Early life

F. E. Winchcombe was born on 26 April 1855 in Brunswick, Victoria

Brunswick, Victoria

Brunswick is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 6 km north from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Moreland...

. His parents were John Phillimore Winchcombe, a quarryman who immigrated from Wales, and Julia Sophia Earle. The Welsh Winchcombes were a junior branch of the Gloucestershire clothier family plausibly descended from the 16th century Berkshire clothier Jack O’Newbury.

Career

After graduating, Winchcombe joined the wool brokerage of Mort & Co. In September 1889 Winchcombe formed Winchcombe, Carson & Company with partners Duncan Carson, C. L. Wallis and E. J. Turton. The company served as woolbrokers and cattle agents.

Winchcombe was a commissioner for the 1893 Chicago World's Fair, an executive member of the Patriotic Fund for the South African War and a vice-president of the Royal Agricultural Society of New South Wales

Royal Agricultural Society of New South Wales

The Royal Agricultural Society of New South Wales is an Agricultural society based in New South Wales, Australia. They run many of the agricultural shows around New South Wales including the Sydney Royal Easter Show....

. He was three times president of the Sydney Chamber of Commerce

Sydney Chamber of Commerce

The Sydney Business Chamber was established in 1825 as the Sydney Chamber of Commerce and is the second oldest business entity in New South Wales...

 (1907–08, 1909–10, 1914–15), a director of the Australian Mutual Provident Society, Atlas Assurance Co. Ltd and James Martin & Co. Ltd, and chairman of Ruthven Ltd, a Queensland pastoral company. He was thee first President of the Wildlife Preservation Society of Australia

Wildlife Preservation Society of Australia

The Wildlife Preservation Society of Australia was founded in Sydney, Australia in May 1909 to encourage the protection of, and to cultivate interest in, the Australian flora and fauna. The founding President of the Society was The Hon Frederick Earle Winchcombe MLC . David Stead was one of four...

.

In November 1900, Winchcombe was elected to the New South Wales Legislative Assembly

New South Wales Legislative Assembly

The Legislative Assembly, or lower house, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of New South Wales, an Australian state. The other chamber is the Legislative Council. Both the Assembly and Council sit at Parliament House in the state capital, Sydney...

 for Ashfield

Electoral district of Ashfield

Ashfield was an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of New South Wales, first created in 1894 with the abolition of multi-member electoral districts from part of Canterbury, and named after the Sydney suburb of Ashfield. It was abolished in 1920, with the...

. He resigned in August 1905 and traveled to Europe. He later joined the Legislative Council in 1907 and was a member of the Board of Health (1907–10).

During the First World War he organized the Sydney Chamber of Commerce War Food Fund, helped to establish the State Wool Committee, founded the Universal Service League (1915). He was a trustee of the Regimental Comforts Fund and vice-president of the Soldiers' Club (1915).

Personal life

He married Annie Amelia Henson (died 1952) at Christ Church St Laurence on 25 September 1878. They had four sons and two daughters. Winchcombe attended St Mark's Church in Darling Point. He was briefly Rector’s warden at Christ Church St Laurence (1877–83). His daughter Edyth married Thomas Bavin. His grandchildren included barrister John Winchcombe Bavin, educationalist Nancy Milner-Gulland and writer and theatrical producer Ian Bevan.

Death

During World War II, Winchcombe visited his sons who were soldiers in England. On the return voyage, his ship, hit a mine and sank in the Indian Ocean. Winchcombe was rescued but died of pneumonia on 29 June 1917 in Bombay. He was buried in Sewri

Sewri

Sewri is a suburb of Mumbai. It is also the name of a railway station on the Mumbai suburban railway.Neighbouring stations: Cotton Green, Wadala Road....

cemetery. His estate was valued at £56,109.