Sir Edward Nicholas Coventry Braddon (11 June 1829 – 2 February 1904) was an Australian politician who served as Premier of Tasmania from 1894 to 1899, and was a Member of the First Australian Parliament in the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entities. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often ...

. Braddon was a Tasmanian delegate to the Constitutional Conventions. Both the suburb of Braddon in the

Australian Capital Territory The Australian Capital Territory (ACT), known as the Federal Capital Territory until 1938, is an internal States and territories of Australia, territory of Australia. Canberra, the capital city of Australia, is situated within the territory, an ...

and the Division of Braddon in Tasmania are named after him.

Early life

Braddon was born in St. Kew, Cornwall in 1829, the son of unsuccessful solicitor Henry Braddon and his wife Fanny White. He had two sisters, one of whom, Mary Elizabeth Braddon, was later a famous novelist. Braddon was educated at various private schools including University College School, and later at

University College London University College London (Trade name, branded as UCL) is a Public university, public research university in London, England. It is a Member institutions of the University of London, member institution of the Federal university, federal Uni ...

. Henry and Fanny separated in 1840, due to Henry's financial failures, and in 1847, Braddon left for

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

to take a job with his

cousin A cousin is a relative who is the child of a parent's sibling; this is more specifically referred to as a first cousin. A parent of a first cousin is an aunt or uncle. More generally, in the kinship system used in the English-speaking world, ...

's merchant business. He later joined the Indian civil service, rising to the position of assistant commissioner, and serving as Inspector-General of Registration and Commissioner of Excise and Stamps. Braddon married Mary Georginia Palmer on 24 October 1857 in Calcutta, India. She died aged 24 on 28 July 1864 at Simla, Bengal, India. They had two sons and four daughters. One of these sons was Sir Henry Yule Braddon, who was a rugby union player, representing

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

(the All Blacks) and

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

, and was later a Commissioner (ambassador) for Australia in the United States. Daughter Alice Gertrude married Colonel Bernard Underwood Nicolay. In 1876, Braddon married Alice Smith, who survived him. During the Indian Rebellion of 1857, Braddon fought as a volunteer on behalf of the British forces. In 1872, Braddon wrote a memoir detailing his experiences in India, entitled ''Life in India''. He left the Indian civil service in 1878 and retired to Tasmania.

Political career

Tasmanian career

In 1879, Braddon was elected to the

Tasmanian House of Assembly The House of Assembly, or Lower House, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of Tasmania in Australia. The other is the Tasmanian Legislative Council, Legislative Council or Upper House. It sits in Parliament House, Hobart, Parliament Hou ...

in the Division of West Devon, and he represented that constituency until November 1888. He became

leader of the opposition The Leader of the Opposition is a title traditionally held by the leader of the Opposition (parliamentary), largest political party not in government, typical in countries utilizing the parliamentary system form of government. The leader of the ...

in 1886 and after the defeat of the James Agnew government, he was asked to form a cabinet. However, he resigned the premiership to Philip Fysh, and instead became Minister for Lands and Works. In 1888, Braddon represented Tasmania on the Federal Council, the predecessor to the Constitutional Conventions of the 1890s. After leaving parliament in 1888, Braddon was appointed Agent-General for Tasmania in London, a position he held until September 1893. While in London he helped to raise funds to float a number of ventures in Tasmania. These include the Mount Lyell Mining and Railway Company. After returning to Tasmania, Braddon was again elected the member for West Devon, and again became opposition leader. In April 1894, Braddon became Premier, and held office until 12 October 1899, the longest term of any Premier up to that date. He drew no salary while in office, but a contemporary diarist, J.B. Walker, judged him "an adventurer ... not overburdened with conscience". In 1895, Braddon published another volume of memoirs, entitled ''Thirty Years of Shikar''.

Federal career

Braddon was an important proponent of

federation A federation (also called a federal state) is an entity characterized by a political union, union of partially federated state, self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a #Federal governments, federal government (federalism) ...

in Tasmania. He was elected as one of the Tasmanian representatives to the Constitutional Convention of 1897. At the convention, he was responsible for the so-called "Braddon Clause" (or "Braddon Blot", as it was known by its opponents). The proposed Constitution provided that the Federal Government would assume the power to levy customs duties, an important source of revenue for the states. The Braddon Clause provided that the Commonwealth would have to return at least three-quarters of all duties collected. After fierce debate, during which George Reid threatened to withdraw

from the convention, the Clause was limited in operation to ten years after Federation. The now-defunct Clause is still part of the

Constitution of Australia The Constitution of Australia (also known as the Commonwealth Constitution) is the fundamental law that governs the political structure of Australia. It is a written constitution, which establishes the country as a Federation of Australia, ...

a
Section 87
however it was superseded by th
Surplus Revenue Act 1910
At the federal election of 1901, Braddon was elected to the first Australian Parliament as one of the five members for Tasmania, which had not yet been divided into electoral divisions. He was not only the oldest member of the House of Representatives, but, at almost 72 years of age, he is still the oldest person ever elected to the House of Representatives. As a supporter of

free trade Free trade is a trade policy that does not restrict imports or exports. In government, free trade is predominantly advocated by political parties that hold Economic liberalism, economically liberal positions, while economic nationalist politica ...

, he joined with Sir George Reid and became a member of the Free Trade Party, where he would occasionally stand in as Leader of the Opposition when Reid was absent. In the debates over the ''Commonwealth Franchise Act 1902'' he spoke in favour of the disenfranchisement of Aboriginal people. Braddon was re-elected at the federal election of 1903, as the first member of the Division of Wilmot, but he died suddenly at his home in Tasmania in 1904 before the parliament returned from recess. Braddon is buried at Pioneer Cemetery in Forth, Tasmania. In February 2004, his grave was restored and a lookout was constructed nearby to commemorate the centenary of his death.

Honours

In 1891 Braddon was made a Knight Commander of the

Order of St Michael and St George The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is a British order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George, Prince of Wales (the future King George IV), while he was acting as prince regent for his father, King George III ...

. In 1897 he was made a member of the privy council. The

Canberra Canberra ( ; ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the Federation of Australia, federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's list of cities in Australia, largest in ...

suburb of Braddon, Australian Capital Territory was named after Sir Edward in 1928. The building housing the federal law courts in Hobart, Tasmania, is named after him.

References

* * Tasmanian Bicentenary Office �
200 Footprints
*

External links

''Thirty years of Shikar''
(1895)