1. John Darvall was a member of the New South Wales Legislative Council between 1844 and 1856 and again between 1861 and 1863.
19 Facts About John Darvall
1. 2.
John Darvall was a member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly for three periods between 1856 and 1865.
3.
John Darvall held the positions of Solicitor General and Attorney General in a number of short-lived colonial governments.
4.
John Darvall emigrated to Sydney in 1839 and established a large, private legal practice.
5.
John Darvall accrued significant agricultural and pastoral interests and was a director of several colonial companies, a number of which failed in the depression of the early 1840s.
6.
John Darvall declined a judgeship in Victoria in 1851 and was appointed as a Queen's Counsel in 1857, a CMG in 1869 and a KCMG in 1877.
7.
John Darvall returned to England in 1865 and continued in legal practice.
8.
John Darvall was a great-uncle of Banjo Paterson and related through his sister Emily Mary Barton.
9.
On 24 July 1844, prior to the establishment of responsible self-government, John Darvall was appointed to the New South Wales Legislative Council.
10.
John Darvall was a loyal supporter of the government until, unable to support the continuing nomination of members, he resigned in 1848.
11.
John Darvall was then elected to the Council, initially for the seat of County of Bathurst and between 1851 and 1856 as the member for County of Cumberland.
12.
John Darvall opposed the 1853 Constitution Bill of William Charles Wentworth because of its provision for an hereditary upper house.
13.
John Darvall was surprisingly appointed as the Solicitor General in the conservative and short-lived government of Stuart Donaldson.
14.
John Darvall was Solicitor General 6 June to 25 August 1856 and 3 October 1856 to 23 May 1857 then Attorney-General 26 May to 7 September 1857 in the government of Henry Parker.
15.
John Darvall became concerned by the effects of manhood suffrage and the colony's liberal land distribution schemes and resigned from the Assembly in November 1857.
16.
John Darvall subsequently joined the conservative Constitutional Association and was elected in their interest for the seat of Hawkesbury at the 1859 election.
17.
John Darvall used his period in the Council to press for its conversion into an elected house and for a limitation on its powers over money bills.
18.
John Darvall resigned from the Council in June 1863 to successfully contest a by-election for the seat of East Maitland and on re-entering the assembly he almost immediately accepted the position of Attorney-General in the liberal government of Charles Cowper.
19.
John Darvall was again made Attorney-General on 3 February 1865 by Cowper but resigned on 20 June 1865 to return to England.