Page:The Dictionary of Australasian Biography.djvu/435

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DICTIONARY OF AUSTRALASIAN BIOGRAPHY.
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under Mr. Haines, in the first Ministry formed after the inauguration of responsible government, from Nov. 1855 to March 1857. At the first general election for the Assembly held under the new constitution, in 1856, he unsuccessfully contested Geelong, and remained out of Parliament till 1864, when he was elected to the Legislative Council for the Western province. He became the acknowledged leader of the Conservative Party in the Upper House during the struggle between the MᶜCulloch Government, representing the majority in the Assembly, with the Council over the backing, firstly of the Tariff, and afterwards of the Darling grant, to the annual Appropriation Bill. During the heat of the crisis caused by the resignation of Sir James MᶜCulloch, in May 1868, he came to the aid of the Governor, and though in a hopeless minority in the popular House, formed a ministry, of which he was Premier and Chief Secretary, and which, in the teeth of adverse votes in the Assembly, held office for two months, when the crisis was terminated by the expudiation of the grant to his wife by ex-Governor Darling. Sir Charles did not seek re-election for the Western province, when, in August of the same year, his seat became vacant by effluxion of time. In 1876, however, he was again returned by his old constituents, and took a strong Conservative stand in defence of the privileges of the Council during the struggle with the Berry Government and the Assembly over payment of members, the Land Tax, and Reform of the Upper House. Sir Charles was created K.C.M.G. in 1875. He married in 1840 Harriet Amelia, daughter of William Orton, who survived him, and died at Sandhurst, Victoria, on June 12th, 1887. Sir Charles died in 1884.

Sladen, Douglas Brooke Wheelton, LL.B., a well-known Australian littérateur, is the eldest son of Douglas Brooke Sladen and Mary his wife, eldest daughter of John Wheelton, Sheriff of London in 1840. He was born in 1856, and took open classical scholarships at Cheltenham College and at Trinity College, Oxford, where he graduated B.A. with first-class honours in modern history. In 1879 he emigrated to Melbourne, where he graduated B.A. and LL.B. at the local university. In 1882 he was appointed to the chair of history in the university of Sydney. This he resigned in 1884, and returned to England. He has published "Frithjof and Ingebjorg" (1881); "Australian Lyrics" (Melbourne, 1882; London, 1885); "Poetry of Exiles" (Sydney, 1883; London, 1886); "A Summer Christmas" (1884); "In Cornwall and across the Sea," (1885); "Edward the Black Prince" (1887); also two novels: "Dick Stalwart, an Oxonian," and "Seized by a Shadow." More recently he has edited "Australian Ballads and Rhymes," in Mr. William Sharp's Canterbury Poet Series, published in London and New York, and a larger anthology called "Australian Poets" (London, 1888). Mr. Sladen is a nephew of the late Sir Charles Sladen (q.v.).

Slattery, Hon. Thomas Michael, M.L.A., was born on Dec. 17th, 1844, and was appointed a junior clerk in the New South Wales Customs in August 1864. After serving in other departments, he was appointed chief clerk of the Supreme Court, deputy-registrar of the Divorce Court, and secretary of the Barristers' Admission Board in Sept. 1874. In July of the next year he was admitted an attorney, solicitor and proctor, passing with special credit; and in Jan. 1876 was appointed Prothonotary and Curator of Intestate Estates and Registrar of the Divorce and Vice-Admiralty Courts of New South Wales. Subsequently embracing a political career, he was returned to the Legislative Assembly for Boorowa, which he still represents. Mr. Slattery was Minister of Justice in the short-lived Dibbs Ministry, from Jan. to March 1889; and when Mr. Dibbs returned to power in Oct. 1891 was appointed Minister of Mines, a position he still holds.

Smart, Hon. Thomas Christie, J.P., was admitted L.R.C.S. Edinburgh in 1842; F.R.C.S. Edinburgh in 1875; and is Chairman of the Hobart Hospital Board. Having entered the Legislative Council of Tasmania, he was a member of the Giblin Ministry, without portfolio, from Dec. 1882 to August 1884, and was sworn of the Executive Council.

Smith, Hon. (Arthur) Bruce, M.L.A., is the fourth son of the late Captain William Howard Smith, of Melbourne, Vict., founder of the well-known ship-owning firm of Howard Smith & Sons. He was born in 1851, and in 1866 entered upon a

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