Charles Griffith (Australian politician)

Charles James Griffith (August 1808 – 31 July 1863) was a politician in colonial Victoria (Australia), a member of the first Victorian Legislative Council, and later, the inaugural Victorian Legislative Assembly.^[1][2]

Griffith was born in Kildare, County Kildare, Ireland, the fifth son of Richard Griffith,^[2] MP,^[1] and his second wife Mary Henrietta, née Burgh.

Griffith was educated at the Trinity College, Dublin (M.A., 1832) and called to the Irish bar.^[2] He arrived in the Port Phillip District (later to become the colony of Victoria) in 1840.^[1]

On 31 October 1851^[3] Griffith was sworn-in as a nominated member of the Victorian Legislative Council, a position he held until resigning June 1852. He was replaced in the Council by John Riddell.^[3] Griffith was then elected to the Council as a member for Normanby, Dundas and Follett, on 1 June 1853,^[4] he resigned in April 1854, but was re-elected in June 1854 and held the seat until the unicameral Council was abolished in March 1856.^[1]

Griffith was elected to the inaugural Victorian Legislative Assembly for Dundas and Follett, being sworn-in in November 1856. He resigned from the Assembly in 1858.

Griffith died childless on 31 July 1863 at his home in Dandenong Road, South Yarra, Victoria, Australia.^[2]

References

1. "Griffith, Charles James". re-member: a database of all Victorian MPs since 1851. Parliament of Victoria.
2. Woods, Carole. "Griffith, Charles James (1808–1863)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Canberra: Australian National University. Retrieved 11 June 2014.
3. Sweetman, Edward (1920). Constitutional Development of Victoria, 1851-6. Whitcombe & Tombs Limited. p. 166. Retrieved 13 August 2014.
4. Labilliere, Francis Peter. Early History of the Colony of Victoria. II.