Henry Ernest Searle (1866–1889), was a professional Australian sculler, who also was the World Sculling Champion from 1888 until his premature death from typhoid in 1889.

Born on 14 July 1866 at Grafton, New South Wales to Henry Samuel Searle, bootmaker, and his wife Mary Ann, née Brooks.

However the Grafton Daily Examiner of 22 June 1922 states that Searle was first coached by a boatbuilder and amateur oarsman of the lower Clarence River named Donald Macdonald.

At the start Searle took the lead and although Kemp made great efforts he could never overtake the leader who won by about twenty lengths in a time of 22m.44s.

In 1889 with his stocks low Searle, accompanied by Matterson, went to England to race the Canadian champion William Joseph O'Connor for £500 a side.

While returning to Australia in the "Austral", Searle contracted typhoid fever; he left the ship at Melbourne, and died three weeks later on 10 December 1889 at the Williamstown Sanatorium, after a very public illness.

Thousands lined Melbourne streets to see his body pass, and in Sydney an estimated crowd of 170,000 packed the city for his memorial service.

Searle was a great sculler; no stylist, he had a powerful action characterized by perfect boat control; he trained much harder than was usual and could break opponents with sudden, repeated and sustained bursts of speed.