Draper, businessman, builder, financier. Queensland was his land of opportunity.

William Hemmant is one of those surprising people half-hidden behind the career of a notable historical figure, in this case Robert Travers Atkin. Hemmant is an outstanding example of a self-made man. From relatively humble beginnings, after 20 years in Australia he returned to England as an affluent and respected member of Victorian high society.

Born the son of a draper, in Leeds, at 21 years old, William travelled to Melbourne as a ‘gold-seeker’. Mining clearly did not suit him, and 9 months after he arrived in Australia, he set up a drapery store in Brisbane, a business he knew. It was successful, and 7 years later he was financially secure enough to return to England and marry Lucy Ground, from his family’s home in Cambridgeshire. Aged 32, built a large stone house on a hill overlooking the suburb of Hamilton, and he filled the house with his wife and children.

Born the son of a draper, in Leeds, at 21 years old, William travelled to Melbourne as a ‘gold-seeker’. Mining clearly did not suit him, and 9 months after he arrived in Australia, he set up a drapery store in Brisbane, a business he knew. It was successful, and 7 years later he was financially secure enough to return to England and marry Lucy Ground, from his family’s home in Cambridgeshire. Aged 32, built a large stone house on a hill overlooking the suburb of Hamilton, and he filled the house with his wife and children.

Back in England, William Hemmant retained significant links with the new colony of Queensland. Continuing his partnership with his substantial drapery business in Brisbane, he also corresponded regularly with Samuel Griffith, who succeeded Atkin as a member of the Queensland Legislative Assembly. He acted as agent-general in 1885, represented Queensland at the International Postal Union Congress, and was an investor in and Director of the Australian Joint Stock Bank, later the Australian Bank of Commerce, until his death in 1916. He also encouraged Dick Atkin, the son of his old Queensland parliamentary colleague Robert, and introduced him to Herbert Smith. Both names are now legendary in the legal profession.

If you would like more detail, I have written a longer article. Link here