George Shenton

Sir George Shenton (4 March 1842 – 29 June 1909) was a prominent businessman in colonial Western Australia, the first Mayor of Perth, and a Member of the Western Australian Legislative Council for over thirty years.

Early and family life George Shenton was born in Perth, Western Australia on 4 March 1842, the eldest son of George Shenton Sr, a wealthy businessman who was Perth's first pharmacist. Shenton Jnr was educated locally until 1855, when at the age of 13 he was sent to England to complete his education at the Wesleyan Collegiate Institute (Queen's College) in Taunton. In 1858 he returned to Perth, where he received experience working in a range of his father's businesses, including running his father's store in Geraldton, and managing the family's farm on the Greenough River.

On 4 November 1868, Shenton married Julia Theresa Eichbaum in a ceremony at Fremantle.

Business activities On 5 March 1867, Shenton Snr drowned when his schooner, The Lass of Geraldton, capsized off Mandurah in a storm. He was buried in West Norwood Cemetery. His estate at his death was valued at £186,627.