Downer family

The Downer family has played a significant role in the South Australian and Australian political and social sphere since the early days of European settlement. Their earliest ancestors were Mary Ann Downer (1792–1868) and her son Henry Downer, a tailor (1811–1870), who travelled from England to Australia in 1862, settling in Adelaide.^[1]

Name	Birth name	Alive	Occupation	Office	Parents	Spouse	Notes
Henry Downer	Henry Downer	1811–1870	Tailor			Jane Field	Arrived from England aboard the Eden on 24 February 1838[1][2]
George Downer	Alexander George Downer	1839–1916	Barrister, journalist, businessman		Henry Downer and Jane Downer (née Field)	unmarried
John Downer	John William Downer	1843–1915	Partner in the legal firm G & J Downer	Premier of South Australia 1885 – 1887, 1892 – 1893	Henry Downer and Jane Downer (née Field)	Elizabeth Henderson Una Stella Haslingden Russell	Una Russell remarried in 1919, to D’Arcy Wentworth Addison.[3]
Henry Edward Downer		1836–1905	lawyer, businessman, politician		Henry Downer and Jane Downer (née Field)	Maria Martin Haggar
Alick Downer	Alexander Russell Downer	1910–1981		Minister for Immigration, Australian 1958 – 1963 High Commissioner in London 1964 – 1972	John William Downer and Una Stella Haslingden Downer (née Russell)	Mary Isobel Gosse
Mary Downer	Mary Isobel Gosse	1924–2014			James Hay Gosse and Joanna Lang Gosse (née Barr Smith)	Alick Downer
Alexander Downer		1951 –		Minister for Foreign Affairs 1996 – 2007 Opposition Leader (Liberal Party) 1994 – 1995	Alick Downer and Mary Downer (née Gosse)	Nicola Robinson
Georgina Downer	Georgina Mary Beatrice Downer	1979–	Lawyer, diplomat, political adviser		Alexander Downer and Nicola Rosemary "Nicky" Downer (née Robinson)	Will Heath	Contested the 2018 Mayo by-election and the 2019 Australian federal election[4] as the endorsed Liberal candidate, in both cases unsuccessfully.

John Downer

Alick Downer

Alexander Downer

See also

• Political families of Australia