Henry Parkes

Sir Henry Parkes was born on May 27, 1815, in Warwickshire, England. Immigrating to Sydney in 1839 as an impoverished bounty migrant, he worked as a laborer and ivory turner before entering journalism, founding The Empire newspaper to campaign for self-government, land reform, and an end to convict transportation.

Elected to parliament, Parkes served five terms as Premier of New South Wales. In October 1889, at the Tenterfield School of Arts, he delivered his historic oration declaring that 'the crimson thread of kinship runs through us all', calling for the Australian colonies to unite under a central federal government. He also instituted the 1880 Public Instruction Act establishing free, compulsory, and secular education.