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Member Details

Mr John Fletcher HARGRAVE, Q.C (1815 - 1885)

Member Photo
Date of Birth: 28/12/1815
Place of Birth: Greenwich, England
Date of Death: 23/02/1885
Place of Death: Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Parliamentary Service
Position Start End Period Notes
Solicitor General and Representative of Government 03 Feb 1865 21 Jun 1865 4 months 19 days
Solicitor General and Representative of Government 01 Aug 1863 15 Oct 1863 2 months 15 days
Member of the NSW Legislative Council 03 Sep 1861 23 Jun 1865 3 years 9 months 21 days Life Appointment under the Constitution Act. Date of Writ of Summons 24 June 1865.
Representative of Government 10 Jan 1861 28 Mar 1861 2 months 19 days
Attorney General and Representative of Government 02 Apr 1860 31 Jul 1863 3 years 3 months 30 days
Solicitor General 03 Nov 1859 08 Mar 1860 4 months 6 days
Representative of Government 12 Oct 1859 26 Oct 1859 15 days
Member of the NSW Legislative Council 12 Oct 1859 13 May 1861 1 year 7 months 2 days First (Quinquennial) Appointments under the Constitution Act. Date of Writ of Summons 10 October 1859
Elections and Qualifications Committee No.4 02 Sep 1859 04 Jul 1860 10 months 3 days
Standing Orders Committee No.2 01 Sep 1859 04 Jul 1860 10 months 4 days
Member for Illawarra 15 Jun 1859 11 Oct 1859 3 months 27 days
Member for East Camden 15 Mar 1859 11 Apr 1859 28 days
Member of the NSW Legislative Assembly 15 Mar 1859 11 Oct 1859 6 months 27 days
Solicitor General 21 Feb 1859 26 Oct 1859 8 months 6 days
Burwood Tramroad Continuation Act Amendment Bill Committee No.14 03 Nov 1857 18 Dec 1857 1 month 16 days
Australian Agricultural Company’s Newcastle Railway Bill Committee No.12 30 Oct 1857 18 Dec 1857 1 month 19 days
Late Shipwrecks, Port Jackson Committee No.11 30 Oct 1857 18 Dec 1857 1 month 19 days
Political Party Activity
Community Activity
Qualifications, occupations and interests
Lawyer (solicitor). Educated privately, then at Kings College, London from 1830, and Trinity College at Cambridge (B.A 1837, M.A 1840). Enrolled at Lincolns Inn in 1836. called to the Bar in 1841, practised in Chancery for 10 years. Inherited a legacy from father in 1851, retired from Bar. Arrived in Sydney with family in February 1857, admitted to Bar and became a Reader in General Jurisprudence. University of Sydney 1858 - 1865; Foundation Judge of District Court 1858; resigned in February 1858 to enter the Legislative Assembly and become Solicitor General. Became a Queens Counsel in 1863. Appointed as a Judge of the Supreme Court on 22 June 1865; primary Judge in equity; from 1873 first Judge in divorce; retired in 1881.
Military Service
Honours Received
Queens Counsel (QC) in 1863
Membership of other Parliaments & Offices Held
Local Government Activity
Personal
Son of Joshua Hargrave and Sarah Lee. Married his cousin Ann Hargrave on 20 September 1843 and had issue, 1 daughter and 3 sons. Church of England.
Additional Information
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, the Law Foundation of New South Wales, 1976. Personal papers in the Mitchell Library, State Library of New South Wales: John Fletcher Hargrave - papers, 1831 - 1880 (MLMSS 976); photographs in the PICMAN Database.