Sir John Quick (1852-1932) George Houstoun Reid (1845-1918)

Member for (Victoria) 1901-1913 Member for East Sydney (New South Wales) 1901-1909

orn near St Ives, Cornwall, England, Quick was knighted for his outstanding eorge Reid was born in Johnstone, in the referendum of 1898, he campaigned whole- BJohn Quick migrated to Victoria with contribution to federation on GRenfrewshire, Scotland, and arrived in heartedly for a "yes“ vote in the June 1899 his family in 1854 and settled on the Bendigo 1 January 1901. , Victoria with his family in 1852. referendum. goldfield. Obliged to work to help his family At 13 he went to work as a clerk in Sydney and in 1864 entered the New South Wales public Reid was elected to represent East Sydney in from of ten, Quick was a manual In 1901 Quick was elected unopposed to the service. By 1878 he was secretary of the Attorney- the House of Representatives at the first federal labourer before becoming a reporter for House of Representatives for the federal seat General’s Department. Admitted to the Bar in 1879, election in 1901. As leader of the Freetrade faction Bendigo newspapers. He was later on the of Bendigo. Although clearly a Protectionist, he became a successful barrister, and was in the first Parliament, he became Leader of the parliamentary staff of the Melbourne Age. Quick maintained his independence in the appointed Queen’s Counsel in 1898. He was elected Opposition and led the fight against the tariff Quick graduated from Melbourne University Parliament, putting national interests before to the New South Wales Legislative Assembly for introduced by the Barton Government. A gifted in 1877 and the following year was admitted party interests. He chaired the Royal East Sydney in 1880. A strong advocate of free debater, Reid enlivened the Parliament with his to the Bar. He was elected to the Victorian Commission on the Commonwealth Tariff trade, he supported governments led by Henry humour and biting wit. Reid was Prime Minister Legislative Assembly as the member for 1905-07, and was Postmaster-General in Parkes for a number of years, while declining to and Minister for External Affairs 1904-05, then serve as a minister; he was elected party leader resumed as Opposition Leader until December Sandhurst in 1880 and two years later was the Deakin ministry of 1909-10. Quick was and Leader of the Opposition in 1891. From 1894 1909 when he was appointed High Commissioner awarded his doctorate in law. defeated in the election of 1913. to 1899 he was Premier and Treasurer. to London, and resigned from Parliament. He received his first knighthood at this time. Quick played an important role in the In 1901 Quick, together with , As a cautious supporter of federation, Reid opposed federation of the Australian colonies. had published the authoritative Annotated the Constitution Bill produced by the 1891 National Reid was an energetic and successful High He attended federation conventions at Corowa Constitution of the Australian Commonwealth. Australasian Convention when it was debated in the Commissioner who established Australia House, and Bathurst, and it was his proposal that set Following his retirement from Federal New South Wales Parliament, as he feared the supervised the construction of the Australian fleet, the framework for the election of delegates Parliament, Quick returned to his legal protectionist sympathies of the other colonies and during the First World War was active in to the Australasian Federal Convention of practice in Bendigo, and wrote a number of would overwhelm the free trade interests of Australian interests in Egypt and on the Western New South Wales. In 1895, however, he was Front. At the end of his appointment in 1916 he was 1897-98, the consideration of a Constitution influential works on Australian law. Between instrumental in advancing plans for the elected unopposed to the seat of St George’s, Bill, and the submission of the Bill to 1922 and 1930 he was Deputy President of the Constitutional Convention of 1897-98, which he Hanover Square, in the British House of Commons referendum. Elected to the 1897-98 Commonwealth Court of Conciliation and attended, and where he chaired the Finance and held the seat until his death in 1918. Convention, he was a prominent and vocal Arbitration. Committee. Although he was equivocal in his member of the Constitutional Committee. support for the Bill produced at the Convention

The electorate of Bendigo was named after its locality. The name Bendigo is thought to have The electorate of East Sydney was named after its locality. The settlement of Sydney was derived from the name adopted by a station-hand who lived in the area. The station-hand named after Lord Sydney. compared himself to a famous English pugilist Abednego William Thompson. This Biblically derived name got shortened to ‘Bendigo’.