Charles Gavan Duffy

Sir Charles Gavan Duffy, KBE, KCMG (12 April 1816 - 9 February 1903) Irish nationalist and Australian colonial politician, was the 8th Premier of Victoria and one of the most colourful figures in Victorian political history. Duffy was born in Dublin Street, Monaghan Town, County Monaghan, Ireland, the son of a Catholic shopkeeper. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (686x885, 184 KB) Summary This image shows a photograph of Charles Gavan Duffy, taken in the 19th century. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (686x885, 184 KB) Summary This image shows a photograph of Charles Gavan Duffy, taken in the 19th century. ... April 12 is the 102nd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (103rd in leap years). ... 1816 was a leap year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... February 9 is the 40th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1903 (MCMIII) was a common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ... Irish nationalism refers to political movements that desire greater autonomy or the independence of Ireland from Great Britain. ... List of Premiers of Victoria Before the 1890s there was no formal party system in Victoria. ... Monaghan (Irish: Contae Muineachán) is a county in the Republic of Ireland. ...

He was educated at St Malachy's College in Belfast and admitted to the Irish bar in 1845. In 1842 he married Emily McLaughlin, with whom he had one son. Emily died in 1845. He married Susan Hughes in 1846, with whom he had six children. St. ... Belfast (Béal Feirste in Irish) is a city in the United Kingdom. ...

Duffy became a leading figure in Irish literary circles. He edited Ballad Poetry of Ireland (1843) and other works on Irish literature.

Duffy was active in Irish Nationalist politics and was one of the leaders of the Young Ireland group, and a founder of the The Nation newspaper. He and Thomas Davis organised mass meetings across Ireland to demand the repeal of the Act of Union between Britain and Ireland. As a result of his activities he was arrested and convicted of seditious conspiracy in 1844, but was released after an appeal to the House of Lords. Young Ireland was a Irish revolutionary movement, active in the mid nineteenth century. ... Thomas Osborne Davis (October 14, 1814 - September 16, 1845) was Irish writer and politician who was the chief organizer and poet of the Young Ireland movement. ... From 1801 to 1922 the whole island of Ireland formed a constituent part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland (UK). ... Sedition is a deprecated term of law to refer to non-overt conduct such as speech and organization that is deemed by the legal authority as tending toward insurrection against the established order. ... This article is about the British House of Lords. ...

In 1852 Duffy was elected to the House of Commons for New Ross. In 1856, despairing of the prospects for Irish independence, he resigned from the House of Commons and emigrated with his family to Australia. The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, and is now the dominant branch of Parliament. ... New Ross (Ros Mhic Thriúin in Irish) is a town in southwest County Wexford, Republic of Ireland, in the southeast of Ireland. ...

After being feted in Sydney and Melbourne Duffy settled in Victoria. In early colonial Victoria, Duffy, with his political and literary reputation, was an exotic and romantic figure, particularly for the colony's large Irish community. For this reason he was feared and hated by many in the English and Scottish Protestant establishment, especially when he indicated his intention of entering Victorian politics. Sydney is the state capital of New South Wales and with a population of over 4 million people which makes it the most populous city in Australia. ... Melbourne is the state capital and largest city in the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-largest city in Australia (after Sydney), with a population of approximately 3. ... Royal motto (French): Dieu et mon droit (Translated: God and my right) Englands location within the British Isles Languages English (de facto) Capital London de facto Largest city London Area – Total Ranked 1st UK 130,395 km² Population – Total (mid-2004) – Total (2001 Census) – Density Ranked 1st UK 50. ... Royal motto: Nemo me impune lacessit (English: No one provokes me with impunity) Scotlands location within the United Kingdom Languages English, Gaelic, Scots Capital Edinburgh Largest city Glasgow First Minister Jack McConnell Area - Total - % water Ranked 2nd UK 78,782 km² 1. ... Protestantism is a general grouping of denominations within Christianity. ...

A public appeal was held to enable him to buy the freehold property necessary to stand for the colonial parliament. He was immediately elected to the Legislative Assembly for Villiers and Heytesbury in the Western District. He later sat for Dalhousie and for North Gippsland. The Legislative Assembly, or lower house, is one of the two chambers of the parliament of Victoria in Australia. ...

Duffy was Commissioner for Public Works in 1857, and was President of the Board of Land and Works and Commissioner for Crown Lands and Survey in the first two governments of John O'Shanassy from 1858 - 1859, and from 1861 - 1863.

Like other radicals, he regarded unlocking the colony's lands from the grip of the squatter class as his main priority, but his 1862 lands bill was amended into ineffectiveness by the Legislative Council. The historian Don Garden writes: "Unfortunately Duffy's dreams were on a higher plane than his practical skills as a legislator and the morals of those opposed to him." This article is about occupying land without permission. ... The Legislative Council, or upper house, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of Victoria, Australia. ...

In 1871 Duffy led the opposition to Premier James McCulloch's plan to introduce a land tax, on the grounds that it unfairly penalised small farmers. When McCulloch's government was defeated on this issue, Duffy became Premier and Chief Secretary (June 1871 to June 1872). Victoria's finances were in a poor state and he was forced to introduce a tariff bill to provide government revenue, despite his adherance to British free trade principles. Sir James McCulloch (1819 - 31 January 1893), Australian colonial politician, was the 5th Premier of Victoria. ... Land Value Taxation (LVT) is the policy of raising state revenues by charging each landholder a portion of the assessed site-only value of the unimproved land. ... A tariff is a tax on imported goods. ... Free trade is an economic concept referring to the selling of products between countries without tariffs or other trade barriers. ...

An Irish Catholic Premier was very unpopular with the Protestant majority in the colony, and Duffy was accused of favouring Catholics in government appointments. in June 1872 his government was defeated in the Assembly on a confidence motion allegedly motivated by sectarianism. He resigned the leadership of the liberal party to Graham Berry. Sir Graham Berry Graham Berry (28 August 1822 - 25 January 1904), Australian colonial politician, was the 11th Premier of Victoria. ...

When Berry became Premier in 1877 he made Duffy Speaker of the Legislative Assembly, a post he held without much enthusiasm until 1880, when he quit politics and retired to the south of France.

He was knighted in 1873 and made KCMG in 1877. He married for a third time in Paris in 1881, to Louise Hall, and had four more children in his 70s. One of his sons, John Gavan Duffy, was a Victorian politician between 1874 and 1904. Another, Frank Gavan Duffy, was Chief Justice of the High Court of Australia 1931 - 1935. On the Orders insignia, St Michael is often depicted subduing Satan. ... The Eiffel Tower has become a symbol of Paris throughout the world. ... Sir Frank Gavan Duffy KCMG PC (born 1852, died 1936), Australian judge, was the fourth Chief Justice of the High Court of Australia, sitting on the bench of the High Court from 1913 to 1935. ... High Court entrance The High Court of Australia is the final court of appeal in Australia, the highest court in the Australian court hierarchy. ...

Sir Charles Gavan Duffy died in Nice in 1903, aged 86. City motto: Nicæa civitas. ...

(Note: Both Charles and Frank Gavan Duffy are sometimes refered to as though their surname was Gavan Duffy. There is no doubt that the family surname was Duffy, but the family tradition of giving all males the middle name Gavan has led to some confusion about this.)

Trivia

Although the Gavan Duffys adhered to pacific and non-violent forms of politics and expression in Australia, it must be noted that one of the extended Gavan Duffy clan, Louise Gavan Duffy, was a rebel in the Easter Rising in 1916 in Dublin. Easter Proclamation, read by Pádraig Pearse outside the GPO at the start of the Easter Rising, 1916. ... Dublin (Irish: Baile Átha Cliath) is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Ireland, located near the midpoint of Irelands east coast, at the mouth of the River Liffey and at the centre of the Dublin Region. ...

External link

• Poetry of Ireland, with references to Duffy

References

• Geoff Browne, A Biographical Register of the Victorian Parliament, 1900-84, Government Printer, Melbourne, 1985
• Don Garden, Victoria: A History, Thomas Nelson, Melbourne, 1984
• Kathleen Thompson and Geoffrey Serle, A Biographical Register of the Victorian Parliament, 1856-1900, Australian National University Press, Canberra, 1972
• Raymond Wright, A People's Counsel. A History of the Parliament of Victoria, 1856-1990, Oxford University Press, Melbourne, 1992

Sir James McCulloch (1819 - 31 January 1893), Australian colonial politician, was the 5th Premier of Victoria. ... List of Premiers of Victoria Before the 1890s there was no formal party system in Victoria. ... James Goodall Francis (9 January 1819 - 25 January 1884), Australian colonial politician, was the 9th Premier of Victoria. ...