Arthur Holroyd

Arthur Todd Holroyd (1 December 1806 – 15 June 1887) was an Australian lawyer and politician. He was a member of the New South Wales Legislative Council between 1851 and 1856. He was also a member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly for two periods between 1856 and 1857 and again between 1861 and 1864.

Biography

Early life

Arthur Todd Holroyd was born in London on 1 December 1806, the youngest child of the merchant Stephen Holroyd and Elizabeth (née Lofthouse). His father died in January 1810 when Arthur was aged three years.

After a preliminary education in private schools, Arthur Holroyd was sent to Ripon Grammar School, North Yorkshire, "for a couple of years". In 1824 he began to study medicine in Winchester. Shortly afterwards Holroyd became a pupil at the Webb-street School of Anatomy at Southwark, London. In May 1827 he went to Christ's College at the University of Cambridge and then to Edinburgh University, from where attained the Doctor of Medicine degree in 1830.

Arthur Holroyd married Sophia Abbs on 6 June 1830 at Whitburn, county Durham. In May 1831 a daughter, Emily, was born to the couple.

In 1831 Holroyd commenced practice as a physician in London, “but not finding the prospects of the medical profession as lucrative or satisfactory as he had anticipated”, he decided to give up medicine and study as a lawyer.

The Throne Hall at Old Dongola, Sudan, overlooking the deserted town and the Nile valley; when Holroyd was there in 1836 this building was being used as a mosque.

In late December 1836 Holroyd and his party arrived at Dongola, an Egyptian outpost with a population of about six thousand (including 800 troops and their wives and families). After procuring a boat Holroyd travelled further up the river, 50 miles south to Old Dongola, once an important city of Nubia but now largely abandoned to the shifting sands. Holroyd recorded that Old Dongola had about 300 inhabitants and "the most striking object here is a mosque on rather an elevated site, from the top of which there is an extensive prospect of the arid Desert and meandering Nile". He then travelled further up the river as it turned towards the east, to Ambukol (near Korti), arriving there on 8 January 1837. At Ambukol Holroyd had “a severe attack of fever” requiring him to rest for several weeks.

New Zealand

In the early 1840s Arthur Holroyd "determined to emigrate and try his fortune in the colonies". Arthur Holroyd and his daughter Emily departed from London aboard the barque Mary as cabin passengers, arriving at Wellington, New Zealand, on 9 August 1843. Other passengers on the voyage were Robert Hart and his brother George Hart; Holroyd and Robert Hart became partners soon afterwards. Holroyd was admitted as a member of the New Zealand bar shortly after his arrival. Holroyd remained in New Zealand until September 1845.

Australia

On 12 October 1845 Holroyd, together with a “man servant” and his daughter Emily, arrived at Sydney aboard the brig Bee from Wellington, New Zealand. When he left New Zealand, Holroyd had intended to proceed to India, planning to remain in Sydney only as long as necessary to procure a passage. After his arrival, however, he decided to remain in the colony.

Colonial parliament

In 1851, prior to the establishment of responsible self-government, Holroyd was elected to the semi-elective Legislative Council. He represented the electorate of Western Boroughs (including Bathurst and Carcoar) until the granting of responsible self-government in 1856. Subsequently, at the first election under the new constitution he was elected to the Legislative Assembly as the member for the same seat. He was defeated by six votes at the next election in 1858. Holroyd re-entered parliament as one of the two members for Parramatta at an 1861 by-election caused by the resignation of James Byrnes. However, Byrnes defeated him at the subsequent general election. He then retired from political life.

In 1855 Holroyd was appointed as a Director of the Australian Mutual Provident Society. Holroyd had been living at Erskineville while he was in Sydney. In March 1855 he purchased the 'Sherwood' estate from Dr. William Sherwin, consisting of 320 acres of land located about two miles from Parramatta (in the present suburb of Merrylands). Holroyd commenced building the house, 'Sherwood Lodge', soon afterwards. The estate was renamed 'Sherwood Scrubs'.

Holroyd was the Secretary for Public Works in the first government of James Martin. He held this position for 15 months but resigned after being accused by William Arnold of accepting a bribe to appoint an associate to the bench of magistrates. A parliamentary commission found no truth in this accusation.

Supreme Court

Holroyd was appointed as a Master of the New South Wales Supreme Court on 11 May 1866, initially as the master in equity, before adding master in lunacy on 16 May 1879, serving in both roles until 19 January 1885. He was appointed an acting judge of the Supreme Court in April 1879, Arthur Holroyd and Elizabeth Armstrong were married on 5 August 1868 in the Parramatta Registry Office. Merrylands railway station opened in July 1878, named at the suggestion of Holroyd after “a family possession on the Guildford Road, England”. In July 1894 accounts with plans of distribution were filed in the Office of the Registrar in Bankruptcy in Sydney, showing the payment of dividends up to two and a half pence in the pound “on all proved debts”.

Legacy

In October 1926 the Prospect and Sherwood Council voted to change the name of their municipality to 'Holroyd' after Arthur Holroyd, the first Mayor of the municipality. In January 1991 the Municipality of Holroyd became the City of Holroyd. The suburb of Merrylands was named after his former English home.