John Gavan Duffy (15 October 1844 – 8 March 1917) was an Australian politician, member of the

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 ...

. Born in

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

, Ireland to

Charles Gavan Duffy Sir Charles Gavan Duffy, KCMG, PC (12 April 1816 – 9 February 1903), was an Irish poet and journalist (editor of ''The Nation''), Young Irelander and tenant-rights activist. After emigrating to Australia in 1856 he entered the politics of ...

(who would later serve as

Premier of Victoria The premier of Victoria is the head of government in the Australian state of Victoria. The premier is appointed by the governor of Victoria, and is the leader of the political party able to secure a majority in the Victorian Legislative Assembly ...

) and Emily McLaughlin, he arrived with his family in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

in August 1859. After some time on his father's farm he was articled as a clerk to a solicitor. In 1874 he married Margaret Mary Callan, the daughter of his father's first cousin

Margaret Margaret is a female first name, derived via French () and Latin () from grc, μαργαρίτης () meaning "pearl". The Greek is borrowed from Persian. Margaret has been an English name since the 11th century, and remained popular througho ...

, with whom he had five children. He was admitted as a solicitor to the

Supreme Court A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

in 1876. While continuing his legal practice, Duffy was elected to the

as the member for Dalhousie in 1874; he was defeated in 1886 but returned in a by-election in 1887. In 1889 he transferred to the new seat of Kilmore, Dalhousie and Lancefield, which he represented until 1904. He was Victoria's Minister for Agriculture from March to August 1880,

Postmaster-General A Postmaster General, in Anglosphere countries, is the chief executive officer of the postal service of that country, a Ministry (government department), ministerial office responsible for overseeing all other postmasters. The practice of having ...

from 1890 to 1892,

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 ...

from February to April 1892, minister without portfolio from 1892 to 1893, and Postmaster-General again from 1894 to 1899. Duffy died at St Kilda in 1917.

References

1844 births 1917 deaths Members of the Victorian Legislative Assembly Irish emigrants to colonial Australia Knights of St. Gregory the Great Australian solicitors Politicians from Melbourne Attorneys-General of the Colony of Victoria {{Australia-politician-stub