Skip to main content
Menu

The National Portrait Gallery acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of Country throughout Australia and recognises the continuing connection to lands, waters and communities. We pay our respect to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures and to Elders both past and present.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander viewers are warned that this website contains images of deceased persons.

The Gallery’s Acknowledgement of Country, and information on culturally sensitive and restricted content and the use of historic language in the collection can be found here.

The Cape of Good Hope ( Sir Henry Barkly)

1887
Sir Leslie Ward, Vincent Brooks, Day & Son (lithographer) and Vanity Fair Magazine (publisher)

from the series ‘Vanity Fair’
chromolithograph on paper (sheet: 37.0 cm x 25.0 cm)

Sir Henry Barkly GCMG KCB (1815-1898) started his career in business and politics before serving terms as governor of British Guiana and then Jamaica. Appointed governor of Victoria, he arrived in the colony on Christmas Eve 1856, just a few weeks after the first sitting of its newly-created parliament. His term began terribly when his wife and newborn son died as the result of a phaeton accident in April 1857, occasioning much public sympathy. Over the next six years Barkly's priority was securing stable government - a challenge, as into the 1890s the parliament was to comprise generally independent members who clumped and reclumped into factions according to the issues of the day, including land settlement, education, constitutional and electoral reform and payment of parliamentarians. Barkly proved a reliable interpreter of colonial affairs to Britain. Meanwhile, he was a strong supporter of philanthropic and intellectual movements; he was a founder and President of the Royal Society of Victoria, and helped to found the National Gallery, the Acclimatization Society and the National Observatory. In 1863 he became Governor of Mauritius; seven years later he was sent to the Cape of Good Hope. He was recalled to England in 1877, having made several regrettable decisions in Africa. However, after his return he was made a member of the royal commission on Colonial defence. In retirement, as an elected Fellow of the Royal Society and the Royal Geographical Society, he applied himself to science. Barkly is commemorated in the Barkly Tablelands, a huge area of the NT between Camooweal and Tennant Creek.

Purchased 2015

The National Portrait Gallery respects the artistic and intellectual property rights of others. Works of art from the collection are reproduced as per the Australian Copyright Act 1968 (Cth). The use of images of works from the collection may be restricted under the Act. Requests for a reproduction of a work of art can be made through a Reproduction request. For further information please contact NPG Copyright.
© National Portrait Gallery 2024
King Edward Terrace, Parkes
Canberra, ACT 2600, Australia

Phone +61 2 6102 7000
ABN: 54 74 277 1196

The National Portrait Gallery acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of Country throughout Australia and recognises the continuing connection to lands, waters and communities. We pay our respect to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures and to Elders past and present. We respectfully advise that this site includes works by, images of, names of, voices of and references to deceased people.

This website comprises and contains copyrighted materials and works. Copyright in all materials and/or works comprising or contained within this website remains with the National Portrait Gallery and other copyright owners as specified.

The National Portrait Gallery respects the artistic and intellectual property rights of others. The use of images of works of art reproduced on this website and all other content may be restricted under the Australian Copyright Act 1968 (Cth). Requests for a reproduction of a work of art or other content can be made through a Reproduction request. For further information please contact NPG Copyright.

The National Portrait Gallery is an Australian Government Agency