Downer family

The Downer family have played a prominent role in South Australian and Australian politics. Their earliest ancestors were Mary Ann Downer and her son Henry Downer, a tailor, who travelled from England to Australia in 1862, settling in Adelaide.

Name	Birth name	Alive	Occupation	Office	Parents	Spouse	Notes
Henry Downer	Henry Downer	1811–1870	Tailor			Jane Field	Arrived from England aboard the Eden on 24 February 1838
George Downer	Alexander George Downer	1839–1916	Barrister, journalist, businessman		Henry Downer and Jane Downer	unmarried
John Downer	John William Downer	1843–1915	Partner in the legal firm G & J Downer	Premier of South Australia 1885 – 1887, 1892 – 1893	Henry Downer and Jane Downer	Elizabeth Henderson Una Stella Haslingden Russell	Una Russell remarried in 1919, to D’Arcy Wentworth Addison.
Henry Edward Downer		1836–1905	lawyer, businessman, politician		Henry Downer and Jane Downer	Maria Martin Haggar
Alick Downer	Alexander Russell Downer	1910–1981		Minister for Immigration, Australian 1958 – 1963 High Commissioner in London 1964 – 1972	John William Downer and Una Stella Haslingden Downer	Mary Isobel Gosse
Mary Downer	Mary Isobel Gosse	1924–2014			James Hay Gosse and Joanna Lang Gosse	Alick Downer
Alexander Downer		1951 –		Minister for Foreign Affairs 1996 – 2007 Opposition Leader 1994 – 1995	Alick Downer and Mary Downer	Nicola Robinson
Georgina Downer	Georgina Mary Beatrice Downer	1979–	Lawyer, diplomat, political adviser		Alexander Downer and Nicola Rosemary "Nicky" Downer	Will Heath	Contested elections in 2018 and 2019 for Mayo as the endorsed Liberal candidate, in both cases unsuccessfully.