The Dictionary of Australasian Biography/Hart, Hon. Frederic Hamilton
Hart, Hon. Frederic Hamilton, M.L.C., was born at Madras, on March 26th, 1836, and received his education in the Australian colonies. He first came to Sydney in 1843 with his father, the late William Hamilton Hart, who was superintendent of the Bank of Australasia, and who, as a member of Sir Charles Hotham's Secret Commission in 1854, did immense service in reconstituting the disordered finances of Victoria. The father and son revisited England in 1849, returning to Australia in 1853, when they took up their residence in Melbourne, and the former established the firm of Bright Brothers & Co., the son acting as junior clerk. In 1862 he was sent to open a branch of the firm in Queensland, arriving in Brisbane in September of that year. In 1881 the designation of the firm of which Mr. Hart is still the resident managing partner in Queensland was altered to Gibbs, Bright & Co. He was appointed a member of the Marine Board or Queensland in 1869, and subsequently vice-chairman. In 1872 he took an active part in the formation of the Queensland National Bank, and was elected director at the first meeting of shareholders and became first chairman of the Board, a position he has held continuously ever since. In July 1872 he was summoned to the Legislative Council.