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Member Details

Mr Robert OWEN (1799 - 1878)

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Date of Birth: 08/09/1799
Place of Birth: Tynemouth, England
Date of Death: 25/11/1878
Place of Death: Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Parliamentary Service
Position Start End Period Notes
Member of the NSW Legislative Council 08 Dec 1868 25 Nov 1878 9 years 11 months 18 days Life Appointment under the Constitution Act. Date of Writ of Summons 8 December 1868
Representative of Government in Legislative Council 27 Oct 1868 01 Aug 1870 1 year 9 months 6 days
District Court Judge 01 Mar 1859 01 Mar 1859 1 day
University of Sydney Committee No.8 14 Jan 1859 09 Apr 1859 2 months 27 days
Irish Female Immigrants Committee No.4 15 Dec 1858 09 Apr 1859 3 months 26 days
Library Committee No.3 10 Dec 1858 09 Apr 1859 4 months
Standing Orders Committee No.2 10 Dec 1858 09 Apr 1859 4 months
Elections and Qualifications Committee No.4 09 Dec 1858 09 Apr 1859 4 months 1 day
Governor General’s Opening Speech Committee No.1 09 Dec 1858 09 Dec 1858 1 day
University of Sydney Committee No.29 20 Jul 1858 26 Nov 1858 4 months 7 days
St Philip’s Parsonage Bill Committee No.23 15 Jun 1858 26 Nov 1858 5 months 12 days
Irish Female Immigrants (Petition from Celtic Association) Committee No.20 28 May 1858 26 Nov 1858 5 months 30 days
Bathurst School of Arts Bill Committee No.16 30 Apr 1858 26 Nov 1858 6 months 28 days
Registration and Preservation of Records Committee No.13 23 Apr 1858 26 Nov 1858 7 months 4 days Chairman
Moreton Bay Judge's Appointment Bill Committee No.6 31 Mar 1858 26 Nov 1858 7 months 27 days
Special Return to Writ Committee No.5 31 Mar 1858 26 Nov 1858 7 months 27 days
Elections and Qualifications Committee No.7 26 Mar 1858 26 Nov 1858 8 months 1 day
Standing Orders Committee No.2 25 Mar 1858 26 Nov 1858 8 months 2 days
Governor General’s Opening Speech Committee No.1 24 Mar 1858 24 Mar 1858 1 day Chairman
Member for East Camden 22 Jan 1858 03 Mar 1859 1 year 1 month 10 days
Member of the NSW Legislative Assembly 22 Jan 1858 03 Mar 1859 1 year 1 month 10 days
Political Party Activity
Community Activity
Qualifications, occupations and interests
Lawyer (solicitor) and entrepreneur. Articled to a solicitor in 1813. Admitted as a solicitor on 20 April 1820 in England. Purchased a small schooner and sailed to Australia. Admitted as a solicitor in New South Wales on 5 June 1841 later becoming a partner. Partnership dissolved in 1850. Became a large landholder in the Illawarra district. Leased coal and mineral lands and invested in collieries. Acquired squatting interests from 1840s. Appointed as a District Court Judge and Chairman of Quarter Sessions. Retired from the Bench and lived in Wollongong. Keen yachtsman and Member of Anniversary Regatta Committee. Trustee of free Public Library from 1870 until 1878.
Military Service
Honours Received
Membership of other Parliaments & Offices Held
Local Government Activity
Foundation Alderman of the Sydney City Council for Bourke Ward, 1 November 1842 - 2 March 1843; and for Brisbane Ward 2 November 1846 - 31 October 1847.
Personal
Son of Robert Owen or Owens, sea captain, and his wife Sarah Hall. Married (1) Jessie Thriepland, and they had 1 daughter and 2 sons. Married (2) Mary Catherine Hogan on 1 February 1854 at Wollongong, and they had 3 daughters and 2 sons.
Additional Information
Australian Dictionary of Biography (ADB), Volume 5. H. T. E. Holt, 'A Court Rises: The Lives and Times of the Judges of the District Court of New South Wales (1859 - 1959)', Sydney, Law Foundation of New South Wales, 1976.

The Parliament of New South Wales acknowledges and respects the traditional lands of all Aboriginal people, and pays respects to all Elders past and present. We acknowledge the Gadigal people as the traditional custodians of the land on which the Parliament of New South Wales stands.