Edmund Barton

"'For the first time in history, we have a continent for a nation and a nation for a continent.' - Sir Edmund Barton"Sir Edmund Barton M.A., GCMG KC (18, January, 1849 - 7, January, 1920) was an English diplomat, judge, lawyer, politician and statesman. During his career, Barton served as a Member of Parliament, twenty-first Attorney-General of the State of New South Wales, first Minister of Foreign Affairs, first Prime Minister of the Dominion of Australia and Justice of the Supreme Court of the Dominion of Australia.

Barton's administration conglomerated the colonies of British Australasia as the Dominion of Australia, deployed forces to China and South Africa during the Second Boer War and the Boxer Rebellion in service of Queen Victoria and King Edward VII, enshrined the Constitution of the Dominion of Australia, established the Royal Australian Army, funded the expansion of the Royal Navy, instituted a system of racial segregation, prohibited the use of foreign labour and preserved the Dominion's economic sovereignty and ethnic homogeneity.

Barton personally attended the Confederation Conferences for British Australasia as the delegate for the State of New South Wales, drafted the Immigration Act of 1901, instituting immigration restrictions which excluded non-Europeans, and the Pacific Island Labourers Act of 1901, prohibiting the employment of foreign labourers, co-founded the High Court of Australia and presided over it as one of it's founding judges, and lead the delegation for Australia during the Anglo-Japanese Treaty Conference of 1902, establishing an alliance between the empires which would last until 1923.

Early Life
Edmund Barton was born to William Barton, a stockbroker, and his wife Mary (née Whydah,) a teacher, at Sydney, New South Wales on 18, January, 1849 and was baptised at Saint John's Church on 4, July, 1849.

Education
Edmund began his education at Fort Street School, attending for two years before enrolling at the Sydney Grammar School and attending between 1859 and 1864. Following his graduation Barton matriculated at the University of Sydney, studying classical arts and within his first year he had earned the Cooper Scholarship, Lithgow Scholarship and University Medal for his exceptional performance. In 1868, Barton graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree and two years later completed his examination for a Master of Arts degree.

Legal Career
Barton's career in law began under the employ of solicitor Henry Bradley during May, 1868 and barrister G.C. Davies during June, 1870. In 21, December, 1871 he was admitted to the bar examination and became a lawyer for the Supreme Court of New South Wales. His first major case was as a junior counsel for the defence of notorious murderer Alfred Lester during May, 1872 and he continued to serve as a defence lawyer and Crown prosecutor over the following decade, but maintained his private practice for the rest of his career.

Political Career
In 1879, Barton was elected to a seat in the Legislative Assembly of New South Wales as representative of the district of the University of Sydney. His support for free trade between the Australasian colonies and the Education Act of 1880 are accredited for his reelection as a Member of Parliament representing the districts of Wellington and East Sydney and on 3, January, 1883, Barton was appointed Speaker of Parliament for New South Wales.

Trivia

 * Barton was multilingual and fluent in English, Greek and Latin.