6 May 1873 - state funeral for Wm Wentworth

#OnThisDay 6 May 1873 a State funeral was held in honour of William Wentworth, who had died in England on March 20, 1872. Wentworth was well-known as an explorer (he found a route over the Blue Mountains along with Blaxland and Lawson), an entrepreneur (he founded The Australian, NSW's first privately owned newspaper), a politician (he was elected to the Legislative Council in 1843) and a landowner (he built Vaucluse House and developed the surrounding estate with his wife Sarah).

It was the first 'State funeral' in colonial New South Wales and the service was held in St Andrew's Cathedral. The day was declared a public holiday by the governor and "between 50,000 and 70,000 Sydneysiders flocked to various vantage points to view the funeral procession."
Source: Murray, L. (2013). First State Funeral. The Dictionary of Sydney

Related

• Trove newspaper article "Public funeral in honour of Mr Wentworth" 
• Digitised entries in the Colonial Secretary's Papers under William Wentworth
• See the entry in the Australian Dictionary of Biography
• Vaucluse House is under the care of Sydney Living Museums

Gallery

• Visit our Blue Mountains Gallery
  

From the Collection