Not long after the Ballarat School of Mines first opened in 1870, Henry enrolled and undertook the various classes that were on offer over the next decade or so. He was a diligent learner and a man of science and the school was his favourite place to be. Over the years Henry won awards and scholarships to continue his studies and the school was very proud of their remarkable student. While Henry was still enrolled as a student he invented many things which the school made use of. One of those inventions was an electrical storage battery that by 1882 made him world famous. In 1883 Henry was still enrolled as a student in the school having won previously a scholarship to continue his studies. On the strength o his now world fame the student was offered a teaching role at the school. Eventually Henry agreed and in 1883 Henry became Lecturer at the school instead of a student. Henry Sutton’s class was called “Applied Electricity and Magnetism” and was the first class of its type in Australia. Henry was regarded as one of the best lecturers the school had ever had and he taught there until the end of 1889. The School has now been incorporated into Federation University and in 2018 the university gave Henry a Posthumous Alumnus Award and named a Student Award and a PhD Awards in his name. Henry has also been honoured with a graphic timeline of his inventions and images in one of the university’s buildings.
