Sir Robert Randolph Garran was an Australian lawyer who became "Australia's first public servant" – the first federal government employee after the federation of the Australian colonies. He served as the departmental secretary of the Attorney-General's Department from 1901 to 1932, and after 1916 also held the position of Solicitor-General of Australia.
Garran in 1931
Portrait of Andrew Garran, Robert's father, in 1896
Garran and his wife Hilda (second and first from left respectively), and their friends Sir Littleton Groom and his wife Jessie (first and second from right respectively), photographed at Telopea Park in 1926
The Australian delegation to the Paris Peace Conference, 1919. Garran is in the front row, seated, second from left. Also pictured are Billy Hughes, front centre, and Sir Joseph Cook, seated, second from right.
The Federation of Australia was the process by which the six separate British self-governing colonies of Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, Tasmania, South Australia, and Western Australia agreed to unite and form the Commonwealth of Australia, establishing a system of federalism in Australia. The colonies of Fiji and New Zealand were originally part of this process, but they decided not to join the federation. Following federation, the six colonies that united to form the Commonwealth of Australia as states kept the systems of government that they had developed as separate colonies, but they also agreed to have a federal government that was responsible for matters concerning the whole nation. When the Constitution of Australia came into force, on 1 January 1901, the colonies collectively became states of the Commonwealth of Australia.
The Sydney Town Hall illuminated in celebratory lights and fireworks marking the Inauguration of the Commonwealth of Australia, 1901. The sign reads One people, one destiny.
Governor of Queensland Lord Lamington reading the Queen's proclamation on Federation in Brisbane
Published in 1888 this cartoon depicts the anti-Chinese sentiment that was one of the driving forces behind the push for federation.
The Federal Oak in the gardens of the Victorian Parliament House in Melbourne. The tree was planted in 1890 by Sir Henry Parkes to commemorate the meeting of the Australian Federal Conference.
