Henry Marks

Sir Henry Marks (5 February 1861 – 5 June 1938) was an Australian-born Fijian politician, serving as a member of the Legislative Council of Fiji for over twenty years. Alongside Robert Crompton, John Maynard Hedstrom and Henry Milne Scott, he was one of the 'big four' that heavily influenced the Fijian economy and political sphere in the first half of the 20th century.

Biography Marks was born in Melbourne, Victoria in 1861, the son of Jewish parents Henry Marks and his wife Mary (née Aaron or Heron), who were from Birmingham in England. He moved to Fiji at the age of 20, initially working as an import/export trader, before becoming a labour agent in New Caledonia, the New Hebrides and the Solomon Islands. When he returned to Fiji he established Henry Marks & Co, a merchant and commercial agency firm. In 1937 he was made Honorary Colonel of the Fiji Defence Force.

In 1905 Marks was elected to the Legislative Council for the Suva constituency in the first elections since 1871. Although he lost his seat in the 1908 elections, he returned to the Council following the 1911 elections, and was subsequently re-elected in 1914, 1917, 1920, 1923 and 1926. During his time in the Legislative Council he also served on the Executive Council. He was Commissioner of Currency from 1913 until 1929,

Marks was also involved in philanthropy and donated £5,000 (plus another £5,000 from his company) to found the Colonial War Memorial Hospital in Suva, later also donating an x-ray machine to it.