Sir Samuel Davenport, K.G.

Sir Samuel Davenport

Sir Samuel Davenport (1818-1906), landowner and parliamentarian, was born on 5 March 1818 at Shirburn, Oxfordshire, England, the fourth son of George Davenport, banker, and his wife Jane Devereux, née Davies. His father, descendant of an old Cheshire family, became an agent of the South Australian Co. and a director of the South Australian Banking Co.; in 1839 with two partners he paid £4416 for a special survey of 4000 acres (1619 ha) and a town reserve and sent his son Francis to South Australia to select the site. Francis arrived at Adelaide in February 1840 and applied for the land near Port Lincoln; in June he cancelled that claim and selected the survey on the upper branches of the River Angas. There the new township was named Macclesfield, but before surveys were completed he visited England.

Samuel and his brother Robert arrived at Adelaide in February 1843. With Samuel was his wife Margaret Fraser, only daughter of William Lennox Cleland, barrister, of Calcutta; they had married on 1 June 1842. The brothers soon moved to Macclesfield where they managed the survey after Francis died on 8 April 1843. Samuel and his wife lived in a stone cottage on sixty acres (24 ha) at the township of Macclesfield while Robert bought nearby Watergate.

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Beaumont House

Beaumont House built in 1849, was home of the first Anglican Bishop of Adelaide, Bishop Augustus Short, and later Sir Samuel Davenport, politician, horticulturist and founder of the olive oil industry in SA.

From 1849 he lived mostly at his home in Beaumont, in his residence of Beaumont House, which he owned from 1851 onward. He continued to care for the welfare of tenants at Macclesfield, providing attractive rental terms.

Between 5 May 1846 and 1 July 1848, Davenport was a non-official nominated member of the South Australian Legislative Council. Between 1849 and 1852 he served as a city commissioner. He contested the Legislative Council seat of Hindmarsh without success in a by-election during 1854, but on 25 October 1855 was nominated to the part-elective Legislative Council. He was eventually elected to the first Legislative Council under responsible government in 1857 and administered the oath of allegiance to the councilors on 22 April 1857. He served a number of ministries; however he resigned from the council on 25 September 1866.

Davenport strongly promoted agriculture and other new industries in South Australia. Between 1864 and 1872 he published a number of pamphlets, three of them dealing with the cultivation of olives and manufacture of olive oil, silk and tobacco. Davenport grew both olives and silk on his Beaumont House estate. He was a member of the Royal Agricultural and Horticultural Society and its president from 1873 to 1879 and 1890 to 1891. He was a member of the South Australian Institute's Board of Governors.

He was elected to a number of positions in the agricultural, horticultural and geographical societies. He was also a successful banker like his English father.

Davenport was knighted during 1884 and in 1886 appointed KCMG and given an honorary doctorate by the University of Cambridge. After his death in 1906, obituarists praised his honorable record both in public and private life and both Houses of Parliament were adjourned for his funeral.

The South Australian Assembly seat of Davenport was later named after him.

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• 05 May 1846 - 01 Jul 1848 - Legislative Council
• 25 Oct 1855 - 19 Aug 1856 - Legislative Council
• 09 Mar 1857 - 25 Sep 1866 - Legislative Council

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