Rags to Riches - The mysterious 42 Million Dollar Man - John Henry Challis.
About this episode
The episode explores the life and contributions of John Henry Challis, a significant benefactor to the University of Sydney.
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.
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