CalendarZ

    • English English
    • español español
    • français français
    • português português
    • русский русский
    • العربية العربية
    • 简体中文 简体中文
  • Home
  • Religious Holidays
  • National Holidays
  • Other Days
  • On This Day
  • Tools
    • Date converter
    • Age Calculator
  1. Home
  2. On This Day
  3. February
  4. 24
  5. Andrew Inglis Clark

Births on February 24

Andrew Inglis Clark
1848Feb, 24

Andrew Inglis Clark

Andrew Inglis Clark, Australian engineer, lawyer, and politician (d. 1907)
Andrew Inglis Clark (24 February 1848 – 14 November 1907) was an Australian founding father and co-author of the Australian Constitution; he was also an engineer, barrister, politician, electoral reformer and jurist. He initially qualified as an engineer, but he re-trained as a barrister to effectively fight for social causes which deeply concerned him. After a long political career, mostly spent as Attorney-General and briefly as Opposition Leader, he was appointed a Senior Justice of the Supreme Court of Tasmania. Despite being acknowledged as the leading expert on the Australian Constitution, he was never appointed to the High Court of Australia.

He popularised the Hare-Clark voting system, and introduced it to Tasmania. In addition Clark was a prolific author, though most of his writings were never published, rather they were circulated privately. Clark was also Vice-Chancellor of the University of Tasmania. Throughout his life, Clark was a progressive. He championed the rights of workers to organise through trades unions, universal suffrage (including women's suffrage) and the rights to a fair trial – all issues which today we take for granted, but were so radical in the 1880s that he was described as a 'communist' by the Hobart Mercury."Clark was an Australian Jefferson, who, like the great American Republican, fought for Australian independence; an autonomous judiciary; a wider franchise and lower property qualifications; fairer electoral boundaries; checks and balances between the judicature, legislature and executive; modern, liberal universities; and a Commonwealth that was federal, independent and based on natural rights."Yet he also had a rich and warm home life. He is described as "never too busy to mend a toy for a child, and his wife once wrote on hearing of his imminent return from America: 'to celebrate your return I must do something or bust'".The Australian federal Division of Clark is named after him.

References

  • Andrew Inglis Clark

Choose Another Date

Events on 1848

  • 15May

    1848 revolutions

    Serfdom is abolished in the Habsburg Galicia, as a result of the 1848 revolutions. The rest of monarchy followed later in the year.
  • 18May

    Frankfurt Parliament

    Opening of the first German National Assembly (Nationalversammlung) in Frankfurt, Germany.
  • 19Jul

    Seneca Falls Convention

    Women's rights: A two-day Women's Rights Convention opens in Seneca Falls, New York.
  • 29Sep

    Hungarian Revolution of 1848

    Battle of Pákozd: Stalemate between Hungarian and Croatian forces at Pákozd; the first battle of the Hungarian Revolution of 1848.
  • 1Nov

    Boston University

    In Boston, Massachusetts, the first medical school for women, Boston Female Medical School (which later merged with the Boston University School of Medicine), opens.

About CalendarZ

CalendarZ

In addition of showing the dates of significant holidays and events; CalendarZ enables you easily check out the time remaining to a certain date and all other details.

Our Partners

WoWDeals : All Deals in One Place

Quick Navigation

  • Home
  • Upcoming Holidays
  • Religious Holidays
  • National Holidays
  • Other Days
  • Blog
  • Age Calculator
  • On This Day

© 2025 CalendarZ. All Rights Reserved. Contact Us / Privacy Policy

English   |   español   |   français   |   português   |   русский   |   العربية   |   简体中文