Henry Ayers
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The Honourable Sir Henry Ayers GCMG |
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| 8th Premier of South Australia | |
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In office 15 July 1863 – 4 August 1864 |
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| Monarch | Victoria |
| Governor | Sir Dominick Daly |
| Preceded by | Francis Dutton |
| Succeeded by | Sir Arthur Blyth |
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In office 20 September 1865 – 23 October 1865 |
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| Monarch | Victoria |
| Governor | Sir Dominick Daly |
| Preceded by | Francis Dutton |
| Succeeded by | Captain John Hart |
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In office 3 May 1867 – 24 September 1868 |
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| Monarch | Victoria |
| Governor | Sir Dominick Daly |
| Preceded by | Sir James Boucaut |
| Succeeded by | Captain John Hart |
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In office 13 October 1868 – 3 November 1868 |
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| Monarch | Victoria |
| Governor | Sir James Fergusson |
| Preceded by | Captain John Hart |
| Succeeded by | Henry Strangways |
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In office 22 January 1872 – 22 July 1873 |
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| Monarch | Victoria |
| Governor |
Sir James Fergusson Sir Anthony Musgrave |
| Preceded by | Sir Arthur Blyth |
| Succeeded by | Sir Arthur Blyth |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
1 May 1821 Portsea, Portsmouth, Hampshire, England, UK |
| Died | 11 June 1897 (aged 76) Adelaide, South Australia, Australia |
Sir Henry Ayers GCMG (1 May 1821 – 11 June 1897) was the eighth Premier of South Australia, serving a record five times between 1863 and 1873.
Historians note that his lasting memorial is in the name of Ayers Rock, which was discovered in 1873 by William Gosse.
Ayers was born at Portsea, Portsmouth, Hampshire, England, the son of William Ayers, of the Portsmouth dockyard, and his wife Elizabeth, née Breakes. Educated at the Beneficial Society's School (Portsea) he entered a law office in 1832. He emigrated, as a carpenter, to South Australia in 1840 with his wife, Anne (née Potts) with free passages. Until 1845 he worked as a law clerk, he was then appointed secretary of the Burra Burra mines.Henry Roach was chief Captain, responsible for day-to-day operations, from 1847 to 1867. Within a year the mine employed over 1000 men.For nearly 50 years, Ayers was in control of this mine, initially as the secretary and later as the managing director. He made his wealth from the Burra Burra Copper Mines, which was known as the "Monster Mine", which secured the wealth of the colony of South Australia.
On 9 March 1857 Ayers was elected to the first South Australian Legislative Council under responsible government, the youngest member elected. He was continuously a member for over 36 years. For many years the whole colony formed a single electorate for the council; on two occasions (1865 and 1873) Ayers headed the poll.
In March 1863 Ayers was selected as one of the three South Australian representatives at the inter-colonial conference on uniform tariffs and inland customs duties. He also represented the colony at several other conferences from 1864 to 1877. On 4 July 1863 Ayers became minister without portfolio in the first Dutton cabinet. This ministry resigned just 11 days later however, as council demanded that it should have an executive minister to represent the government and Dutton refused. Ayers formed his first ministry as Premier and Chief Secretary on 15 July 1863. The house was much divided and it was almost impossible to get business done. Ayers reconstructed his ministry on 22 July 1864 but was defeated, and resigned on 4 August 1864. The Blyth ministry which was then formed included Ayers as chief secretary, but did not survive a general election and resigned on 22 March 1865. When Dutton formed his second ministry Ayers had his old position as chief secretary, and still retaining that office, formed his third administration on 20 September 1865 which lasted just over a month. In spite of dissolutions it was found very difficult to get a workable house. There were 18 ministries tween July 1863 and July 1873. Ayers became the premier again from May 1867 to September 1868, October to November 1868, 27 January 1872 to March 1872, and with an entirely new team of ministers, from March 1872 to July 1873. He held the position of chief secretary in the Colton ministry from June 1876 to October 1877, his last term of office.
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