserable by the effects of ''delirium tremens'', and he killed himself by swallowing a large quantity of laudanum.<ref>{{cite news |date=24 December 1867 |title=Coroners Inquests |page=2 |newspaper=The South Australian Advertiser |url=https://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article28803327 |accessdate=3 June 2015 |via=Trove}}</ref>
He left his property to his wife and to Edward Amand Wright, a friend of 20 years. It is likely that Trimmer's cellar building was designed by Edmund Wright, Edward's brother. The property was in 1876 sold to Henry Laffer, hence its colloquial name "Laffer's Triangle". Fairford House, together with its coach-house, gardens and remaining vineyards, is State Heritage listed, and now forms part of the Warriparinga Living Kaurna Cultural Centre.<ref name=marion/><ref name="Warriparinga">{{cite web|title=Living Kaurna Cultural Centre |publisher=City of Marion |url=https://www.marion.sa.gov.au/venues-and-facilities/living-kaurna-cultural-centre/living-kaurna-cultural-centre |accessdate=25 December 2024}}</ref>
==Other interests== He was a member of the Free Rifles Corps, a volunteer regiment, and elected Captain in 1860.<ref>{{cite news |date=7 April 1860 |title=South Australian Free Rifle Corps |page=4 |newspaper=Adelaide Observer |url=https://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article158174433 |accessdate=3 June 2015 |via=Trove}}</ref>
He was a breeder of thoroughbred horses and a member of the building committee for St. Mary's Anglican Church, which opened in September 1847.<ref name=marion/>
==Family== Trimmer married Eliza Catherine Duthy <!--generally spelled Catherine but initialized as "K."--> (c. 1831 – 16 January 1883). Their children included: *James Trimmer (1850 – 18 October 1880) *William Trimmer (1851 – 10 August 1915) married Mary Anne Daly ( –1919) in 1899 *Edmund Trimmer (1852 – 8 April 1889) married Emily Frances Barnes *Frederick Trimmer (28 May 1854 – 12 August 1913) married Lilian Mary Dalzell on 16 January 1883 *Leonard Mortimer Trimmer (5 August 1855 – 18 August 1898) *Alexander Trimmer (24 December 1857 – ) married Alice Jane Cleminson *Ernest Trimmer (3 August 1859 – 2 July 1930) married Eliza Haynes (24 August 1865 – 29 October 1953) on 10 October 1883, lived Tanunda then Price Crescent, Lower Mitcham <!--*Eliza Trimmer (20 March 1861 – 1867)--> *Maud Trimmer (19 May 1863 – ) <!--*daughter (27 October 1864 – )--> *Percival Trimmer (11 February 1866 – 15th May 1934) married Mary Ellen "Nellie" Haynes (c. 1866 – 30 January 1950) on 4 March 1890, lived at "Fairford" Tanunda, later Baliol Street, College Park. <!--*daughter (29 May 1867 – )--> <!--which daughter was Hilda, died 1867--> <!--Edmund Trimmer was a brother; Frederick Trimmer may have been a brother;
Edmund Isaac Stephen Trimmer ( – 15 January 1882) arrived August 1838, then with wife on ''Fama'' in October 1841. He owned much of Mitcham and New Parkside, donated land for St. Augustine's Church and Unley Oval, and sold land cheaply to Unley Council for the Town Hall and Institute. He returned to England in 1855. Frederick and Edmund were nephews-->
==References== {{Reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Trimmer, William}} Category:Australian winemakers Category:Members of the South Australian House of Assembly Category:Drug-related suicides in Australia Category:Suicides in South Australia Category:1820s births Category:1867 deaths Category:19th-century Australian politicians Category:English emigrants to colonial Australia Category:1867 suicides