- Stephen Henry Parker
Sir Stephen Henry Parker (
7 November 1846 –13 December 1927 ) was a lawyer and Chief Justice of theSupreme Court of Western Australia from 1906 to 1914.Early life
Stephen Henry Parker was the second son of
Stephen Stanley Parker (1817-1904) and his wife Elizabeth, née Sewell. He was the grandson of Stephen Parker (c.1795-1879), a pioneer settler at York. Parker was educated at the Bishop's School, Perth, and was called to the bar in 1868.Career
Parker became a member of the
Western Australian Legislative Council and advocated responsible government for the colony. In 1878 he moved for the introduction of a bill to amend the constitution, but this motion was defeated.A constitution bill for responsible government was passed by the Legislative Council on
26 April 1889 , but was met with some opposition in theBritish house of commons . It was suggested and agreed that a delegation consisting of the retiring governor, SirFrederick Broome , Sir Thomas Cockburn-Campbell and Parker should go to London to see the bill through the British parliament. The delegation was able to give a good answer to all objections raised, and subsequently the bill was passed and became law.Parker was colonial secretary in the
John Forrest ministry from October 1892 to December 1894 when he retired.Parker was also chairman of the Perth City Council from November 1877 to 1879, for a few months in 1880-81 and Mayor from February to October 1892.
In 1881, he joined with his brother George to form the well known law firm Parker and Parker (which in 1997 merged with the Perth office of
Freehill Hollingdale & Page ).Legacy
Parker married Amey Katharine Leake, daughter of
George Walpole Leake on27 July 1872 . She died in 1914. They had four sons and seven daughters who reached adulthood.Their second son
Hubert Stanley Wyborn Parker (1883-1966) was the member of theWestern Australian Legislative Assembly for North-East Fremantle in 1930-33, and of theWestern Australian Legislative Council for Metropolitan-Suburban province in 1934-54. He was attorney-general for two months in 1933 and chief secretary in 1948-50.ee also
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Judiciary of Australia References
*G. C. Bolton, Wendy Birman, ' [http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A110143b.htm Parker, Sir Stephen Henry (1846 - 1927)] ', "
Australian Dictionary of Biography ", Volume 11, MUP, 1988, pp 138-140.
*Kimberly 1897
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