175 Years of European Settlement of Kangaroo IslandPrint Page

"Governor" Henry Wallen

Wallen arrived on Kangaroo Island circa 1819 as a free settler. He established a farm at "Three Wells", Cygnet River, and has been described at South Australia's first farmer. He is said to have been a quiet, industrious, well-behaved man. 

He was a successful hunter, familiar with the Bible and kind to his aboriginal wives and son, Henry Jnr. When the first official settlers arrived in 1836, Wallen introduced himself as "The Governor". He was helpful to the colonists in many ways but was unfairly dispossessed of his farm and stock when the SA Company took it it over for their office.

Wallen moved to Hog Bay and returned to hunting, while Henry Jnr was sent to Hobart Town to receive an education.  Henry Jnr became known as Whalley and joined whaling ships.

He was a pall-bearer at the funeral of William Lanney, the last full-blood male Tasmanian aboriginal in March 1859.  Whalley, the chief harpooner in a whaling expedition, died following the wreck of the Bencleugh at Macquarie Island in August 1877.

"Governor" Wallen lived out his life on Kangaroo Island until poor health required him to go to Adelaide for medical treatment. He died at the Gresham Hotel, King William Street, in April 1856, at 62 years of age. His body was brought back to Kangaroo Island on the cutter Breeze and interred in this cemetery.

The Kangaroo Island Pioneers' Association Inc. provided this plaque, assisted by a State Government grant, to  commemorate 175 years of official European settlement on Kangaroo Island.

Unveiled on 27th July, 2011