Six hungry families

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Six hungry families was a phrase used in the 1880s and 1890s to describe six of the most prominent and powerful families in colonial Western Australia, with extensive influence in judicial, political, mercantile and social circles. It was first used by John Horgan during his unsuccessful 1886 campaign for election to the Western Australian Legislative Council.[1][2]

Horgan used the phrase to imply that the families were hungry for more wealth, power, influence and land, and that this was at the expense of the working class.[3][4] He was later successfully sued for libel by George Walpole Leake, a member of one of the "six hungry families", and fined £500.[5]

Roughly speaking, the "six hungry families" were:

  • the Leake family;
  • the Stone family;
  • the Lee Steere family;
  • the Shenton family;
  • the Lefroy family;
  • the Burt family.

However, there was extensive intermarriage between these and other influential families, and a person could be a member of one or more of these families without possessing any of the six surnames. Essentially, the term six hungry families referred to a single nebulous class of colonists, rather than six distinct families.

Prominent members of the "six hungry families" included:

Notes[]

  1. ^ "Mr. Horgan at the Canning". The West Australian. Perth. 9 June 1886. p. 3. Retrieved 24 July 2011 – via National Library of Australia.
  2. ^ "Mr. Horgan at the Canning". Western Mail. Perth. 12 June 1886. p. 43. Retrieved 24 July 2011 – via National Library of Australia.
  3. ^ "Mr. Horgan before the electors of Perth". The West Australian. Perth. 19 May 1888. p. 3. Retrieved 24 July 2011 – via National Library of Australia.
  4. ^ "The Perth election". The West Australian. Perth. 29 May 1888. p. 3. Retrieved 24 July 2011 – via National Library of Australia.
  5. ^ "Horgan, John (1834–1907)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. Retrieved 24 July 2011.

References[]

  • Stannage, Charles Thomas (1979). The People of Perth: A Social History of Western Australia's Capital City. Perth: Perth City Council. ISBN 0-909994-86-2.
  • "The Six Hungry Families". Constitutional Centre of Western Australia, Government of Western Australia. Retrieved 14 March 2020.

Further reading[]

  • Altham, John.(2005) The unveiling of portraits of former Chief Justices, Sir Alexander Onslow, Kt (1842-1908), Sir Edward Stone, Kt (1844-1920) Brief (Law Society of Western Australia), September 2005, p. 27-28.
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