Biography

Henry Lonsdale was the fourth child in a family of nine.  His father was a teacher but around the mid 1870s he took up professional portrait photography, a profession he continued to ply until they migrated to Australia.  Some of his photographs are still used in education subjects.

The Abell family boarded the ship Compta and arrived in Brisbane on 10 November 1882.

Henry Lonsdale's father passed away 20 May 1884 and is buried at the Toowong Cemetery.  His mother, Mary, died 11 September 1909 and his sisters, Annie, died 10 March 1888, Kate died 30 January 1915 and Edith Darling died 6 March 1925.  They are buried with their father.

To provide for her family, Mary ran a private school in Toowong.

In 1898, Henry is registered as living at Duingal, south west of Bundaberg.  Bu 1900, Henry had returned to Brisbane and was living with his brother, William, in the last house on the left from the Railway Station on Stanley Terrace in the suburb of Taringa, Brisbane.  He was employed as a clerk.  In 1905, Henry returned to Stanton Harcourt in the Wide Bay area and tried his hand at being a miner.  By early 1906, Henry returned to his home on Stanley Terrace, Taringa, and took up work as a clerk once again.  Later the same year, Henry moved to Gin Gin and tried his hand at being a General Agent.  He didn't stay with this occupation and by 1908 was employed in the district as a labourer.  The following year, his mother passed away and was buried with her husband.

The next mention of Henry is in September 1911 when he arrived in Langlo Crossing.  His occupation was listed as a carpenter.  Within ten months of arriving at Langlo Crossing, Henry took ill with asthma (or some throat condition) and died at the Langlo Crossing Hotel.  He was buried the same day in the Langlo Crossing Historical Cemetery.