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Premier of New South Wales
1872-75, 1877, 1878-83, 1887-91
Born in 1815,1 Henry Parkes grew up in Birmingham, England before starting an apprenticeship as a bone and ivory turner. In 1836, he married Clarinda Varney, a dressmaker, and three years later they left for NSW on the Strathfieldsaye, arriving in Sydney on 25 July 1839.2
After working as an ironmonger and brass-founder, Parkes returned to his trade, but his businesses failed. His natural talent as a writer resulted in his involvement in the literary and political scene as well as writing for The Launceston Examiner, The Sydney Morning Herald, The Australasian Chronicle and The Atlas. He became editor–proprietor of the Empire in 1850 and was appointed to the NSW Legislative Council (1854–56) and elected to the NSW Legislative Assembly (1856–95), representing a succession of divisions.3 Through these platforms, Parkes promoted franchise extension, land reform, universal suffrage, education reform and anti-transportation.
In 1872, Parkes became premier of NSW, promoting significant developments in public works, tariffs and free trade over his several terms in office, 1872–75, 1877, 1878–83, and 1887–91. Never free from controversy, he was still able to pass appropriation and loan bills and legislation for lands, public education, electoral issues, liquor trade, immigration, and employment.
Successful tours to England and the United States in 1882 and 1883–84 added to his domestic popularity, and he used this in his quest for federation, for which he is best known. His ‘Oration’, delivered at Tenterfield NSW on 24 October 1889, was a direct appeal to the public on the need to form a single nation,4 while his attendance at the Australasian Federation Conference (1890) and the Australasian Federal Convention (1891) helped to produce founding documents for the establishment of the nation.
After Clarinda’s death, Parkes married Eleanor Dixon in 1889 and they had five children. When Eleanor died, Parkes married Julia Lynch in 1895.
Parkes was appointed KCMG in 1877 and GCMG in 1888.
Julian Ashton
Julian Ashton (1851-1942) was an English-born artist and illustrator. He studied art at the West School of Art London and at the prestigious Académie Julian in Paris. Ashton began his career as a draftsman and an illustrator for journals like Chatterbox and Cassel’s Magazine. In 1978, Ashton moved in Melbourne and began drawing for the Illustrated Australian News and the Bulletin. In 1886 Ashton began to teach privately, conducting lessons at the Art Society of New South Wales of which he had been president from 1887-1892. In 1890, he established the renowned Sydney Art School (now known as the Julian Ashton Art School). Ashton was an avid patron of the arts and in 1889 was named a trustee of the National Art Gallery; he was later awarded the Society of Artists’ medal for distinguished service to the arts in 1924. In 1930, Ashton was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire and, in 1938, received the Sydney sesquicentennial prize for watercolour. Ashton’s work is represented in national and state collections across Australia.5
Henry Parkes
by Julian Rossi Ashton
1913
Oil on canvas
152.5 x 192 cm
Historic Memorials Collection, Parliament House Art Collections
References
1. Information in this biography has been taken from: ‘Sir Henry Parkes (1815–96)’, Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, published first in hardcopy 1974, accessed 7 May 2025.
2. ‘Australian History’, Leader, 7 January 1893, p. 43, accessed 7 May 2025.
3.‘Sir Henry Parkes (1815–1896)’, Parliament of New South Wales, accessed 7 May 2025.
4. ‘Tenterfield Oration’, National Museum of Australia, accessed 7 May 2025.
5. Information in this biography has been taken from: ‘Julian Ashton (1851-1942)’, Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, published first in hardcopy 1974, accessed 7 May 2025.