Henry parkes brief biography of adolf

Coming to New South Wales in at the age of 24 as a penniless assisted migrant, Henry Parkes brought with him an urge towards self-betterment and a democratic temperament, both characteristic traits of the skilled workmen of the Birmingham in which he had grown up. In the infant colony he soon revealed speaking and writing skills remarkable for a man lacking formal education or privilege.

But his skill as a parliamentary leader commanded support and his integrity was unquestioned. In his hey-day formal political parties, based on declared policy, did not exist.

Henry parkes brief biography of adolf: Sir Henry Parkes, a dominant political

In a milieu in which principle was at a discount, his name was associated with a wide range of social reforms, and he presided over the major achievement of his era in the colony: the establishment of an effective system of public education. It was fitting that, near to the end of his career, he was able to make a crucial contribution in the march towards the federation of the Australian colonies.

In the political enterprise he found self-realisation and, despite the many setbacks, disappointments and compromises of his personal life, he held firmly to belief in the central importance of what could be achieved through the parliamentary institutions of his adopted society. That, essentially, is why his name can be confidently given to a Foundation for the most serious study of Australian political history.

Henry Parkes dominated political life in New South Wales during the second half of the nineteenth century in the way that was true of William Charles Wentworth during the first half of the century. As a leading representative of urban-based, mostly middle class Sydney interests, however, Parkes opposed the aspirations of the squattocracy to which Wentworth belonged.

He cut his political teeth in the s and early s when he came out in opposition to the squatters who sought to consolidate their power base and who, with a view to obtaining cheap labour, supported moves by the British government to resume convict transportation to New South Wales.