Having represented Stanley in the mixed
South Australian Legislative Council for five years prior to the inauguration of responsible government in 1856, he was elected to the new Legislative Council, and was
Chief Secretary in the
Hanson Government from September 1857 to May 1860. This being the first stable administration formed subsequent to the disappearance of the old officials from public life, it fell to Mr. Younghusband to organise the various Government departments inaugurated under the new régime. This he did with consummate ability, and for many years the public business of the colony was transacted on the lines he laid down. Mr. Younghusband was a director of the
Bank of Australasia, and retired from the Legislative Council by rotation in Feb. 1861. He died at Rome on 5 May 1863. ==Legacy==