Charles Ebden

[1] As a young man Ebden made several trips between the Cape and the Australian colonies, before settling in Sydney, New South Wales in 1832 and establishing a merchant business.

[1] After accumulating sufficient capital, he moved into pastoralism, and by early 1835 was among those pastoralists introducing cattle to the southern parts of New South Wales.

[1] He had also sold his three lots in Collins Street in September 1839 for a total of £10,244 (having purchased them two years earlier for £136); at the Melbourne Club shortly after the sale he remarked "I fear I am becoming disgustingly rich".

[1][9] Ebden was nevertheless elected for a third time on 1 June 1850, and remained a member until the separation of Port Phillip District from New South Wales to form the new Colony of Victoria on 1 July 1851.

[2] Ebden, along with Attorney-General William Stawell, was a well-regarded performer among the early government officers, but did not work well with Lieutenant-Governor La Trobe, and was excluded from the Executive Council.

[10] Also in 1856, Ebden stood for election to the newly established Legislative Assembly of Victoria in the district of Melbourne.

[1] Linked to the faction of John O'Shanassy, which sought to position itself as something of an opposition to the incumbent government of William Haines, but Ebden failed to be elected; indeed, he finished last.

[1] In 1858 he and his son-in-law subdivided the 370,000 acres (150,000 ha) Reedy Lake run near Swan Hill, selling one lot to Thomas Browne for £24,000; serendipitously the exorbitant price seems to have pushed Browne into insolvency, prompting him to commence his literary career under the pen-name Rolf Boldrewood.

[12] However, they provided Heales with little real support, and indeed Ebden resigned from the Legislative Assembly[13] in May 1861 and returned to England.