Henry Trigg (1791–1882) was the Superintendent of

Public Works Public works are a broad category of infrastructure projects, financed and procured by a government body for recreational, employment, and health and safety uses in the greater community. They include public buildings ( municipal buildings, ...

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

from 1839 to 1851 and founder of the

Congregational Church Congregationalism (also Congregational Churches or Congregationalist Churches) is a Reformed Christian (Calvinist) tradition of Protestant Christianity in which churches practice congregational government. Each congregation independently a ...

Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...

Biography

Henry Trigg was born on 30 June 1791 in

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, England, the son of Henry and Mary Trigg. In 1813 he married Amelia Ralph (b. 1791) and they had seven children, Eliza, Harriet, Emma, Jane, Amelia, Henry and William, prior to him leaving England. Trigg was a carpenter and a businessman but due to the economic depression in England following the

Battle of Waterloo The Battle of Waterloo was fought on Sunday 18 June 1815, near Waterloo, Belgium, Waterloo (then in the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, now in Belgium), marking the end of the Napoleonic Wars. The French Imperial Army (1804–1815), Frenc ...

he felt that his family would have a better chance in the colonies and decided to emigrate to the

Swan River Colony The Swan River Colony, also known as the Swan River Settlement, or just ''Swan River'', was a British colony established in 1829 on the Swan River, in Western Australia. This initial settlement place on the Swan River was soon named Perth, an ...

, leaving his family until he was set up and could afford their passage. At the age of 38, he emigrated to Western Australia, arriving on the in October 1829. His personal wealth (£200) allowed him to take up a land grant of in the colony. Trigg's grant encompasses what is now the suburb of Churchlands. In 1831, Amelia and their seven children emigrated, arriving in the colony in December that year. They had a further two children, Stephen (b. 1832) and Susannah (b. 1833). A further child, a son, was stillborn in 1837. Appointed Head Constable for Perth in December 1829, he then also became one of the first two constables appointed to the newly established Mounted Police Force in 1834 under the command of Captain T T Ellis which operated independently of the town constables. Then in 1838 he was appointed Clerk of Public Works, following which in December 1839 he was made Superintendent of Public Works, following the retirement of Henry Willey Reveley, a position in which he remained until his resignation in April 1851 to become a full-time Minister. In his role he supervised the construction of a number of jetties, bridges (including the Perth Causeway and Canning Bridge) a number of buildings on

Rottnest Island Rottnest Island (), often colloquially referred to as "Rotto", is a Islands of Perth, Western Australia, island off the coast of Western Australia, located west of Fremantle. A sandy, low-lying island formed on a base of aeolianite limestone, ...

(including the Rottnest Island Light Station), a number of gaols and lock ups in the newly developing towns of

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and Bunbury and the building of St George's Anglican church (the precursor to St George's Cathedral). Trigg initially attended the first Anglican Church, where he was a choirmaster. He later joined the Wesleyans, but from 1843 he held prayer meetings in the Congregational tradition in his own home. In 1846, a

chapel A chapel (from , a diminutive of ''cappa'', meaning "little cape") is a Christianity, Christian place of prayer and worship that is usually relatively small. The term has several meanings. First, smaller spaces inside a church that have their o ...

was constructed in William Street, where for six years, Trigg conducted all the services until, 1852, when the

London Missionary Society The London Missionary Society was an interdenominational evangelical missionary society formed in England in 1795 at the instigation of Welsh Congregationalist minister Edward Williams. It was largely Reformed tradition, Reformed in outlook, with ...

sent out the Reverend James Leonard to be the first ordained Congregational minister. Trigg’s firm conviction to Christianity stems from an incident in 1831, a story he related from the pulpit, he was recovering from a bout of rum drinking, which was quite common in Perth at the time, when an apparition appeared to him while he was on the precipitous roof of the unfinished commissariat building’s where the current Supreme Court now stands, it commanded him to "Throw down the bottle and never pick it up again" From that moment on he was a changed man. To him most of all, the founding of Congregationalism in Western Australia is due. His grandson was Henry Stirling Trigg (1860–1919) who was a leading architect in Western Australia. His wife, Amelia, died on 7 April 1873 at the age of 82, whilst Trigg died at the age of 91 on 15 February 1882 in

and is buried in the

Congregational Congregationalism (also Congregational Churches or Congregationalist Churches) is a Reformed Christianity, Reformed Christian (Calvinist) tradition of Protestant Christianity in which churches practice Congregationalist polity, congregational ...

section of the East Perth Cemetery. Trigg Beach and the surrounding suburb of Trigg, north of

, was named after him.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Trigg, Henry English emigrants to colonial Australia Settlers of Western Australia Public servants of Western Australia 1791 births 1882 deaths Burials at East Perth Cemeteries 19th-century Australian public servants Western Australia Police