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Mr William John FOSTER (1831 - 1909)

  • Date of Birth: 13/01/1831
  • Place of Birth: Rathescar, County Louth, Ireland
  • Date of Death: 16/08/1909
  • Place of Death: Valley Heights, New South Wales, Australia

Parliamentary Service

Position Start End Period Parliament Notes
Member of the NSW Legislative Council23 Jan 187828 Oct 18802yr(s) 9mth(s) 6day(s)Life Appointment under the Constitution Act. Date of Writ of Summons 18 December 1877
Member of the NSW Legislative Assembly22 Nov 188014 Feb 18887yr(s) 2mth(s) 24day(s)
Member for Newtown22 Nov 188014 Oct 188110mth(s) 23day(s)10th (1880 - 1882)
Member for Newtown24 Oct 188123 Nov 18821yr(s) 1mth(s)10th (1880 - 1882)
Member for Newtown16 Oct 188521 Jan 18871yr(s) 3mth(s) 6day(s)12th (1885 - 1887)
Member for Newtown5 Feb 188714 Feb 18881yr(s) 10day(s)13th (1887 - 1889)
Attorney General18 Dec 187720 Dec 18781yr(s) 3day(s)
Minister of Justice14 Oct 18814 Jan 18831yr(s) 2mth(s) 22day(s)
Attorney General20 Jan 188718 May 18873mth(s) 29day(s)
Member of Executive Council1 Apr 187820 Dec 18788mth(s) 20day(s)
Elections and Qualifications Committee No.717 Dec 188015 Mar 18812mths 27days10th (1880 - 1882)Chairman
Kurrajong Land and Riley Street Surry Hills Land Sales Bill Committee No.613 Jan 188121 Jan 18819days10th (1880 - 1882)
Vale of Clwydd and Lithgow Valley Company’s Incorporation Bill Committee No.214 Apr 18816 Apr 18813days10th (1880 - 1882)
Vale of Clwydd and Lithgow Valley Company’s Incorporation Bill Committee No.216 Jul 18812 Aug 188128days10th (1880 - 1882)Chairman
Elections and Qualifications Committee No.97 Jul 188120 Dec 18815mths 14days10th (1880 - 1882)
Moffitt’s Estate Enabling Bill Committee No.186 Sep 18815 Oct 188130days10th (1880 - 1882)
Denton’s Estate Leasing and Mortgaging Bill Committee No.2023 Sep 18816 Oct 188114days10th (1880 - 1882)C hairman
Elections and Qualifications Committee No.220 Nov 188522 Dec 18851mth 3days12th (1885 - 1887)
Settled Estates Bill Committee No.3914 May 18863 Sep 18863mths 21days12th (1885 - 1887)
St Stephen’s Church of England Parsonage, Camperdown, Land Sale Bill Committee No.4916 Jun 188617 Jun 18862days12th (1885 - 1887)
Privilege-Mr Barbour, MP Committee No.5322 Jun 188622 Jul 18861mth 1day12th (1885 - 1887)
Standing Orders Committee No.315 Mar 18876 Apr 188723days13th (1887 - 1889)
Standing Orders Committee No.221 Sep 188729 May 18888mths 9days13th (1887 - 1889)
Elections and Qualifications Committee No.622 Sep 188711 Oct 18881yr 20days13th (1887 - 1889)
Crown Lands Purchases Validation Bill Committee No.928 Sep 188723 May 18887mths 26days13th (1887 - 1889)

Qualifications, occupations and interests

Lawyer (Barrister). Educated at Cheltenham College in England and Trinity College, Dublin. Left for Victorian goldfields in 1852 to become a miner and at a later time became a farmer at Wollombi. Read law under A.T Holroyd in Sydney. Admitted to the Bar in May 1858; Became a Crown Prosecutor for Northern Districts 1859-1862, 1864-1870 and for Sydney 1870. Appointed as a Queens Counsel in 1886. Appointed as a Judge of the Supreme Court 1888-1894. Retained pastoral interests in 1890's and owned Black Creek near Tamworth. Estate valued at £ 10,000.


Personal

Son of Reverend William Henry Foster and Catherine Hamilton. Married Matilda Sophia Williams in 1854 at Sydney and had issue, 2 daughters and 6 sons. Church of England.


Additional Information

Biography and portrait in ‘Australian Men of Mark’, Volume 1. Sydney, [?1889] , page 321



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