Sir John Bayley Darvall (19 November 1809 – 28 December 1883) was an Australian barrister, politician and beneficiary of slavery. He was a member of the

New South Wales Legislative Council The New South Wales Legislative Council, often referred to as the upper house, is one of the two chambers of the parliament of the Australian state of New South Wales. The other is the Legislative Assembly. Both sit at Parliament House in th ...

between 1844 and 1856 and again between 1861 and 1863. He was also 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 ...

for three periods between 1856 and 1865. He held the positions of Solicitor General and

Attorney General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general or attorney-general (sometimes abbreviated AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. The plural is attorneys general. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have exec ...

in a number of short-lived colonial governments.

Early life

Darvall was born into an upper-middle-class Yorkshire family and was educated at

Eton Eton most commonly refers to Eton College, a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. Eton may also refer to: Places *Eton, Berkshire, a town in Berkshire, England * Eton, Georgia, a town in the United States * Éton, a commune in the Meuse dep ...

and

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by Henry VIII, King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any college at either Cambridge ...

. Subsequently, he was articled to his uncle, Sir John Bayley at the

Middle Temple The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known simply as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court exclusively entitled to call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple, Gray's Inn an ...

and was called to the English Bar in 1838. He was an awardee of a compensation claim made for 264 slaves totalling £3,461. He emigrated to Sydney in 1839 and established a large, private legal practice. Darvall accrued significant agricultural and pastoral interests and was a director of several colonial companies, a number of which failed in the depression of the early 1840s. He declined a judgeship in Victoria in 1851 and was appointed as a

Queen's Counsel In the United Kingdom and in some Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth countries, a King's Counsel (Post-nominal letters, post-nominal initials KC) during the reign of a king, or Queen's Counsel (post-nominal initials QC) during the reign of ...

in 1857, a CMG in 1869 and a

KCMG KCMG may refer to * KC Motorgroup, based in Hong Kong, China * Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George, British honour * KCMG-LP, radio station in New Mexico, USA * KCMG, callsign 1997-2001 of Los Angeles radio station KKLQ (FM) ...

in 1877. Darvall returned to England in 1865 and continued in legal practice. He was a great-uncle of

Banjo Paterson Andrew Barton "Banjo" Paterson, (17 February 18645 February 1941) was an Australian bush poet, journalist and author. He wrote many ballads and poems about Australian life, focusing particularly on the rural and outback areas, including the ...

and related through his sister

Emily Mary Barton Emily Mary Barton (1817–1909) was an English-born Australian poet. She wrote poetry for most of her life, and was still publishing when she was 90. She was the grandmother of Andrew Barton (Banjo) Paterson. Early life and education Emily Ma ...

Parliament

On 24 July 1844, prior to the establishment of responsible self-government, Darvall was appointed to the

. He was a loyal supporter of the government until, unable to support the continuing nomination of members, he resigned in 1848. He was then elected to the Council, initially for the seat of County of Bathurst and between 1851 and 1856 as the member for County of Cumberland. Darvall styled himself as a "Patrician Liberal" and was a supporter of

John Dunmore Lang John Dunmore Lang (25 August 1799 – 8 August 1878) was a Scottish-born Australian Presbyterian minister, writer, historian, politician and activist. He was the first prominent advocate of an independent Australian nation and of Australian re ...

and

Charles Cowper Sir Charles Cowper (), (26 April 1807 – 19 October 1875) was an Australian politician and the Premier of New South Wales on five occasions from 1856 to 1870. Cowper did useful work but does not rank among the more distinguished Australian ...

. He opposed the 1853 Constitution Bill of William Charles Wentworth because of its provision for an hereditary upper house. Following the granting of self-government, Darvall was elected to the first Legislative Assembly as one of the two members for the seat of Cumberland (North Riding). He was surprisingly appointed as the Solicitor General in the conservative and short-lived government of

Stuart Donaldson Sir Stuart Alexander Donaldson (16 December 1812 – 11 January 1867) was the first Premier of the Colony of New South Wales. Early life Donaldson was born in London, England. He entered his father's firm at the age of 15 and was sent first t ...

. He was also Solicitor General 6 June to 25 August 1856 and 3 October 1856 to 23 May 1857 then Attorney-General 26 May to 7 September 1857 in the government of Henry Parker. Darvall became concerned by the effects of manhood suffrage and the colony's liberal land distribution schemes and resigned from the Assembly in November 1857. He subsequently joined the conservative Constitutional Association and was elected in their interest for the seat of

Hawkesbury Hawkesbury or Hawksbury may refer to: People *Baron Hawkesbury, or Charles Jenkinson, 1st Earl of Liverpool (1727-1808), English statesman Places ;Geography *Hawkesbury Island, an island in British Columbia, Canada * Hawkesbury Island, Queensland ...

at the 1859 election. His opposition to the Free Selection of Crown Lands led to significant dissension in the electorate and he did not contest the

1860 Events January–March * January 2 – The discovery of a hypothetical planet Vulcan is announced at a meeting of the French Academy of Sciences in Paris, France. * January 10 – The Pemberton Mill in Lawrence, Massachusett ...

election. While opposed to parliamentary nominations, he nevertheless accepted a nomination to the Legislative Council in 1861. He used his period in the Council to press for its conversion into an elected house and for a limitation on its powers over money bills. However, at the same time, he also expressed concerns at the excesses of colonial democracy. He resigned from the Council in June 1863 to successfully contest a

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 ...

for the seat of

East Maitland East Maitland is a suburb in the City of Maitland, New South Wales, Australia. It is on the New England Highway and it has two railway stations, Victoria Street (opened in 1857 with the Newcastle- Maitland line) and East Maitland (opened initi ...

and on re-entering the assembly he almost immediately accepted the position of Attorney-General in the liberal government of Charles Cowper. Cowper's government fell in October of that year and at the subsequent election he was elected as one of the four members for West Sydney. He was again made Attorney-General on 3 February 1865 by Cowper but resigned on 20 June 1865 to return to England.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Darvall, John 1809 births 1883 deaths People educated at Eton College Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly Members of the New South Wales Legislative Council Attorneys General of the Colony of New South Wales Solicitors General for New South Wales 19th-century Australian politicians Knights Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George Australian King's Counsel English barristers