The Hon. Anthony O'Grady Lefroy, C.M.G., F.R.G.S., died in the presence of his family at 3pm on Thursday January 21, 1897, in his home, 'Cambrai', in St. George's Terrace, Perth. He was 81-years-old and had held the office of Colonial Treasurer of Western Australia for 36 years.

Although he had sported a splendid physique in his younger days, he had suffered from serious apoplexy for the last five and a half years of his life. Under the care of Dr. Kelsall, he had managed to battle the illness so well that a fortnight earlier, when his son, Henry, the Member for Moora, left for Hobart to represent Western Australia at the Federal Council, he did not appear to be in any danger. However, a spell of hot weather produced a change for the worse and all the medical skill on hand could not save him.

His funeral procession left his home at 4pm on Friday January 21. A guard of honour of police troopers was stationed in the street outside and his 'handsome coffin' was carried out of the house and placed in the hearse. Friends, relatives, men who had served under him in the public office, members of his own family and household staff sent wreaths and crosses made from roses, everlastings, orchids and other white and delicately-hued flowers interwoven artistically in pale green leaves. They were draped over the coffin and hearse.

The procession slowly wound its way along St. George's Terrace, up Bennett-street, into Forrest Avenue, and finally into the Church of England Cemetery at East Perth. All places of business along the route were closed and the flag on the Town Hall flew at half-mast. The procession was met at the cemetery gates by the Bishop of Perth, Rev. C.O.L. Riley, and the Dean of Perth, Rev. F. Goldsmith, who performed the burial rites.

The pall-bearers were Mr. S. Burt, Q.C., M.L.A., Attorney-General and Acting Premier; Mr. E.H. Wittenoom, M.L.C., Minister of Mines; Dr. A.P. Weylan, J.P.; Lieut-Colonel Phillips, Commissioner of Police; Mr. O. Burt, Under-Secretary, Colonial Secretary's Department; and Mr. L.S. Eliot, Under-Treasurer. The chief mourners consisted of family members and many Government officials. Bowra and O'Dea, of Perth, were the undertakers.

Anthony O'Grady Lefroy was born in Ireland on March 14, 1816. He was the son of Rev. Henry Lefroy, Vicar of Santry, Dublin, and Dorothea O'Grady, daughter of the O'Gradys of Kilballyowen in Ireland. He was given a liberal education.

His cousin, Maxwell Lefroy, was one of the earliest yeomen settlers in York, Western Australia. After he sent back glowing reports of the large areas of pastoral country that the colony offered prospective stock raisers, Anthony and his brother, Gerald De Courcy Lefroy, left Ireland and arrived in Fremantle aboard the Lady Grey on January 4, 1843.

The brothers equipped themselves for an exploration expedition and set out to find a large and suitable squatting area. They arrived in the Victoria Plains region about a year before Bishop Salvado, the founder of the famous Roman Catholic New Norcia Mission. The brothers selected what has since proven to be one of the most valuable pastoral properties in the Midland district. They leased about 240,000 acres from the Crown and some of the best parts were owned outright by the family by the time Anthony died.

By then the well-known 'Walebing' run was in the hands of his son, Henry, and had become a very eligible grazier's estate. Unfortuantely, when the Midland Railway Company's line was built through their property, the leasehold portion of the squattage was transferred into private hands. The result was that improvements were hindered somewhat; but, nevertheless, 'Walebing' continued to be well-known for the production of high-class stock.

In 1849 Anthony Lefroy was offered the post of Private Secretary to Governor Fitzgerald. He accepted and stayed in the position until 1855, when he became the Colonial Treasurer. He controlled the Finances of the colony from 1856 through to the introduction of Responsible Government in 1890, six years before he died. The only exception was the times he took off to visit England in 1863 and 1877.

He made his first trip with his wife and five children on the Tartar on January 6, 1863 and returned on March 23, 1865 with all but Henry, his eldest son, who stayed behind to study. During his second visit to England in 1877 he was knighted with the title of Companion of the Order of St. Michael and St. George in recognition of his public services.

Anthony Lefroy was the Deputy Governor of Western Australia on two occasions, and in that capacity he led the House of the Legislative Council. He was on the Board of Education in 1858; became a JP in 1876; was on the Weld Club Committee; and became a Director of the WA Building Fund.

To add to his pastoral interests at "Walebing" in the Victoria Plains, he bought Perth Town Lots in 1850 and 1853. He employed 13 Ticket-of-Leave men in 1852 and between 1864 and 1881.

Anthony Lefroy married Mary Bruce, the daughter of Lieut.-Colonel Bruce, Commandant of the Military Forces of Western Australia, on June 3, 1853, in the the old St. George's Cathedral in Perth. The ceremony was performed by the Rev. J.B. Wittenoom.

They had five children - Henry Bruce, Mary, Dorothea Jane, Emily Elizabeth and Anthony Langlois O'Grady. In 1877, 15-year-old Anthony died in a shooting accident in Ireland with Major Bruce, his mother's uncle. Only one daughter was married when Anthony Lefroy died, and she and her husband, H. Williams, the Chief Clerk of the Post-office, were visiting England.

After his retirement, his poor health forced him to lead a quiet life and he was fortunate that his son, Henry, had completed his studies at Rugby, and returned to take an active roll in the management of the station property.

The remains of the late Hon. Anthony O'Grady Lefroy will leave his late residence, St. George's-terrace, at 4 o'clock, THIS (FRIDAY) AFTERNOON, for interment in the Church of England Cemetery. Friends will please accept this intimation.

Telephone 308.

[The West Australian, Fri. January 22, 1897, p4]

Anthony O'Grady Lefroy was born in Ireland in 1816. He was the son of the Rev. H. Lefroy, Vicar of Santry, Dublin, and of Dorothea O'Grady, daughter of the O'Grady of Kilballyowen, and received a liberal education. His cousin, Mr. Maxwell Lefroy, who was one of the earliest yeomen settlers of York, Western Australia, sent him such glowing accounts of the prospects which the large areas of pastoral country here offered to him as a stock raiser that, being of an ardent and enterprising disposition, he, in 1843, with his brother Mr. De Courcy Lefroy, set sail in the ship Lady Grey for Fremantle. On their arrival the brothers equipped themselves for an exploring expedition, and started out to find a large and eligible squatting area. They made their way to what is now Victoria Plains about a year in advance of Bishop Salvador, the founder of the famous Roman Catholic New Norcia Mission. The brothers were fortunate in finding what has since been proved to be one of the most valuable pastoral properties in the Midland district, and took up under lease from the Crown about 240,000 acres, some of the best of which is now in the possession of the family in fee simple. Here was started what is so well-known as the Walebing run, which, in the hands of Mr. H.B. Lefroy, M.L.A., has become a very eligible grazier's estate, albeit the advent of the Midland Railway Company, whose line passes through the property, transferred the leasehold portion of the squattage to private hands, which was a change for the worse, as regards length of tenure. The result has been that improvements have been hindered somewhat; but, nevertheless, "Walebing" is well-known in connection with a reputation for the production of high-class stock.

It was not, however, so much as a pastoralist that Mr. Lefory was to leave an enduring mark upon the history of the colony as in his capacity as one of the oldest and a most faithful servants of the Government. At that time men of education and superior calibre were too rare in the West for Mr. Lefroy (as he then was) to be permitted to continue in rural retirement, and his endowments were suitably recognised when, in 1849, he was offered and accepted the post of Private Secretary to His Excellency Governor Fitzgerald, who was then at the head of the administration of the colony. He continued to fill this appointment until 1855, when he was called to the higher office of Colonial Treasurer, and excepting when he twice visited England - in 1863 and 1877 - he continuously remained at the head of the Financial Department of the colony until the introduction of Responsible Government six years ago at last left him free to enjoy well-earned leisure and a pension. During the thirty-five years of his rule as Colonial Treasurer Mr. Lefroy was twice the Deputy Governor of Western Australia, and in that capacity he led the House of the Legislative Council. In recognition of his public services the subject of our memoir on his second visit to England in 1877 was invested with the title of Companion of the Order of St. Michael and St. George, but, being naturally of a retiring and reserved disposition, he was never covetous either of distinctions or of taking part in debate, except when it was necessary for him to do so, and when the time came for him to retire from the Deputy Governorship he always returned to his more unostentatious position in control of the Treasury certainly without regret and with something of a feeling of relief.

Since leaving the public service, Mr. Lefroy has been compelled by the declining state of his health to lead a very reposeful life, especially as Mr. H.B. Lefroy, after returning from completing his studies at Rugby, had relieved his father of all responsibility in the active management of the station property. As a large investor in city property Mr. Lefoy's management of his affairs while he was in his prime had proved so judicious that he was left free in the evening of his days to take his ease and to contemplate a well-spent and useful life and see his son take his place in public affairs and in the councils of the State.

Mr. Lefroy married in 1853, at the old St. George's Cathedral, Perth, Mary Bruce, daughter of Lieut.-Colonel Bruce, Commandant of the Military Forces of Western Australia, the ceremony being performed by the Rev. J.B. Wittenoom, rector of Perth and grandfather of Mr. E.H. Wittenoom, Minister of Mines, with whose family the Lefroys are related by marriage. Of the union there were five children, two sons being Mr. H.B. Lefroy, M.L.A., to whom we have referred, and Anthony Langlois O'Grady, who at the age of 15, and while on a visit to Great Britain to be educated at Harrow, was killed by a gun accident while on a shooting excursion in Ireland with Major Bruce, the uncle of his mother. Of the three daughters one is the wife of Mr. H. Williams, Chief Clerk of the Post-office, and who with Mrs. Williams is now on leave, visiting England. The other daughters are unmarried. The father of Mr. Lefroy was the nephew of the late Chief Justice of Ireland; another member of the family was a former Governor of Tasmania. The news of the death of Mr. Lefroy was telegraphed to Mr. H.B. Lefroy yesterday to Launceston, which port the delegates of Western Australia to the Federal Council reached yesterday, so that it will be impossible for him to be present at the obsequies which are to take place this afternoon at the Perth Cemetery. The funeral service will be performed by the Bishop of Perth. Mrs. Lefroy survives her husband. The bereaved family, it will be seen, is one of the oldest established in Western Australia, and its members have received the condolences of a very large number of friends.

[The West Australian, Fri. January 22, 1897, p5]

The funeral of the late Hon. Anthony O'Grady Lefroy took place yesterday afternoon in Perth. The hour for the procession to leave Cambrai, the late residence of the deceased in St. George's-terrace, was fixed for four o'clock, and some time before the hour arrived a guard of honour, consisting of a detachment of police-troopers under the command of Captain Newlands, inspector of police, were stationed in the street, immediately in front of Cambrai, and a number of foot-constables also patrolled the street to keep the thoroughfare open. Among the friends of the Lefroy family who arrived to pay their last tribute of respect to one whose name was so closely identified for several decades with the history of the colony were to be seen representatives of many of the leading families in Western Australia, including men who had not only been on terms of social intimacy with the late Mr. Lefroy, but had been officially and closely associated with him in his public capacity as a legislator and a member of the Civil service. At 4 o'clock, the body of the deceased gentleman, enclosed in a handsome coffin, was borne out of the house and placed in the hearse. From friends and relatives, from men who had served under Mr. Lefroy in the public office, from the members of his own family and the domestics belonging to his household were received many wreaths and crosses of beautiful roses, everlastings, orchids and other white or delicate-hued flowers artistically interwoven in pale green leaves, and these were placed on the coffin and the hearse. The order of the procession as it moved from the house was as follows:-

The procession slowly wound its way along St. George's Terrace to Bennett-street, up which it passed into Forrest Avenue, and thence to the Church of England Cemetery. All places of business were closed along the route, and the flag on the Town Hall remained at half-mast. At the cemetery gates the procession was met by the Right Rev. C.O.L. Riley, Bishop of Perth, and the Very Rev. F. Goldsmith, Dean of Perth, who performed the burial rites, in the presence of the members of the procession and many others who visited the cemetery to be present at the ceremony.

The pall-bearers were: Mr. S. Burt, Q.C., M.L.A., Attorney-General and Acting Premier; Mr. E.H. Wittenoom, M.L.C., Minister of Mines; Dr. A.P. Weylan, J.P., Lieut-Colonel Phillips, Commissioner of Police; Mr. O. Burt, Under-Secretary, Colonial Secretary's Department; and Mr. L.S. Eliot, Under-Treasurer. The chief mourners were: Mr. C. Harper, M.L.A., the Masters Lefroy (grandsons), Miss Lefroy (daughter), Mrs. Turner, Mr. Gerald Lefroy, Mr. William Lefroy, and Mr. Thomas Lefroy (nephews). Among those who took part in the procession were the following:- Captain St. Leger, representing His Excellency the Governor; Sir Alexander C. Onslow, Chief Justice; Mr. Justice Hensman and Mr. H. Hensman; Sir George Shenton, President of the Legislative Council; Lieutenant-Colonel Wilson, Commandant of the Western Australian Defence Forces; Mr. A.F. Thomson, Under- Secretary for Railways; Mr. O. Burt, Registrar of Titles; Mr. H.S. Ranford, Acting Surveyor-General; Mr. F. Spencer, Auditor-General; Mr. F.A. Moseley, Registrar of the Supreme Court; Mr. J.B. Roe, Sheriff of the Supreme Court; Mr. O.P. Stables, Secretary Education Department; Mr. W.T. Loton, M.L.A.; Mr. R.F. Sholl, M.L.A., Mr. E.T. Hooley, M.L.A.; Mr. A. Forrest, M.L.A.; Mr. F.L. Hussey, Chief Accountant, and all the officers of the Treasury; Mr. R. Wynne, Manager of the Post Office Savings Bank; Mr. R. Fairbairn, R.M.; Major E.W. Haynes, P.A.V.; Major T. Sherwood; Ven. Archdeacon Watkins, Mr. J.F. Law, Mr. J.M. Ferguson, Mr. J.S. Brooking, Mr. H.R. England, Mr. J.B. Percy, Mr. R.E. Bush, Dr. H.T. Kelsall, Mr. C. Lee- Steere, Mr. A.R. Grant, Mr. M.F.A. Canning, Mr. C.Y. Simpson, and Cr. T.G. Molloy.

Wreaths were received from the following ladies and gentlemen:- Mr. and Mrs. A.P. Hensman, Sir George and Lady Shenton, Mr. and Mrs. Alexander Christie, Mr. and Mrs. E.H. Wittenoom, Lieutenant-Colonel and Mrs. Wilson, the Misses Eliot and Mrs. Cooper, Mrs. and Miss Ferguson, Mr. and Mrs. C. Harper, Mr. R.E. Bush, Mr. and Mrs. A. Forrest, Mr. R.C. and Miss Loftie, Mr. and Mrs. S. Burt, Mr. and Mrs. O. Burt, Mrs. and Miss Wittenoom, Mrs. G.C. Knight, Mrs. Maxwell Lefroy, Mrs. Turner, Lieut.-Colonel and Mrs. and the Misses Phillips, Mrs. Foss, Mr. and Mrs. Saw, Miss Moore, Miss Brown and Miss Steere, Magie Wynne (nee Harrison) by R.W., Mrs. Buckland and the servants at Cambrai, Mrs. and the Misses Lefroy, the officers of the Treasury who served under the late Mr. A. O'G. Lefroy, Mrs. E. Ledger, Mr. and Mrs. A. Burt, Mrs. G. Shruffrey, Captain J. Talbot Hobbs, Mrs. Lillis.

The funeral arrangements were carried out by Messrs. Bowra and O'Dea.