Arthur Holroyd

Arthur Todd Holroyd (1 December 1806 – 15 June 1887) was an Australian lawyer and politician. He was a member of the New South Wales Legislative Council between 1852 and 1856. He was also a member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly for two periods between 1856 and 1857 and again between 1861 and 1864.

Early life

Holroyd was the son of a London merchant. He was initially educated at Ripon Grammar School and then took medical degrees at the University of Edinburgh and Christ's College, Cambridge.^[1] After practicing as a physician in London for a short period he entered Lincoln's Inn and was called to the bar. While studying law he traveled extensively in the Middle East, became proficient in Arabic and was the first Englishman to visit Kurdufan. He exposed the continuing horrors of the slave- trade in Sudan.

Holroyd emigrated to the antipodes in 1843 and commenced practice as a solicitor and barrister. Holroyd was a master in equity of the New South Wales Supreme Court between 1866 and 1881 and an acting justice in 1879. While on the bench, he was accused of displaying "extraordinary behaviour" but this was considered to be a product of his short temper rather than evidence of mis-conduct. Holroyd was an alderman and the first mayor of Prospect and Sherwood Municipal Council (now called Holroyd City Council), a leading Freemason and a trustee of Sydney Grammar School and St. Paul's College, Sydney. He developed a large property called "Sherwood Scrubs" in the area.

The local government area of Holroyd and the suburb therein also called Holroyd, are named in his honor. His property there "Merrylands" also gives its name to the suburb of that name.

Colonial Parliament

In 1851, prior to the establishment of responsible self-government, Holroyd was elected to the semi-elective Legislative Council. He represented the electorate of Western Boroughs (including Bathurst and Carcoar) until the granting of responsible self-government in 1856. Subsequently, at the first election under the new constitution he was elected to the Legislative Assembly as the member for the same seat. He was defeated by 6 votes at the next election in 1858. Holroyd re-entered parliament as one of the two members for Parramatta at an 1861 by-election caused by the resignation of James Byrnes. However, Byrnes defeated him at the subsequent general election. He then retired from political life.

Government

Holroyd was the Secretary for Public Works in the first government of James Martin. He held this position for 15 months but resigned after being accused by William Arnold of accepting a bribe to appoint an associate to the bench of magistrates. A parliamentary commission found no truth in this accusation.

References

• "Mr Arthur Holroyd (1806–1887)". Former members of the New South Wales Parliament, 1856–2006. New South Wales Parliament. Retrieved 2010-01-11. 
• H T E Holt. "Mr Holroyd, Arthur (1806–1887)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Australian National University. Retrieved 2010-01-11.