Henry Ayers - Legacy

Legacy

Apart from his mining interests, Ayers held important directorates and was for many years a member and chairman of the board of trustees of the Savings Bank of South Australia; he was re-appointed chairman only a few days before his death. He was the first Chairman of the South Australian Gas Company, from 1862 was a governor of the Adelaide Botanic Gardens, president of the South Australian Old Colonists' Association, and was for many years on the council of the University of Adelaide. He was in parliament for an unbroken term of 37 years and in no other Australian colony or state has a politician exercised so much influence or been in so many ministries while a member of the upper house. It is likely, however, that if Ayers had been in the House of Assembly he would have had more control of business, and his seven premierships would have been longer in duration and more fruitful in results. An address he gave on Pioneer Difficulties on Founding South Australia was published as a pamphlet in 1891.

Ayers resided in Ayers House from 1855 until 1897 and built it from a 9-room house into a grand mansion in the 1860s. The youngest child, Lucy, was born at Ayers House. During Sir Henry's parliamentary service, Ayers House was used for Cabinet meetings, parliamentary dinners and grand balls.