John Hargrave

John Fletcher Hargrave (28 December 1815 – 23 February 1885) was a British-born Australian politician and judge.

Hargrave was born to Joshua Hargrave and Sarah Hargrave (née Lee) at Greenwich, England. His father was a hardware merchant. He was educated at King's College, London in 1830 winning a certificate of honour for rhetoric. He went on to Trinity College, Cambridge and was awarded a Bachelor of Arts in 1837 and a Master of Arts in 1840. He enrolled at Lincoln's Inn and was called to the Bar in 1841.

He married his cousin Ann Hargrave on 20 September 1843. They were to have three sons and a daughter. He retired from the bar in 1851 and some time after was committed to an asylum at Colney Hatch in Middlesex by his wife and he gradually recovered there. He never forgave his wife for this. East Camden was abolished in 1859, partly replaced by Illawarra, and Hargrave was successful at the election on 15 June, but only served until 11 October 1859, when he resigned to accept an appointment to the Legislative Council.

On 12 October 1859 he was appointed to the Legislative Council, filling the vacant role of Representative of the Government in the Legislative Council. When the second Cowper ministry resigned, Hargrave was reappointed Solicitor General in the Forster ministry on 3 November and held it till 8 March 1860. He was appointed Queen's Counsel on 7 August 1863. Hargrave was Solicitor General from 1 August 1863 and 15 October 1863 and again in the fourth Cowper ministry from 3 February until 21 June 1865. Hargrave resigned from the Legislative Council on 23 June 1865. He was the Judge in divorce appointed to the Divorce Division of the Court. He proved to be a disaster on the bench and he admitted that he did not sit before 11am or work after 1pm. He retired as a judge in 1881.

He became reader in general jurisprudence at the University of Sydney, becoming the colony's first law lecturer on 3 August 1858. His course of twenty lectures were published in 1878.

He died at Rushcutters Bay on and was buried in Waverley Cemetery. His wife Ann died on the North Shore on 29 October 1885 (aged 66).

His brother Richard Hargrave also served in the New South Wales Parliament after arriving in New South Wales in 1838. His son Lawrence Hargrave was the inventor of the box or cellular kite. Hargrave's great, great nephew Rick Colless was a member of the Legislative Council.