John GarlandKC (17 September 1862 – 23 February 1921) was a Scottish-born Australian politician.
He was born atFordyce, Banffshire [1][a] to farmer Robert Garland and Isabella Whyte. He attendedFordyce Academy inFordyce and graduated as aMaster of Arts from theUniversity of Aberdeen in 1882. In 1886, he received aBachelor of Law degree from theUniversity of Edinburgh, and in 1887 migrated to Australia, where he wascalled to the bar on 30 November 1888.[1] On 21 December 1896 he married Isobel Chisholm, with whom he had a daughter. A founding member of theCouncil of the Bar of New South Wales, he was also aprocurator of thePresbyterian Church and a lecturer on ecclesiastical law at theUniversity of Sydney.
In 1898 he was elected to theNew South Wales Legislative Assembly as theFree Trade member forWoollahra. He was defeated in 1901,[3] but won a by-election forTamworth in 1903. Defeated again in 1904,[4] he ran unsuccessfully forPhillip in 1907 before he was appointed to theNew South Wales Legislative Council in 1908. In 1909 he was appointedMinister of Justice andSolicitor General in theWade ministry, to assist the Premier in his portfolio ofAttorney General, and was appointedKing's Counsel on 2 March 1910.[5][6] He served until October 1910 whenLabor assumed office.[2] He was a friend ofWilliam Holman, the Labor leader.[1] WhenLabor split in 1916 he was appointed Minister for Justice and Solicitor General in thesecond Holman ministry, and was an enthusiastic promoter of the formation of theNationalist Party. He becameRepresentative of the Government in the Legislative Council in 1918 and Attorney General in 1919.[2]
Garland died atBellevue Hill on 23 February 1921(1921-02-23) (aged 58), survived by his wife Isobel and their daughter, Isabel.[1][2][7]
| New South Wales Legislative Assembly | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Member forWoollahra 1898–1901 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Member forTamworth 1903–1904 | Succeeded by |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Minister of Justice 1909 – 1910 | Succeeded by |
| Dormant Title last held by Hugh Pollock | Solicitor General 1909 – 1910 | Succeeded by Walter Bevan |
| Preceded by | Minister of Justice 1916 – 1919 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Solicitor General 1916 – 1919 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Representative of the Government in the Legislative Council 1918 – 1920 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Attorney-General 1919 – 1920 | Succeeded by |
