Sir Edmund (Toby) Barton. Sir Edmund (Toby) Barton (1849-1920), federationist, first prime minister and judge, was born on 18 January 1849 at Glebe, Sydney, third son and youngest child of William Barton and his wife Mary Louisa, née Whydah; his eldest brother was George Burnett Barton.
William had arrived in Sydney from London in 1827 as accountant to the Australian Agricultural Co. After a quarrel with Sir William Parry, he had resigned in 1832 and his subsequent career as a financial agent and sharebroker was chequered. With nine children to be provided for, his wife, who was exceptionally well educated, ran a girls' school in the 1860s. Edmund, known as Toby to his schoolmates, was educated at Fort Street Model School for two years and in 1859-64 at Sydney Grammar School, where he began a lifelong friendship with Richard O'Connor, and was school captain in 1863 and 1864.
In 1865 Barton matriculated at the University of Sydney. On 3 January 1883 Barton became Speaker. Edmund Barton - Fact sheet 210 – National Archives of Australia, Australian Government. Edmund Barton (NAA: A1200, L13582) Prime Minister of Australia 1901–03 Edmund Barton was born Sydney in 1849.
After graduating from Sydney University Barton practised as a solicitor and barrister during the 1870s. His political career began with his election to the New South Wales Legislative Assembly seat of University of Sydney in 1879. This began a career that saw him represent a further three seats in the Legislative Assembly – Wellington (1880–82), East Sydney (1882–87 and 1891–94), and Hastings-Macleay (1898–1900) – over the next 20 years. Barton was a strong advocate for federation. Commissioned to form the first Commonwealth government by the Governor-General, Lord Hopetoun, Barton was sworn in as Prime Minister and Minister for External Affairs on 1 January 1901.
Barton served only a single term as Prime Minister, resigning in 1903 to take up an appointment as a Justice of the High Court. Edmund Barton - Australia's PMs - Australia's Prime Ministers. Home > Australia's PMs > Edmund Barton Federation was Edmund Barton's 'one great thing'.
One of the key architects of Australia's Constitution, Barton became the new nation's first Prime Minister at a grand ceremony in Centennial Park, Sydney, on 1 January 1901. Crowds greet the new Prime Minister Edmund Barton (third from left) and Governor-General Lord Hopetoun (third from right), as they leave the rotunda in Sydney's Centennial Park, where the Commonwealth of Australia was born on 1 January 1901. Keenan, JJ, Inaugural Celebrations of the Commonwealth of Australia, 1904 Admired for his intellect and calm temper, Barton's glowing eyes revealed a keen sense of humour, while his ample girth was evidence of a love of good food, fine wine and stimulating conversation. Barton Papers - Series 5: Speeches, articles 1898-1901. Edmund Barton - Fact sheet 210 – National Archives of Australia, Australian Government. Exploring Democracy · Edmund Barton · Museum of Australian Democracy at Old Parliament House. On 1 January the Commonwealth of Australia is proclaimed in Centennial Park, Sydney.
The Proclamation and Letters Patent of the Governor-General, Lord Hopetoun, are read out and the nine members of the interim federal Ministry are sworn in. The Ministry includes Edmund Barton (Prime Minister, Department of External Affairs), Alfred Deakin (Attorney-General’s Department), Sir William Lyne (Department of Home Affairs), Charles Cameron Kingston (Department of Trade and Customs), Sir James Robert Dickson (Department of Defence), Sir John Forrest (Postmaster-General’s Department), Sir George Turner (Department of the Treasury), Sir Neil Elliot Lewis and Richard O’Connor.
Edmund Barton is Prime Minister from 1901 to 1903. Sir Robert Randolph Garran is appointed as the first, and briefly, the only Commonwealth public servant on 1 January 1901 as Secretary of the Attorney-General’s Department and parliamentary draftsman. Edmund Barton. Edmund Barton - Australia's PMs - Australia's Prime Ministers.
National Museum of Australia. Edmund Barton became Australia’s first Prime Minister on New Year’s Day 1901 at a huge public ceremony in Centennial Park in Sydney.
Barton was certainly qualified for his new job. He’d been a member of the New South Wales parliament for 20 years, and had served terms as Speaker of its Legislative Assembly, Attorney-General and Leader of the Opposition. Barton had worked on Federation for 10 years, and became Australia’s first Prime Minister because the supporters of Federation trusted him. Edmund Barton was born in Glebe, New South Wales, on 18 January 1849. He was one of nine children of William Barton and Mary Louise Whydah, English immigrants who arrived in Australia in 1824. Barton attended Fort Street school from 1856 to 1858 and then went to Sydney Grammar.
Barton entered New South Wales colonial politics in 1877, standing unsuccessfully as a candidate for the University seat in the Legislative Assembly, but winning the seat in 1879. In January 1895 the premiers met in Hobart. Sir Edmund (Toby) Barton.