William Balcombe

William Balcombe
Born(1777-12-28)28 December 1777
Rottingdean, Sussex, England
Died19 March 1829(1829-03-19) (aged 51)
Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Burial place
Devonshire Street Cemetery, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Military career
Allegiance
Branch
Colonial Service

William Balcombe (28 December 1777 – 19 March 1829) was an East India Company and colonial administrator. He came to fame as the father of a daughter (Betsy Balcombe) who befriended Napoleon Bonaparte whilst the Balcombe family were living on Saint Helena. The exiled Bonaparte had lodged with the Balcombes (at the Briars) whilst his permanent quarters at Longwood were being prepared.

William Balcombe spent some time in the Colony of New South Wales appointed as the first treasurer, arriving on 5 April 1824 with his family and servants aboard the Hibernia. He died there in 1829 (aged 51). One of his sons was Thomas Tyrwhitt Balcombe (1810—1861) and a great-granddaughter was Mabel Brooks (1890—1975).

There is a long-held tradition that Balcombe brought cuttings of a weeping willow that grew over Napoleon's grave on St Helena to his property, Kenmore, near Goulburn. The same tradition holds that cuttings from the trees at Kenmore, and their descendants, were used to propagate the trees to other parts of New South Wales.

References

  1. ↑ "The Children of Longwood". www.napoleon-series.org. Retrieved 21 June 2017.
  2. ↑ Thomson, Kathleen. "Balcombe, Alexander Beatson (1811–1877)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. ISBN 978-0-522-84459-7. ISSN 1833-7538. OCLC 70677943. Retrieved 21 June 2017.
  3. ↑ "BBC – Radio 4 – Betsy and Napoleon". www.bbc.co.uk. BBC. Retrieved 21 June 2017.
  4. ↑ Dispatch from Henry Bathurst, 3rd Earl Bathurst, Secretary of State for War and the Colonies to Sir Thomas Brisbane, Governor of New South Wales dated 2 October 1823. Watson, Frederick; Chapman, Peter (1914). "Dispatches". Historical Records of Australia. 1. Vol. 11 (January 1823 – November 1825). Sydney: Library Committee of the Commonwealth Parliament. p. 138. Retrieved 27 September 2025 – via Trove.
  5. ↑ New South Wales, Australia, Record of Appointments to Government Offices, 1814–1825
  6. ↑ "PFO-15 Colonial Treasurer (1856-1959) Treasurer (1959- )". NSW State Records & Archives. Retrieved 18 April 2021.
  7. ↑ "Ship News". Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser. 8 April 1824. p. 2. Retrieved 21 June 2017 – via Trove.
  8. ↑ "Obituary – William Balcombe – Obituaries Australia". oa.anu.edu.au. Retrieved 21 June 2017.
  9. ↑ "AMONG THE TOMBS". Truth (Sydney). 26 January 1902. p. 3. Retrieved 4 January 2026.
  10. ↑ Essence, Peninsula (13 August 2018). "The Dame and the Emperor". peninsula essence. Retrieved 5 January 2026.
  11. ↑ "THE WILLOWS OF THE UPPER MURRAY". Goulburn Evening Penny Post. 4 February 1915. p. 2. Retrieved 5 January 2026.

Further reading