John Stephen Hampton Esq

1862 – 1868

John Stephen Hampton was awarded a medical diploma in Edinburgh in 1828, and in 1829 entered the navy as an assistant surgeon.

On 28 February 1862, Hampton was appointed Governor of Western Australia arriving in the colony the following year. He, his wife Mary and their son George were the first residents of the current Government House.

As the Governor of a colony in a debt crisis, he introduced strict cost-cutting measures, including using convict labour whenever possible. Within a year the colony’s financial standing had recovered. His sound financial management endeared him to the Colonial Office, and went some way to alleviating his reportedly unpopular public image.

He died in 1869, a year after his term as Governor ended on 1 November 1868. The transportation of convicts to Western Australia ended soon after.