Henry Amsinck

Henry Amsinck (c. 1798 – 19 December 1878) was an Australian politician and an Irish commander in the Royal Navy.

Career Amsinck entered the Royal Navy on 6 September 1811 as a first-class volunteer on board the HMS Niemen under Captain Sir Michael Seymour. He later transferred aboard the , where he served as a midshipman. On 26 March 1814, while aboard the Hannibal, Amsinck participated in the capture of La Sultane, a French frigate armed with 44 guns and manned by 330 men. He was promoted to the rank of lieutenant on 20 January 1824 and returned to England in May 1824 on half-pay.

Amsinck served as secretary of the British railway commission between 1839 and 1841 before arriving to Melbourne in 1853 as an agent for a dock and railway company. He later worked as a mining speculator, and then as secretary of the Board of Visitors and the Melbourne Observatory.

In 1857, Amsinck unsuccessfully contested the seats of West Bourke and Rodney. Later, in 1867, Amsinck unsuccessfully contested the electoral district of Maldon. Their son, Eugene C. Amsinck, worked as a journalist for The Herald, and then for The Argus covering the Maori War.

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