Edward Eagar - Legacy

Legacy

Eagar was Australia's first liberal political agitator. He left his wife and three sons behind, taking his daughter with him to London. He was never to return. He married a 16-year-old girl and they had 10 children. His Sydney wife, Jemima, moved into a new house in Macquarie Street, just down the road from Parliament House, with William Wentworth, with whom she had a son. At the time Wentworth was arguably Australia's most famous citizen. He was the first 'European' to cross the Blue Mountains and the most powerful member of the Legislative Council. Eagar's son Geoffrey became the first accountant of the Bank of New South Wales, a leading public servant, a member of the Legislative Council and eventually Treasurer of New South Wales—described as the best Treasurer of the nineteenth century—and a long-serving Cabinet Minister.

The Wesley Mission's Edward Eagar Lodge in Surry Hills is named after Edward.