22 March 1829 'Poimena' Mowbray Tasmania Australia Emma Glover Eva Emma, Henry Howard, Lilian Mary, Florence Annette, Hedley Livingstone Waddell, Alexandria Louise, Maude Tasmania, Octavius Ethelbert, Beatrice Minna & Rupert Stanley

Henry Button, one of Launceston's most prominent and remembered city fathers, was born on 22 Mar 1829 at Sudbury, Suffolk, England, the third son of Thomas Button, a tanner and currier, and his wife Harriett Lloyd. Henry remained in England with his grandmother from 1833 until they joined his family in Tasmania in 1837. On leaving school when he was 12, Henry was employed in the family tanning and brewery businesses before taking a job as a reporter at The Examiner newspaper. He rose through the ranks and in 1887 he became the sole proprietor; the newspaper is still operating today. Henry was an alderman and mayor of the Launceston Council and was interested in photography and microscopy.

Henry married the love of his life, Emma Glover, daughter of Henry Glover of Patterdale, Nile, and granddaughter of the artist John Glover, on 14 Aug 1852. Henry and Emma had ten children between 1853 and 1872: Eva Emma, Henry Howard, Lilian Mary, Florence Annette, Hedley Livingstone Waddell, Alexandria Louise, Maude Tasmania, Octavius Ethelbert, Beatrice Minna and Rupert Stanley. Emma died on 17 Nov 1897. Henry published his memoirs Flotsam and Jetsam in 1909. He died at his residence in Lord Street, Launceston, on 11 May 1914. He was buried in the Charles Street Cemetery. His daughter Eva is also in the Launceston Family Album. See The Examiner 4 Mar 2006, p. 30.

Angela Prosser Green Mar 2006