Sir Edmund Barton was born on 18 January 1849 at Glebe, Sydney, and 52 years later became the first Prime Minister of Australia. Known as ‘Toby’ during his school years, Barton was educated at Fort Street Model School (1856-1858) and Sydney Grammar School (1859-64), where he was school captain in 1863 and 1864. Barton was awarded several academic prizes and scholarships from the University of Sydney before graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in 1868 and a Master of Arts in 1870. Having gained practical legal experience from mid-1868 working for a solicitor and then barrister, he was admitted to the Bar on 21 December 1871. During the 1870s he practiced law, twice briefly acting as a crown prosecutor in 1875 and 1878. Barton also honed his debating skills at the Sydney Mechanics’ School of Arts.
In both 1876 and 1877 Barton unsuccessfully stood for the University of Sydney seat in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly, finally becoming the member for University of Sydney in 1879. The University seat was abolished in 1880 although Barton’s political career continued and he subsequently held the Assembly seats of Wellington (1880-82), East Sydney (1882-87, 1891-94) and Hastings-Macleay (1898-1900). Barton sat in the NSW Legislative Council (or Upper House) twice (1887-91 and 1897-98) and was Speaker of the Assembly from 1883 to 1887. He served as Attorney General from January to March 1889 and again from 1891 to 1893 (on both occasions in George Dibbs’ Protectionist ministry) and was also Acting Premier from April to September 1892 while Dibbs was in Britain.
From the late 1880s Barton had been a strong advocate for Federation. In March 1891 he attended the National Australasian Convention in Sydney as a NSW delegate and became a member of the constitutional drafting committee. During the early 1890s he worked to get the Convention resolutions through the NSW Legislative Assembly. After unsuccessfully standing for the seat of Randwick in the general election of July 1894, Barton was out of NSW politics for three years. During this time he vigorously campaigned for Federation and addressed many public meetings. Barton was an elected delegate to the Australasian Federal Convention and at the Convention's first meeting in Adelaide in March 1897 was made Convention leader and chairman of the constitutional committee and the drafting sub-committee. The Convention met again in Sydney in September 1897 and in Melbourne from January to March 1898.
In 1898 and 1899 Barton campaigned for the passing of the draft constitution bill in NSW and Queensland. After all states had approved the bill, Barton led an Australian delegation to London in March 1900 to assist the passage of the Australian Commonwealth Legislation through British parliament. While in England, Barton was awarded an honorary LLD from the University of Cambridge and made honorary member of a number of London clubs. In December 1900, the Governor-General, Lord Hopetoun, commissioned Barton to form the first Commonwealth ministry, which Barton announced on Christmas Day. It included prominent colonial politicians such as Alfred Deakin, R E O’Connor, C C Kingston, John Forrest, George Turner and W J Lyne.
On 1 January 1901 Barton took the oath of allegiance at the proclamation of the Commonwealth in Centennial Park, Sydney, becoming Prime Minister and Minister for External Affairs. Later in January, Barton was appointed to the Privy Council. At the first Federal elections in March 1901 Barton was elected unopposed as the member for the seat of Hunter (NSW). Barton’s largely Protectionist government passed the Immigration Restriction Act and the Pacific Island Labourers Act, tackled the raising of Commonwealth revenue, and established the Commonwealth Public Service and the High Court of Australia. Barton's government also sent Australian troops to the Boer War, attempted to develop foreign policy for the Pacific region particularly in relation to French occupation in the New Hebrides, and initiated debate on a federal conciliation and arbitration bill.
In July 1902 Barton attended the Colonial Conference and the Coronation of Edward VII in London, where he negotiated an agreement for the upkeep of the British naval squadron at Sydney. While in Britain he was knighted (GCMG), presented with the Freedom of the City of Edinburgh, awarded an honorary DCL from the University of Oxford and made an honorary bencher of Gray’s Inn. Barton was also presented with a Medallion from Pope Leo XIII while visiting Rome. In 1905, he was awarded the Japanese Order of the Rising Sun, First Class.
Barton resigned as Prime Minister on 24 September 1903. Shortly afterwards he was appointed a Justice of the High Court. During Barton's sixteen years on the bench of the High Court, relations between State and Federal Governments as defined by the Constitution were a major focus. Barton was briefly Acting Chief Justice in 1911 during Sir Samuel Griffith's absence in Britain. Barton remained on the bench of the High Court until his death on 7 January 1920 at Medlow Bath in the Blue Mountains.
On 28 December 1877 Barton had married Jane (Jean) Mason Ross with whom he had four sons and two daughters. Lady Barton (CP 390) died on 23 March 1938.
Papers
The National Archives of Australia does not hold any of Sir Edmund Barton's personal papers. However, many records relating to Barton are contained in departmental series, particularly in the early correspondence series A6 and A8 created by the Department of External Affairs (where the office of Prime Minister was administratively located before 1904).
Records relating to Barton can be found on RecordSearch using the keywords ‘edmund barton’, ‘e barton’, ‘prime minister barton’, ‘p m barton’ or the keyword 'prime minister' with the date range 1901-1903. Several photographs of Sir Edmund Barton can be viewed on PhotoSearch, also available on the National Archives website or in National Archives reading rooms.
Sources
Australian Dictionary of Biography (Melbourne University Press, 1979), Vol 7, 1891-1939, pp 194-200
The Australian Encyclopaedia (Australian Geographic, 6th ed, 1996), Vol 1, pp 400-01
Commonwealth Parliamentary Handbook 1901-20 (Commonwealth Parliamentary Library, 1921), p 35
Bolton, Geoffrey, 'Sir Edmund Barton' in M Grattan (ed.), Australian Prime Ministers (Sydney, New Holland, 2000), pp.22-35
Unregistered agencies associated with person
1879 - 1880: New South Wales Legislative Assembly – Member for the University of Sydney
1880 - 1882: New South Wales Legislative Assembly – Member for Wellington
1882 - 1889: University of Sydney Senate - Fellow
1882 - 1887: New South Wales Legislative Assembly – Member for East Sydney
3 Jan 1883 - 31 Jan 1887: New South Wales Legislative Assembly – Speaker
2 Feb 1887 - 12 Jun 1891: New South Wales Legislative Council – Member
Jan 1889 - Mar 1889: New South Wales Department of Attorney General – Attorney-General
1891 - 1894: New South Wales Legislative Assembly – Member for East Sydney
23 Oct 1891 - Dec 1893: New South Wales Department of Attorney General – Attorney-General
circa 30 Apr 1892 - circa 13 Sep 1892: New South Wales Colonial Secretary’s Department – Acting Premier
8 May 1897 - 22 Jul 1898: New South Wales Legislative Council - Member
Sep 1898 - 7 Feb 1900: New South Wales Legislative Assembly – Member for Hasting-Macleay
24 Jan 1901 - 7 Jan 1920: Privy Council – Member/ 1915-1920: Judicial Committe Member