George Shenton

[1][4] On 5 March 1867, Shenton Snr drowned when his schooner, The Lass of Geraldton, capsized off Mandurah in a storm.

[1] Shenton ran a number of coastal vessels in partnership with John Monger, and the two men had some of the best-known sailing ships of the era.

He exported substantial quantities of wool, timber, sandalwood and minerals to London, and pioneered Western Australia's trade with Singapore.

The first lease became the famous Lady Shenton mine, which yielded over 130,000 ounces of gold and paid out over £150,000 in dividends.

George Shenton became a principal shareholder and Chairman of Directors of the new company, but was largely uninvolved in the day-to-day running of the firm.

In accordance with the wishes of his constituents, Shenton took a protectionist stance, helping to push for an import duty on flour.

Shenton was absent from the colony during the 1872 election, and his campaign was run by his friend Charles Crowther, who ran the Greenough Hotel.

In July 1873, the Supreme Court upheld Gray's complaint, finding that Crowther's actions might have induced electors to vote for Shenton.

On 10 November 1875, Shenton was again elected to the Legislative Council, this time defeating Andrew Dempster for the seat of Toodyay.

As member for Toodyay, Shenton continued to favour protectionism, and staunchly opposed responsible self-government.

[1] As Colonial Secretary and the only Government minister in the upper house, Shenton had an extremely heavy workload.

When the prestigious and far less demanding office of President of the Legislative Council became available in 1892, he immediately resigned from Cabinet to offer himself for election to the position.