Henry Amsinck (c. 1798 – 19 December 1878) was an Australian politician and an Irish

commander Commander (commonly abbreviated as Cmdr.) is a common naval officer rank as well as a job title in many army, armies. Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organizations, including several police forces. In several countri ...

in the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

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 A midshipman is an officer of the lowest Military rank#Subordinate/student officer, rank in the Royal Navy, United States Navy, and many Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth navies. Commonwealth countries which use the rank include Royal Cana ...

. 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 Half-pay (h.p.) was a term used in the British Army and Royal Navy of the 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries to refer to the pay or allowance an officer received when in retirement or not in actual service. Past usage United Kingdom In the E ...

. Amsinck served as secretary of the British railway commission between 1839 and 1841 before arriving to

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

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 Melbourne Observatory is an observatory located on a hill adjacent to the Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria. The observatory commenced operations in 1863 and was decommissioned from official Government work in 1945. The observatory has since continu ...

. In 1857, Amsinck unsuccessfully contested the seats of West Bourke and Rodney. He eventually won an election, serving as a member in the

Victorian Legislative Assembly The Victorian Legislative Assembly is the states and territories of Australia, state lower house of the bicameral Parliament of Victoria in Australia; the state upper house being the Victorian Legislative Council. Both houses sit at Parliament H ...

for the electoral district of West Bourke between 1859 and 1861. Later, in 1867, Amsinck unsuccessfully contested the electoral district of Maldon. In 1864, Amsinck was promoted to

in the

Personal life

On 4 January 1827, Amsinck married Charlotte Elizabeth ( Wilson), the youngest sibling and only sister of Sir

Archdale Wilson Lieutenant-General Sir Archdale Wilson, 1st Baronet, GCB (1803 – 9 May 1874) was a British Bengal Army and British Army artillery officer who served during the Second Sikh War and the Indian Rebellion of 1857, during which he was commended for ...

. Their son, Eugene C. Amsinck, worked as a journalist for The Herald, and then for The Argus covering the Maori War.

Reference list

1798 births 1878 deaths Members of the Victorian Legislative Assembly 19th-century Royal Navy personnel {{Australia-politician-stub