Quick Facts
Biography
Henry Croft (January 15, 1856 – July 28, 1917) was an Australian-born lumber and mining magnate on Vancouver Island in the early 1900s. He founded the town of Crofton, British Columbia in 1902 as a place to house the smelter for his coal mine on Mount Sicker.
Biography
Born in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia at Darling Point, in a place called Mount Adelaide, he migrated to England at the age of one, after the death of his mother. He moved back to Australia after finishing school in 1879, but then went to the United States, where his brother was living. Soon after in 1882, he again moved, this time to Canada, staying at Victoria, British Columbia. It was here he met Mary Jean Dunsmuir, daughter of Robert Dunsmuir. They married on June 29, 1885.
In 1890, Croft was elected to the British Columbia Legislature with 146 votes, or 34.27% of the ballots, representing the Cowichan region. He served this post for the next four years.
He had developed the prosperous Lenora mine at nearby Mount Sicker in 1898. By 1902, his mine was producing more ore than railway cars could load and haul away to the Ladysmith and Nanaimo, Nanaimo ports. Inspired by significant profits, Croft bought the townsite of Crofton to build a copper smelter and house his workers.
On July 28, 1917, Croft died at the age of 61 at his home, Mount Adelaide, in Victoria. His wife, Mary, died on August 15, 1928. By the time of Croft's death, his smelter had long ago disappeared, and rumours of building a large sawmill in Crofton had been raging. However, none of them ever came about.
Association
Henry Croft was a member of many different societies as a result of his mining involvement:
- Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society
- Member of the Institute of Mining Engineers
- Member of the Institution of Civil Engineers