Sir John Quick (22 April 1852 – 17 June 1932) was an Australian lawyer, politician and judge. He played a prominent role in the movement for Federation and the drafting of the Australian constitution, later writing several works on Australian constitutional law. He began his political career in the Victorian Legislative Assembly (1880–1889) and later won election to the House of Representatives at the first federal election in 1901. He served as Postmaster-General in the third Deakin Government (1909–1910). He lost his seat in 1913 and ended his public service as deputy president of the Commonwealth Court of Conciliation and Arbitration (1922–1930). Early life He was born in the parish of Towednack, near St Ives in Cornwall, England, the son of John Sr and Mary Quick. His life changed when he was 2 when his family migrated to Australia in 1854, where his father, a farmer, began prospecting at the Bendigo goldfields but died a few months later of a fever. Quick was educated at a state school in Bendigo and at the age of 10, he went to work in an iron foundry at Long Gully. Quick later worked as an assistant at the Bendigo Evening News and then as a junior reporter at the Bendigo Independent. There, he gained skills in shorthand writing and improved his general education.:) In 1873, Quick moved to Melbourne, passing the University of Melbourne in 1877 with a Bachelor of Laws (LLB). Quick was called to the bar in June 1878, but instead continued as a journalist. Soon, he became the Parliament reporter at The Age. Victorian politics In 1880 Quick was elected the Member for Sandhurst (Bendigo) in the Victorian Legislative Assembly. He was a supporter of the radical liberal leader Sir Graham Berry. He resigned from The Age and returned to live in Bendigo, where he practised as a solicitor. In 1882, Quick received a Doctor of Laws degree (LL.D) after an examination. On 24 December 1883, he married Catherine Harris (born 26 July 1861 at Eaglehawk) the daughter of Joseph Harris and Annie Cahill. They married at St Peter's Episcopal Church, Eaglehawk. The couple did not have any children together. Quick was successful in parliament, and in 1886 was offered a ministerial portfolio by the then Premier of Victoria Duncan Gillies. However, after an electoral redistribution, Quick lost his seat at the 1889 election. Federation Quick had become interested in