1/27: Edmund Barton (1849-1920; Prime Minister 1901-1903)
Edmund Barton at age 17
(Click on photos to enlarge).
Sir Edmund Barton, the first Prime Minister of Australia, was born in Glebe, the son of a stockbroker. Educated at Fort Street High School and Sydney Grammar School, he subsequently graduated from the University of Sydney and became a barrister. In 1879 Barton was elected to the NSW State Parliament, becoming Speaker in 1882. In 1889 he became Attorney General.
An early supporter of federation, he was a delegate to the 1891 National Australasian Convention where he declared his support for the principle that “trade and intercourse…shall be absolutely free” in a federal Australia. He also advocated that both the upper and lower house of a federal parliament should be representative and that appeals to the Privy Council should be abolished. Barton took part in drafting a constitution which ended up being substantially similar to that adopted in 1900.
