Sir Henry Parkes, GCMG (27 May 1815[1] – 27 April 1896)[2] was a colonial Australian

politician and longest non-consecutive Premier of the Colony of New South Wales, the
present-day state of New South Wales in the Commonwealth of Australia. He has been
referred to as the "Father of Federation" due to his early promotion for the federation of the
six colonies of Australia, as an early critic of British convict transportation and as a
proponent for the expansion of the Australian continental rail network.[3][4]

Parkes delivered his famous Tenterfield Oration in 1889, which yielded a federal conference
in 1890 and a Constitutional Convention in 1891,[5] the first of a series of meetings that led to
the federation of Australia. He died in 1896, five years before this process was completed. He
was described during his lifetime by The Times as "the most commanding figure in
Australian politics". Alfred Deakin described Sir Henry Parkes as having flaws but
nonetheless being "a large-brained self-educated Titan whose natural field was found in
Parliament".[2]