Clark Irving (1 January 1808 – 13 January 1865) was an Australian merchant pastoralist and politician. He was a member of the

New South Wales Legislative Assembly The New South Wales Legislative Assembly is the lower of the two houses of the Parliament of New South Wales, an Australian state. The upper house is the New South Wales Legislative Council. Both the Assembly and Council sit at Parliament Ho ...

from 1856 until 1864.

Early life

Irving was the son of a Cumberland farmer. He received only an elementary education and moved to London at an early age. After gaining business experience he emigrated to Sydney in 1836 and established a mixed mercantile business trading in watches, jewellery and wool. In 1843, he bought Casino station on the

Richmond River The Richmond River is a river situated in the Northern Rivers region of New South Wales, Australia. Course and features The river rises at the northern end of the Richmond Range, near its junction with the McPherson Range, on the Queensl ...

and established a herd of short-horn cattle. He was highly successful in this venture and by 1856 he had expanded his runs to include 279,040 acres in the Richmond River and

Darling Downs The Darling Downs is a farming region on the western slopes of the Great Dividing Range in southern Queensland, Australia. The Downs are to the west of South East Queensland and are one of the major regions of Queensland. The name was general ...

districts. While developing these properties he continued to spend much of his time in Sydney and was well known in colonial social circles. Irving also developed a practice as a trustee for insolvent estates and was a director of companies including the Australasian Sugar Company, the

Australasian Steam Navigation Company The Australasian Steam Navigation Company (ASN Co) was a shipping company of Australia which operated between 1839 and 1887. Company history The company was started as the Hunter River Steam Navigation Company in 1839. In March 1851, the compa ...

and the Newcastle-Wallsend Coal Company. After 1862, Irving very actively pursued the establishment of an Anglican diocese in Grafton. He donated £2,000 of his own money to the diocese and toured England for his business interests and to raise further funds for the diocese. However, during this trip he lost his fortune by investing in Spanish railways and subsequently developed pneumonia and died. He was associated with many local organisations in the Clarence region.

Colonial Parliament

1856 Events January–March * January 8 – Borax deposits are discovered in large quantities by John Veatch in California. * January 23 – American paddle steamer SS ''Pacific'' leaves Liverpool (England) for a transatlantic voya ...

, at the first election held under responsible self-government, Irving was elected as the Legislative Assembly member for Clarence and Darling. This massive electorate covered an area extending from Grafton to

Warwick Warwick ( ) is a market town, civil parish and the county town of Warwickshire in the Warwick District in England, adjacent to the River Avon. It is south of Coventry, and south-east of Birmingham. It is adjoined with Leamington Spa and Whi ...

. Irving's interests were mainly in the southern area of the electorate and he opposed the

separation of Queensland The Separation of Queensland was an event in 1859 in which the land that forms the present-day State of Queensland in Australia was excised from the Colony of New South Wales and created as a separate Colony of Queensland. History European set ...

as a separate colony. Consequently, at the next election in

1858 Events January–March * January – ** Benito Juárez (1806–1872) becomes Liberal President of Mexico. At the same time, conservatives install Félix María Zuloaga (1813–1898) as president. ** William I of Prussia becomes regen ...

, he lost the support of electors in the northern area of the electorate and was defeated. Irving re-entered the Assembly as the member for

Clarence Clarence may refer to: Places Australia * Clarence County, New South Wales, a Cadastral division * Clarence, New South Wales, a place near Lithgow * Clarence River (New South Wales) * Clarence Strait (Northern Territory) * City of Clarence, a l ...

after the Darling Downs were placed in the new colony of Queensland in 1859. He was a tireless local member, who gained government support for improved river navigation, connection to the telegraph service and a gold escort. During his prolonged trip to England his seat was declared vacant due to absence but, despite still being abroad, he won the subsequent

by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election (Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election used to f ...

Memorial

The Irving Bridge over the

Casino A casino is a facility for certain types of gambling. Casinos are often built near or combined with hotels, resorts, restaurants, retail shopping, cruise ships, and other tourist attractions. Some casinos are also known for hosting live entertai ...

is named for him.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Irving, Clark 1808 births 1865 deaths Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly 19th-century Australian politicians