Charles James Griffith (August 1808 – 31 July 1863) was a politician in colonial

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

, a member of the first

Victorian Legislative Council The Victorian Legislative Council (VLC) is the upper house of the bicameral Parliament of Victoria, Australia, the lower house being the Legislative Assembly. Both houses sit at Parliament House in Spring Street, Melbourne. The Legislative Co ...

, and later, the inaugural

Victorian Legislative Assembly The Victorian Legislative Assembly is the lower house of the bicameral Parliament of Victoria in Australia; the upper house being the Victorian Legislative Council. Both houses sit at Parliament House in Spring Street, Melbourne. The presiding ...

. Griffith was born in

Kildare Kildare () is a town in County Kildare, Ireland. , its population was 8,634 making it the 7th largest town in County Kildare. The town lies on the R445, some west of Dublin – near enough for it to have become, despite being a regional cen ...

County Kildare County Kildare ( ga, Contae Chill Dara) is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Leinster and is part of the Eastern and Midland Region. It is named after the town of Kildare. Kildare County Council is the local authority for the county, ...

, Ireland, the fifth son of Richard Griffith, MP, and his second wife Mary Henrietta, ''née'' Burgh. Griffith was educated at the

Trinity College, Dublin , name_Latin = Collegium Sanctae et Individuae Trinitatis Reginae Elizabethae juxta Dublin , motto = ''Perpetuis futuris temporibus duraturam'' (Latin) , motto_lang = la , motto_English = It will last i ...

(M.A., 1832) and called to the Irish bar. He arrived in the

Port Phillip District The Port Phillip District was an administrative division of the Colony of New South Wales from 9 September 1836 until 1 July 1851, when it was separated from New South Wales and became the Colony of Victoria. In September 1836, NSW Colonial Sec ...

(later to become the colony of Victoria) in 1840. On 31 October 1851 Griffith was sworn-in as a nominated member of the Victorian Legislative Council, a position he held until resigning June 1852. He was replaced in the Council by John Riddell. Griffith was then elected to the Council as a member for Normanby, Dundas and Follett, on 1 June 1853, he resigned in April 1854, but was re-elected in June 1854 and held the seat until the unicameral Council was abolished in March 1856. Griffith was elected to the inaugural

for Dundas and Follett, being sworn-in in November 1856. He resigned from the Assembly in 1858. Griffith died childless on 31 July 1863 at his home in Dandenong Road,

South Yarra, Victoria South Yarra is an inner-city suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 4 km south-east of Melbourne's Melbourne central business district, Central Business District, located within the Cities of City of Melbourne, Melbourne and City of Sto ...

, Australia.

Works

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Griffith, Charles James 1808 births 1863 deaths Members of the Victorian Legislative Council Members of the Victorian Legislative Assembly Irish emigrants to colonial Australia Alumni of Trinity College Dublin People from Kildare (town) 19th-century Australian politicians