Sir Stephen Henry Parker (7 November 1846 – 13 December 1927) was a lawyer and Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Western Australia from 1906 to 1914.

Biography

Early life

Stephen Henry Parker was the second son of

Stephen Stanley Parker Stephen Stanley Parker (1817–1904) was an early settler and pioneer of Western Australia and a member of the Western Australian Legislative Council. Biography Early life Parker was born on 24 May 1817 in Lyminge, Kent. He came to the Swan Ri ...

(1817–1904) and his wife Elizabeth, née Sewell. He was the grandson of Stephen Parker (1879), a pioneer settler in

York, Western Australia York is the oldest inland town in Western Australia, situated on the Avon River, east of Perth in the Wheatbelt, on Ballardong Nyoongar land,King, A and Parker, E: York, Western Australia's first inland town, Parker Print, 2003 p.3. and is ...

. Parker was educated at the Bishop's School, Perth, and was called to the bar in 1868.

Career

He became a member of the

Western Australian Legislative Council The Western Australian Legislative Council is the upper house of the Parliament of Western Australia, a state of Australia. It is regarded as a house of review for legislation passed by the Legislative Assembly, the lower house. The two Houses ...

and advocated responsible government for the colony. In 1878 he moved for the introduction of a bill to amend the constitution, but this motion was defeated. A constitution bill for responsible government was passed by the Legislative Council on 26 April 1889, but was met with some opposition in the

British House of Commons The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the upper house, the House of Lords, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. The House of Commons is an elected body consisting of 650 mem ...

. It was suggested and agreed that a delegation consisting of the retiring governor, Sir

Frederick Broome Sir Frederick Napier Broome (18 November 1842 – 26 November 1896) was a colonial administrator in the British Empire, serving in Natal, Mauritius, Western Australia, Barbados and Trinidad and Tobago. The Western Australian towns of Broom ...

, Sir Thomas Cockburn-Campbell and Parker should go to London to see the bill through the British parliament. The delegation was able to give a good answer to all objections raised, and subsequently the bill was passed and became law. He served as colonial secretary in the

John Forrest Sir John Forrest (22 August 1847 – 2 SeptemberSome sources give the date as 3 September 1918 1918) was an Australian explorer and politician. He was the first premier of Western Australia (1890–1901) and a long-serving cabinet minister i ...

ministry from October 1892 to December 1894 when he retired. He was also chairman of the Perth City Council from November 1877 to 1879, for a few months in 1880-81 and Mayor from February to October 1892. In 1881, he joined with his brother George to form the well known law firm Parker and Parker (which in 1997 merged with the Perth office of Freehill Hollingdale & Page).

Personal life and death

He married Amey Katharine Leake, daughter of

George Walpole Leake George Walpole Leake (3 December 1825 – 3 October 1895) was a Western Australian barrister and magistrate and nephew of George Leake (1786–1849). For short periods of time he was also Attorney-General of Western Australia. Leake held the fo ...

on 27 July 1872. She died in 1914. They had four sons and seven daughters who reached adulthood. Their second son Hubert Stanley Wyborn Parker (1883-1966) was the member of the

Western Australian Legislative Assembly The Western Australian Legislative Assembly, or lower house, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of Western Australia, an Australian state. The Parliament sits in Parliament House in the Western Australian capital, Perth. The Legisla ...

for North-East Fremantle in 1930-33, and of the

for Metropolitan-Suburban province in 1934-54. He was attorney-general for two months in 1933 and chief secretary in 1948-50. Parker, and his brother George, were heavily involved with the East Perth (now known as Perth) Cricket Club in the W.A.C.A. Competition. He was club President from 1899 to 1903. He died on 13 December 1927.

References

*G. C. Bolton, Wendy Birman,
Parker, Sir Stephen Henry (1846 - 1927)
, ''

Australian Dictionary of Biography The ''Australian Dictionary of Biography'' (ADB or AuDB) is a national co-operative enterprise founded and maintained by the Australian National University (ANU) to produce authoritative biographical articles on eminent people in Australia's ...

'', Volume 11, MUP, 1988, pp 138–140. * {{DEFAULTSORT:Parker, Stephen Henry 1846 births 1927 deaths Mayors and Lord Mayors of Perth, Western Australia Australian Knights Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George Chief Justices of Western Australia Judges of the Supreme Court of Western Australia Australian people of English descent

Biography

Early life

Career

Personal life and death

See also

References