Sir Henry Parkes

Sir Henry Parkes (1815-1896), Australian statesman, premier of the colony of New South Wales fives times, and architect of Australian federation. Born in Warwickshire, England, Parkes became a craftsman who worked with bone and ivory. In 1839, when his business collapsed, he emigrated to Sydney and worked in several jobs, including farming. In the 1840s he became active politically and in 1850 founded the newspaper Empire, which he ran until 1858 and through which he campaigned for colonial self-government. Parkes first held public office in 1854 and continued to do so, in a range of posts, for the next 40 years. During his career Parkes was a leader in extending voting rights, introducing a free and compulsory education, expanding the railways, limiting Chinese immigration, and promoting New South Wales as a free-trade colony. By 1872 he was premier of New South Wales, a position he occupied five separate times up to 1891.

Parkes first argued for combining the Australian colonies into one nation in 1867. He became the main author of federation and one of the movement's foremost leaders. As president of the 1871 national convention that met to decide federation, he was instrumental in drafting the principles of federation, which became the basis of the 1901 constitution. Parkes also wrote six volumes of poetry and several of prose.