Robert George Dundas Fitzgerald (5 January 1846 – 24 December 1933) was a New Zealand-born Australian politician. He was born at

Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...

to cotton planter Robert Appleyard Fitzgerald and Isabella Stevenson. The family moved to

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 ...

in 1851 and Fitzgerald attended

Sydney Grammar School Sydney Grammar School (SGS, colloquially known as Grammar) is an independent, non-denominational day school for boys, located in Sydney, Australia. Incorporated in 1854 by an Act of Parliament and opened in 1857, the school claims to offer "c ...

and also a private school at

Muswellbrook Muswellbrook ( ) is a town in the Upper Hunter Region of New South Wales, Australia, about north of Sydney and north-west of Newcastle, New South Wales, Newcastle. Geologically, Muswellbrook is situated in the northern parts of the Sydney bas ...

. He then became a solicitor's clerk in Maitland and was admitted a solicitor in 1869. In 1870 he married Elizabeth Frances Mary Batten, with whom he had a daughter. He established a partnership in Muswellbrook, and served as a local alderman (1871–73, 1878–80, 1885–86) and mayor (1878–79). In 1885 he was elected to the

New South Wales Legislative Assembly The New South Wales Legislative Assembly is the lower of the two houses of the Parliament of New South Wales, an Australian state. The upper house is the New South Wales Legislative Council. Both the Assembly and Council sit at Parliament House ...

as one of the two members for Upper Hunter. Although associated with the

Free Trade Party The Free Trade Party (FTP), officially known as the Free Trade and Liberal Association and also referred to as the Revenue Tariff Party in some states, was an Australian political party. It was formally organised in 1887 in New South Wales, in ...

early in his career, by 1889 he was a

Protectionist Protectionism, sometimes referred to as trade protectionism, is the economic policy of restricting imports from other countries through methods such as tariffs on imported goods, import quotas, and a variety of other government regulations. ...

. In 1894 he was elected the member for the single-member seat of

Robertson Robertson may refer to: People * Robertson (surname) (includes a list of people with this name) * Robertson (given name) * Clan Robertson, a Scottish clan * Robertson, stage name of Belgian magician Étienne-Gaspard Robert (1763–1837) Plac ...

. In April 1901 he was appointed

Minister of Justice A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice, is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a ...

in the See ministry, but was defeated at the 1901 election for Robertson. He was appointed to the

New South Wales Legislative Council The New South Wales Legislative Council, often referred to as the upper house, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of New South Wales, parliament of the Australian state of New South Wales. Along with the New South Wales Legislative As ...

in September but did not have any further ministerial or parliamentary appointment, serving until his death in 1933.

Honours

The Fitzgerald Bridge over the

Hunter River Hunter River may refer to: *Hunter River (New South Wales), Australia *Hunter River (Western Australia) *Hunter River, New Zealand *Hunter River (Prince Edward Island), Canada **Hunter River, Prince Edward Island, community on Hunter River, Canada ...

Aberdeen Aberdeen ( ; ; ) is a port city in North East Scotland, and is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, third most populous Cities of Scotland, Scottish city. Historically, Aberdeen was within the historic county of Aberdeensh ...

, a structure built in 1893 and listed on the

Register of the National Estate The Register of the National Estate was a heritage register that listed natural and cultural heritage places in Australia that was closed in 2007. Phasing out began in 2003, when the Australian National Heritage List and the Commonwealth Heri ...

, was opened by Fitzgerald and is believed to be named for him.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fitzgerald, Robert 1846 births 1933 deaths Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly Members of the New South Wales Legislative Council Protectionist Party politicians Ministers for justice (New South Wales)