Henry WALLAN

a.k.a. Robert or Henry Wallen, Wallan, Wally, Whalley, Wharlan, Warland, Walker and 'Governor'. He was certainly known by a variety of names and spelling but "Henry Wallan" was how he wrote his own name when writing to Charles Sturt in 1851. - Chris Ward

Earliest South Australian Settler.— On the 29th of April an inquest was held on the body of the earliest known settler in this colony, named Henry Wallen, who died suddenly at the Gresham Hotel in Adelaide. The deceased was familiarly known as 'Governor' Wallen,' having acquired a sort of ascendancy over the natives and settlers on Kangaroo Island, on which he had lived from 35 to 37 years.

Old Wallen was both a territorial grandee and a merchant, having been the proprietor of a tract of land conceded to him by right of occupation long before the founding of the colony, and having conducted a pretty extensive business in wallaby-skins, which he procured in large quantities with the aid of two native women whom he had taken as his wives.

Old Wallen seldom visited Adelaide, and on this occasion he unfortunately indulged in strong liquors to an extent that proved fatal. He was a man of singular habits, and was so intimately acquainted with the Bible that scarcely a verse of the sacred volume could be named which he was not able immediately to recite. He was a most successful hunter, often having from £100 to £150 worth of skins to dispose of at one time.

The funeral of the old man was respectably conducted, the expense being met by a few gentlemen in town who felt interested in the history of poor Wallen.

Source: MISCELLANEOUS. (1856, May 20). South Australian Register(Adelaide, SA : 1839 - 1900), p. 4. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article49746733

See also : CORONER'S INQUEST UPON THE EARLIEST SOUTH AUSTRALIAN SETTLER. (1856, April 30). South Australian Register (Adelaide, SA : 1839 - 1900), p. 3. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article49746165

See also: CORONERS INQUEST UPON THE EARLIEST SOUTH AUSTRALIAN SETTLER. (1856, May 3). Adelaide Observer (SA : 1843 - 1904), p. 3. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article161258536

See also: An Old Story Revived. (1910, September 3). The Kangaroo Island Courier (Kingscote, SA : 1907 - 1951), p. 2. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article191639291

See also some research at http://andrewwarland.com.au/australia/kangaroo.html

See also an excellent article by Dorothy Heinrich, 2011, The Man Who Hunted Whales, pp.208-210. Also his confrontation with Samuel Stephens on Kangaroo Island pp.48-51.

Historical Records of the Early Settlement on Kangaroo Island

[By Alfred A. Lendon M.D.]

Robert Wallen (for that appears to have been his true name) died in May,1856 [sic]. A notice of his death appeared in the newspapers. "The Register" of 9th May, 1856, [No title (1856, May 9). South Australian Register (Adelaide, SA : 1839 - 1900), p. 2. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article49746281] had the following: — The cutter 'Breeze,' which will leave this evening [sic] for Kangaroo Island, will take down for interment in the cemetery at Kingscote, the body of Robert Wallen (or Governor Wallen, a name by which he is better known), whose recent sudden death in Adelaide is fresh in the memory of our readers. We believe that Mr Goodiar, truly interpreting the sentiment entertained towards the deceased by the settlers on the Island, has made arrangements for having his remains removed for burial to the place where he had spent the mature days of his life in rude independence as one of the pioneers of South Australia.

Historical Records of the Early Settlement on Kangaroo Island. (1931, February 21). The Kangaroo Island Courier (Kingscote, SA : 1907 - 1951), p. 3. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article191248798

WALLEN, Henry, known as "Governor", the first farmer in South Aust. He was a resident on Kangaroo Island from 1819 to 1856, departed this life at Adelaide, May 2, 1856,[sic] and brought to K. I. for burial. Aged 62 years

http://www.ozburials.com/CemsSA/kingscotep.htm

Plaque at Pioneers Cemetery, Reeves Point, Kangaroo Island

"GOVERNOR" HENRY WALLEN

Wallen arrived on Kangaroo Island circa 1819 as a free settler.

He established a farm at "Three Wells", Cygnet River, and has

been described at South Australia's first farmer. He is said to

have been a quiet, industrious, well-behaved man.

He was a successful hunter, familiar with the Bible and kind to

his aboriginal wives and son, Henry Jnr.

When the first official settlers arrived in 1836,

Wallen introduced himself as "The Governor". He was helpful

to the colonists in many ways but was unfairly dispossessed of

his farm and stock when the SA Company took it it over for their

office. Wallen moved to Hog Bay and returned to hunting, while

Henry Jnr was sent to Hobart Town to receive an education.

Henry Jnr became known as Whalley and joined whaling ships.

He was a pall-bearer at the funeral of William Lanney,

the last full-blood male Tasmanian aboriginal in March 1859.

Whalley, the chief harpooner in a whaling expedition,

died following the wreck of the Bencleugh at Macquarie Island

in August 1877.

"Governor" Wallen lived out his life on Kangaroo Island until

poor health required him to go to Adelaide for medical

treatment. He died at the Gresham Hotel, King William Street,

in April 1856, at 62 years of age. His body was brought back to

Kangaroo Island on the cutter Breeze and

interred in this cemetery.

The Kangaroo Island Pioneers' Association Inc. provided this

plaque, assisted by a State Government grant, to commemorate

175 years of official European settlement on Kangaroo Island.

Unveiled on 27th July, 2011