Sir Walter Synnot Manifold (30 March 1849 – 15 November 1928) was an Australian grazier and politician. Born in Melbourne, Manifold was the son of Thomas Manifold, the pioneer grazier in the Western District, and a descendant of Sir Walter Synnot. He was educated at Melbourne Church of England Grammar School and the

University of Melbourne The University of Melbourne (colloquially known as Melbourne University) is a public university, public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in the state ...

and in France and Germany, and qualified as a

solicitor A solicitor is a lawyer who traditionally deals with most of the legal matters in some jurisdictions. A person must have legally defined qualifications, which vary from one jurisdiction to another, to be described as a solicitor and enabled to p ...

in 1875, but never practised. Instead he became a grazier, owning first Sesbania station in northern

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

from 1876 to 1884 and then Wollaston station near

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from 1886 until it was sold for

soldier settlement Soldier settlement was the settlement of land throughout parts of Australia by returning discharged soldiers under soldier settlement schemes administered by state governments after World War I and World War II. The post-World War II settlement ...

in 1914. In 1885 he married Fanny Maria Smith. He was elected to the

Legislative Council of Victoria The Victorian Legislative Council is the upper house of the bicameral Parliament of Victoria, Australia, the lower house being the Legislative Assembly. Both houses sit at Parliament House in Spring Street, Melbourne. The Legislative Council s ...

for the

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in 1901, and held the seat until 1924, as a non-Labor, later

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, member. From 1910 until 1919 he was the unofficial leader of the Legislative Council, and in 1919 was elected president. He was

knighted A knight is a person granted an honorary title of a knighthood by a head of state (including the pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church, or the country, especially in a military capacity. The concept of a knighthood ...

in the 1920 New Year Honours."Colonial Office List", ''

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'', 1 January 1920 He retired as president in 1923 due to ill health and in early 1924 resigned his seat. He died four years later at

Toorak Toorak () is a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, south-east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Stonnington local government area. Toorak recorded a population of 12,817 at the 2021 census. The name ...

Footnotes

References

*P. H. de Serville
Manifold, Sir Walter Synnot (1849 - 1928), ''Australian Dictionary of Biography - Online Edition''
*Obituary, ''

'', 16 November 1928 *''

Who Was Who ''Who's Who'' is a reference work. It has been published annually in the form of a hardback book since 1849, and has been published online since 1999. It has also been published on CD-ROM. It lists, and gives information on, people from around ...

'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Manifold, Walter 1849 births 1928 deaths Australian pastoralists Politicians from Melbourne People educated at Melbourne Grammar School Melbourne Law School alumni Australian people of English descent Australian solicitors Members of the Victorian Legislative Council Australian Knights Bachelor Presidents of the Victorian Legislative Council