In 1890 the University of Sydney received 250,000 Pounds from the Estate of John H Challis.
It was the first major private benefaction. In today's money , that is $ 42,000,000!
The gift was used to create professorships in Law, Medicine, Veterinary Science, Biology,Civil Engineering English Literature, History and Philosophy.
Challis thus made a major contribution to Sydney.
He arrived in Sydney at the age of 22 with little money.Over the next 26 years he worked as a merchant, and clearly made a lot of money.
What do we know about him ?
The answer seems to be, not very much; even though Challis House is in Martin Place and Challis Avenue , Potts Point is named after him.
Information
- Show
- Published12 November 2021 at 12:00 UTC
- Length23 min
- Episode11
- RatingClean