Sir Henry Parkes GCMG
Sir Henry Parkes GCMG
People Buried Here
Epitaph
Sir Henry Parkes:
Born Warwickshire, England. Died Sydney.
Sir Henry Parkes, father of Australian Federation. Five times Prime Minister of NSW. Arrived in Australia July 25th, 1839. Worked as station hand, customs officer, bone and ivory turner. In 1850 became proprietor of "Empire" newspaper. Member of NSW Parliament from 1854 - 1894. Sir Henry Parkes is especially remembered for his efforts to develop NSW education and railways, and his work for Federation earned him the title of "Father of Federation".
Clarinda Lady Parkes:
Only daughter of Robert Varney. Married to Henry Parkes.
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Sir Henry Parkes, (27 May 1815 – 27 April 1896) was a colonial Australian politician and longest non-consecutive Premier of the Colony of New South Wales, the present-day state of New South Wales in the Commonwealth of Australia. He has been referred to as the "Father of Federation" due to his early promotion for the federation of the six colonies of Australia, as an early critic of British convict transportation and as a proponent for the expansion of the Australian continental rail network.
Parkes delivered his famous Tenterfield Oration in 1889, which yielded a federal conference in 1890 and a Constitutional Convention in 1891, the first of a series of meetings that led to the federation of Australia. He died in 1896, five years before this process was completed. He was described during his lifetime by The Times as "the most commanding figure in Australian politics". Alfred Deakin described Sir Henry Parkes as having flaws but nonetheless being "a large-brained self-educated Titan whose natural field was found in Parliament".