Nehemiah Guthridge ( - 27 June 1878), was an Irish-born Australian ironmonger and politician. A prominent Wesleyan, Guthridge was a councillor of the City of Melbourne; he represented the Central Province in the Legislative Council from 1856 to 1858; and was the first mayor of the Borough of Sale in 1863 until 1873, and continued to serve on Sale Council until his death.
Biography Guthridge was born in County Fermanagh, Ireland, the son of Thomas Guthridge, a farmer, and Jane, nee Quigley. He married Martha Erskine in in Ireland.
The family arrived in Victoria in June 1841 as bounty immigrants (under a scheme first proposed by Edward Gibbon Wakefield) at Port Phillip from Liverpool via Rio de Janeiro aboard the H.M.S. Frankfield. The ship's passenger list records "Nehemiah Guthridge 29, Fermanagh, Martha Guthridge 27 wife of Nehemiah, and Thomas Guthridge 2 son of Nehemiah".
On 14 March 1849 Guthridge bought lot no. 2 of the Crown Allotment in Richmond, Victoria. For this property of , he paid £19 per acre.
Guthridge and William Nicholson were among the first promoters of the Melbourne and Hobson's Bay Railway Company, also providing funding for the initial survey. He also provided considerable financing for the Ballarat and Geelong railway projects.
Nehemiah and Martha Guthridge had eight children: Thomas Guthridge, b. 1839, England Richard Guthridge, b. 1844, Melbourne Ella Guthridge, b. 1847, Melbourne Nehemiah Guthridge, b. 1849, Melbourne Lissa Guthridge, b. 1851, Richmond Edward Erskine Guthridge, b. 1853, Richmond, d. 1874, Victoria Martha Anna Guthridge, b. 1855, Melbourne Lilly Araminta Guthridge, b. 1857, Northcote The inscription on the gravestone of Edwards reads: "Edward E. Guthridge, aged 21 years, fifth son of Nehemiah and Martha Guthridge, was drowned by the swamping of a boat in the Lower Yarra on 31 May 1874"
Guthridge arrived in Sale in November 1862, and took over the ironmongery business carried on by Messrs. Thomson and Neils, renaming it the "Gippsland Hardware Co." Guthridge became the first Mayor of Sale in 1863, and was again elected in 1864, 1869, and 1873; serving as a councillor until his death.
Guthridge died on 27 June 1878 at Emerald Hill.
References
External links Australia's Early Immigration Schemes