Ep. 5: Irish Imperial Lives. Charles Gavan Duffy, Premier of Victoria.
Born to a poor Catholic family in Co. Monaghan, Charles Gavan Duffy began his career as a journalist, before becoming involved in the Young Ireland movement and as an agitator for tenants’ rights, which saw him elected to Westminster in 1852. His deteriorating health, business fortunes and political influence, led him to avail of existing imperial opportunities, by emigrating to Australia in the mid 1850s.
On arrival he was greeted as a political superstar, with a reputation as a land agitator and experienced parliamentarian. In short order he was elected to the Parliament of Victoria. Duffy enjoyed a successful career in the Government there, serving as a Minister, State Premier and speaker of the house. In later years, he retired to the South of France, where his son, a signatory of the Anglo-Irish Treaty, George Gavan Duffy, was born.
