Portrait of Henry Parkes, by Henry King

Henry Parkes and his young family arrived in Sydney from England as impoverished immigrants in 1839. Almost immediately Parkes became active in politics and in 1856 gained a seat in the first New South Wales Legislative Assembly. Parkes eventually served five terms as premier of New South Wales.

From early in his political career, Parkes was a supporter of federation. On 24 October 1889, Henry Parkes gave a speech at the Tenterfield School of Arts. In the speech, he argued that the Australian colonies should federate (unite) into one nation. The Tenterfield Oration is significant because, although politicians had been discussing federation for some time, this was the first time the general public was asked to support the idea.