Born into a
Quaker family in
Sunderland, County Durham on 27 June 1837, he was the eldest son of Henry Binns (a leading member of the
Chartist Movement) and Elizabeth Bowron. He attended
Ackworth School in
Pontefract, Yorkshire, from 1847 to 1852, before completing his education in
York. Henry Binns emigrated to
Natal in 1858. Not long after his arrival in the colony, he turned out to play for the "Champions of Durban" against the
Maritzburg Cricket Club on 2 May 1860 in what has been described as 'the first major cricket match' to have been played in
Durban. Commissioned as the first
adjutant of the Victoria Mounted Rifles in 1862, Binns took command of the volunteer unit (which was subsumed into the
Natal Mounted Rifles in 1888) in 1875. He established himself in the sugar industry – owning the Sunderland estate and setting up the Umhlanga Valley Sugar Estate Company together with Robert Acutt in 1868 – before being appointed by Sir Garnet Wolseley (
Garnet Wolseley, 1st Viscount Wolseley) as a nominated member of the colony's Legislative Council in 1879. When the council was transformed into an elective assembly in 1883, Binns was elected member for Victoria County – originally by a majority of only one vote – retaining his seat until his death, 16 years later . An account published in the
Natal Witness newspaper in 1963 described Binns, the legislator, as 'having a caustic manner in the Natal Parliament and his clashes with the
Colonial Secretary became almost legendary. Both were masters of an eye-glass and the pantomimic use of these was always worth watching. The method of brandishing the eye-glass was usually a forerunner of what sort of retort was coming.' Elsewhere he has been described as 'a pungent speaker, who rarely wasted words'. Binns succeeded the Rt. Hon.
Harry Escombe P.C. as prime minister in October 1897. He was known to favour good relations with the neighbouring
South African Republic (ZAR) under President
Paul Kruger, a position which caused tensions with some of the fiercely pro-imperialist members of his cabinet, such as Albert Hime (Sir
Albert Henry Hime) and Henry Bale (later, Sir Henry Bale, Chief Justice of Natal from 1901 to 1910); and with the newly appointed High Commissioner in South Africa, Sir Alfred Milner (
Alfred Milner, 1st Viscount Milner). It was nevertheless under his premiership, in May 1898, that Natal joined the OFS-Cape Colony customs union, which reduced Natal's economic ties with the
Transvaal. He died in office on 6 June 1899 in British South East Africa. He was buried at the military cemetery in Durban. His successor in office was Sir Albert Hime. Binns also served on the boards of the Natal Bank and the Durban Tramway Company. ==Family==