Charles Gavan Duffy

Charles Cashel Gavan Duffy (27 August 1855 – 23 February 1932) was an Australian public servant. He served as the first permanent clerk of the Australian House of Representatives from 1901 to 1917 and then clerk of the Australian Senate from 1917 to 1920.

Early life Gavan Duffy was born on 27 August 1855 in Blackrock, Dublin, Ireland. He was the son of Susan (née Hughes) and Charles Gavan Duffy, a prominent Irish politician. His siblings and half-siblings included John, Frank, Louise and George.

Gavan Duffy's parents moved to Australia in 1856, where his father continued his political career and briefly served as premier of Victoria in the early 1870s. He was sent to England in 1865 to attend Stonyhurst, later returning to Australia where he completed his secondary education at St Patrick's College, East Melbourne. He later studied law part-time and graduated Bachelor of Laws from the University of Melbourne in 1880, although he never practised as a lawyer.

Gavan Duffy was widowed in 1930 and died on 23 February 1932 at the Ormington Private Hospital in South Yarra, aged 76.