Historical information

Henry Dendy (1800-1881) is best known as the founder of Brighton. It is not well known that years later he lived far longer at Eltham than he did at Brighton.

In 1840 whilst still in England, he bought eight square miles of unspecified land in the Port Phillip district. This entitled him to bring a number of other people to the colony and in 1841 he arrived in Williamstown in the York with his family and 139 others. He took up this land entitlement at what is now Brighton and most of the emigrants settled there. He encountered financial problems and lost his interest in the estate in 1844. He left Brighton in 1847. He successfully not always successfully became a brewer at Geelong, a sheep farmer at Christmas Hills and Upper Moira, a flour miller at Eltham, a sheep farmer again at Werribee and finally a copper miner at Walhalla.
Dendy came to Eltham in 1856 after having spent a year in England, he purchased about 5 acres of land in two parts situated each side of Maria Street (Main Road). There was a steam flour mill on that part of the land adjoining the Diamond Creek. He became prominent in local affairs serving for a time on the Eltham District Roads Board including one term as President.

Dendy’s wife Sarah died at Eltham in 1860 and also in that year he was appointed Chairman of a committee to establish a Church of England in Eltham. He donated one of his Pitt Street lots for this purpose. St Margaret’s Church was opened on this site in 1861.

In 1867 Dendy sold his mill to W F Ford and moved to Werribee and then Walhalla where he remained until his death. He is buried in the Walhalla cemetery.

Part of the land on which the Eltham Community Reception Centre stands was the site of Dendy’s house and Mill. Some of the old trees on the site could well have been planted in Dendy’s time.

Much of this information was obtained from the book “Henry Dendy and his Emigrants” by L A Schumer.

Physical description

Colour photograph copy of Portrait of Henry Dendy c.1875