# Archibald Jacob

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For the British musician, see [Archibald Jacob (musician)](/source/Archibald_Jacob_(musician)).

**Archibald Hamilton Jacob** (31 July 1829 – 28 May 1900) was a politician in the [colony of New South Wales](/source/Colony_of_New_South_Wales). He served nearly thirty years in the [lower](/source/Lower_house) and [upper](/source/Upper_house) houses of the [colonial government](/source/Self-governing_colony), as both elected and appointed [representative](/source/Legislator), government [minister](/source/Minister_(government)) and [Chairman of Committees](/source/Chairman_of_Committees_of_the_New_South_Wales_Legislative_Council) of the [New South Wales Legislative Council](/source/New_South_Wales_Legislative_Council).[1]

Jacob was born in [Jessore](/source/Jessore_(city)), in the [Bengal Presidency](/source/Bengal_Presidency) of [British India](/source/British_India) (now in [Bangladesh](/source/Bangladesh)). He was the second surviving son of Captain Vickers Jacob (1789–1836), who was the oldest son of twelve children of Dr John Jacob of [Ballinakill](/source/Ballinakill) and [Dublin](/source/Dublin), Ireland. Jacob's mother was Anne, *née* Watson (1796–1836) from [Nottingham](/source/Nottingham), England, who was a daughter of Major Watson of the [East India Company](/source/East_India_Company) [Presidency armies](/source/Presidency_armies).[2] Major Watson was also a [magistrate](/source/Magistrate_(England_and_Wales)) and [deputy lieutenant](/source/Deputy_lieutenant) of [Nottinghamshire](/source/Nottinghamshire).

Vickers Jacob and Anne Watson married in 1817 at [Barrackpore](/source/Barrackpore), Bengal, the [cantonment](/source/Cantonment) where Vickers was stationed in the [Bengal Army](/source/Bengal_Army) of the [East India Company](/source/East_India_Company). Captain Jacob resigned his commission to settle in [New South Wales](/source/History_of_New_South_Wales) in 1820, where he became a merchant, importer, coastal trader and landowner, securing [land grants](/source/Land_grants#Australia) during the early settlement of [Newcastle](/source/Newcastle,_New_South_Wales), and in the [Hunter Valley](/source/Hunter_Valley) northwest of [Sydney](/source/Sydney). By the time of Archibald's birth in [Bengal](/source/Bengal) in 1829, Captain Jacob had returned to India with his wife and two very young daughters, and had become a [jute](/source/Jute) [planter](/source/Plantation) in [Jessore](/source/Jessore_(city)) and [indigo](/source/Indigofera_tinctoria) merchant in [Calcutta](/source/Calcutta).

Archibald Jacob was suddenly orphaned in India at the age of seven, by the untimely death of both his parents, in different countries in the same year. His father Vickers died of fever in Bengal in June 1836 and was buried in [Calcutta](/source/Calcutta). His mother Anne died four months later, in October, in [Hobart](/source/Hobart) Town, [Van Diemen's Land](/source/Van_Diemen's_Land) (now [Tasmania](/source/Tasmania)), while on her way back to Sydney by ship with her three daughters and two other sons. Archibald and his younger brother Robert had been left behind in Calcutta, where they were boarders for a time at [La Martiniere](/source/La_Martiniere_Calcutta), a newly established [Protestant](/source/Protestant) private school for children of European expatriates, before sailing to England to be brought up and educated by his mother's relatives in [Nottinghamshire](/source/Nottinghamshire) and [Cheshire](/source/Cheshire).

In 1851 Archibald and Robert made their way back to New South Wales to take up the family land holdings established in the Hunter Valley by their father in the 1820s. In 1853, at [Raymond Terrace](/source/Raymond_Terrace) in that neighborhood, Archibald married Mary Snodgrass (1830–1897), daughter of a prominent local landowner, retired soldier and colonial politician, Colonel [Kenneth Snodgrass](/source/Kenneth_Snodgrass).[2]

Jacob was elected as the member for [Lower Hunter](/source/Electoral_district_of_Lower_Hunter) in the [New South Wales Legislative Assembly](/source/New_South_Wales_Legislative_Assembly), and represented that district from 7 March 1872 until 9 November 1880.[1][3] He succeeded [Ezekiel Baker](/source/Ezekiel_Baker_(Australian_politician)) as [Secretary for Mines](/source/Secretary_for_Mines_(New_South_Wales)) in the [Robertson Ministry](/source/Robertson_ministry_(1877)) in November 1877, retiring with his colleagues the following month, when Robertson did not achieve a majority at [the election that year](/source/1877_New_South_Wales_colonial_election).[4] He then represented the [Electoral district of Gloucester](/source/Electoral_district_of_Gloucester) from 27 November 1880 until 23 November 1882.[5] Jacob was appointed to the [New South Wales Legislative Council](/source/New_South_Wales_Legislative_Council) on 9 October 1883, and was [Chairman of Committees](/source/Chairman_of_Committees_of_the_New_South_Wales_Legislative_Council) from December 1887 until his death thirteen years later.[1]

Jacob died in [Ashfield](/source/Ashfield,_New_South_Wales), Sydney on 28 May 1900 (aged 70). He was predeceased by his wife Mary (1897) and survived by five sons.[2]

## References

1. "Mr Archibald Hamilton Jacob (1829–1900)". 604. Retrieved 21 May 2019.

1. "Elections for Lower Hunter". DistrictIndexes. Retrieved 23 July 2020.

1. "Elections for Gloucester". DistrictIndexes. Retrieved 23 July 2020.

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Archibald Jacob](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archibald_Jacob) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archibald_Jacob?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.