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Member Details

Sir Arthur RENWICK, M.D.,F.R.C.S (1837 - 1908)

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Date of Birth: 30/05/1837
Place of Birth: Glasgow, Scotland
Date of Death: 23/11/1908
Place of Death: Burwood, New South Wales, Australia
Parliamentary Service
Position Start End Period Notes
Member of the NSW Legislative Council 08 Feb 1888 23 Nov 1908 20 years 9 months 16 days Life Appointment under the Constitution Act. Date of Writ of Summons 30 December 1887
Member for Redfern 09 Mar 1886 26 Jan 1887 10 months 18 days
Minister of Public Instruction 26 Feb 1886 19 Jan 1887 10 months 25 days
Maryville Colliery Company Railway Bill Committee No.20 24 Feb 1886 29 Apr 1886 2 months 6 days
Newcastle Steamship Company’s Preferential Shares Bill Committee No.18 16 Feb 1886 23 Feb 1886 8 days
Standing Orders Committee No.3 03 Dec 1885 25 Oct 1886 10 months 23 days
Elections and Qualifications Committee No.2 20 Nov 1885 22 Dec 1885 1 month 3 days
Member for Redfern 16 Oct 1885 02 Mar 1886 4 months 15 days
Mort’s Bay Improvement Bill Committee No.16 16 Nov 1882 21 Nov 1882 6 days
Contagious Diseases Prevention Bill Committee No.12 20 Oct 1882 21 Nov 1882 1 month 2 days
Mineral Lease at Vegetable Creek Committee No.7 12 Sep 1882 21 Nov 1882 2 months 10 days
Standing Orders Committee No.3 30 Aug 1882 21 Nov 1882 2 months 23 days
Member for East Sydney 19 Oct 1881 23 Nov 1882 1 year 1 month 5 days
Secretary for Mines 12 Oct 1881 04 Jan 1883 1 year 2 months 24 days
Elections and Qualifications Committee No.9 07 Jul 1881 20 Dec 1881 5 months 14 days
Standing Orders Committee No.4 06 Jul 1881 29 Jul 1881 24 days
The Governor’s Opening Speech Committee No.1 05 Jul 1881 05 Jul 1881 1 day Chairman
Sydney Hospital Bill Committee No.15 11 Mar 1881 16 Mar 1881 6 days Chairman
Elections and Qualifications Committee No.7 17 Dec 1880 15 Mar 1881 2 months 27 days
Standing Orders Committee No.3 17 Dec 1880 06 Apr 1881 3 months 21 days
The Governor’s Opening Speech Committee No.1 16 Dec 1880 16 Dec 1880 1 day
Member for East Sydney 17 Nov 1880 12 Oct 1881 10 months 26 days
Sites for New Hospitals Committee No.15 10 Feb 1880 13 Jul 1880 5 months 4 days
Member for East Sydney 17 Dec 1879 09 Nov 1880 10 months 24 days
Member of the NSW Legislative Assembly 17 Dec 1879 26 Jan 1887 7 years 1 month 10 days
Political Party Activity
Freetrade.
Community Activity
Commissioned as a Justice of the Peace in 1887.
Qualifications, occupations and interests
Medical practitioner. Arrived in Sydney in July 1841 with parents as bounty immigrants. Educated at Redfern Grammar. Went to goldfields in 1851. Attended University of Sydney (BA 1857); studied medicine at University of Edinburgh (MB 1860; MD 1861); Licentiate of the Royal College of Surgeons in 1860, Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons (Edinburgh) 1861; continued studies in Glasgow, London and Paris. Returned to Sydney in 1862; Lived in Redfern establishing a successful practice. Honorary physician in Sydney. Infirmary and dispensary (later Sydney Hospital) from 1866 until 1908. Director from 1876 until 1877, Vice President from 1878 until 1879, President from 1880 until1908; Medical Officer of Australian Union Benefit Society from 1866 until 1877; visiting medical officer of the Benevolent Society of New South Wales from 1862 until 1877. Director and Chairman of Australian Widows Fund, Mutual Life Assurance Society, Industrial Building Society. Reputedly amassed a large fortune but lost much of it on mining investments. Appointed to New South Wales Medical Board in 1873 and later became President. Fellow of Senate of University of Sydney from 1877 until 1908, Vice Chancellor from 1889 until 1891, 1900 until 1902, 1906 until 1908. Helped establish medical faculty, examiner in medicine from 1874 until 1901, Asssistant Dean. Commissioner of International Exhibitions in Melbourne in 1880, Amsterdam in 1883, Adelaide in 1887, Chicago in 1893. Generous donor to University of Sydney and Congregationalist Church.
Military Service
Honours Received
Knighted in 1894.
Membership of other Parliaments & Offices Held
Local Government Activity
Personal
Son of George Renwick, bricklayer, and Christina Condie. Married Elizabeth Saunders on 26 March 1868 and had issue 1 daughter and 6 sons. Congregationalist.
Additional Information

The Parliament of New South Wales acknowledges and respects the traditional lands of all Aboriginal people, and pays respects to all Elders past and present. We acknowledge the Gadigal people as the traditional custodians of the land on which the Parliament of New South Wales stands.