Charles Gavan Duffy - Speakership and Retirement

Speakership and Retirement

When Berry became Premier in 1877 he made Duffy Speaker of the Legislative Assembly, a post he held without much enthusiasm until 1880, when he quit politics and retired to the south of France. Duffy remained interested in both the politics of his adoptive country and of Ireland. From his exile in France, Duffy was an enthusiastic supporter of the Melbourne Celtic Club, which aimed to promote Irish Home Rule and Irish culture. His sons also became members of the club.

He was knighted in 1873 and made KCMG in 1877. He married for a third time in Paris in 1881, to Louise Hall, and had four more children in his 70s. One of his sons, John Gavan Duffy, was a Victorian politician between 1874 and 1904. Another, Sir Frank Gavan Duffy, was Chief Justice of the High Court of Australia 1931–1935.

Yet another son, Mr Justice George Gavan Duffy (born 1882), was an Irish politician and later (from 1936) a judge of the Irish High Court, becoming its President from 1946 until his death in 1951.

His grandson, Charles Leonard Gavan Duffy, was a judge on the Supreme Court of Victoria, Australia.

Sir Charles Gavan Duffy died in Nice in 1903, aged 86.

(Note: Both Charles and Frank Gavan Duffy are sometimes referred to as though their surname was Gavan Duffy. There is no doubt that the family surname was Duffy, but the family tradition of giving all children the middle name Gavan has led to some confusion about this.)