Graham Berry - Migration

Migration

In 1852 he migrated to Victoria, and went into business as a grocer in Prahran, then as a general storekeeper in South Yarra. His business skills and Victoria's booming economy soon made him a wealthy man. In 1848 he married Harriet Blencowe, with whom he had eleven children . After her death he married Rebekah Evans in 1871; the couple had seven children of their own. At his death, Berry was survived by eight of the children from his first marriage and all of the children from his second marriage.

In Victoria, Berry, by voracious reading, acquired the education he had missed in England, and taught himself economics, literature and philosophy. But all his life he retained a broad London accent, (Cockney) which many Victorian conservatives found offensive or amusing. In Parliament he once asked the Speaker: "What is now before the 'Ouse?" To which the Leader of the Opposition interjected: "An H!" He developed a powerful rhetorical style modelled on that of his hero Gladstone, equally effective in the rough-house of the colonial Parliament or on the hustings. The conservative newspaper The Argus conceded: "His oratory might not be polished: it certainly was not—but it was passionate, and it told." Noted for his humour, Berry was nevertheless a tough and determined politician.