Sir Henry Parkes anniversary

By Peter Munro
Updated May 23 2015 - 1:26am, first published 12:15am
Ian Thorm (above right) among four Generations of Sir Henry Parkes descendants at Centennial Park. Photo: Cole Bennetts
Ian Thorm (above right) among four Generations of Sir Henry Parkes descendants at Centennial Park. Photo: Cole Bennetts
Ian Thorm (above right) among four Generations of Sir Henry Parkes descendants at Centennial Park. Photo: Cole Bennetts
Ian Thorm (above right) among four Generations of Sir Henry Parkes descendants at Centennial Park. Photo: Cole Bennetts
Ian Thorm (above right) among four Generations of Sir Henry Parkes descendants at Centennial Park. Photo: Cole Bennetts
Ian Thorm (above right) among four Generations of Sir Henry Parkes descendants at Centennial Park. Photo: Cole Bennetts
Ian Thorm (above right) among four Generations of Sir Henry Parkes descendants at Centennial Park. Photo: Cole Bennetts
Ian Thorm (above right) among four Generations of Sir Henry Parkes descendants at Centennial Park. Photo: Cole Bennetts

He stood six feet tall in his socks, with a head shaped like a mammoth goose egg, big end up, it was said. Sir Henry Parkes seemed to lend himself to such flourishes. Here was a man of "colossal vanity" and "indomitable courage". A born leader wearing an ill-fitting coat over his wiry frame, with a shaggy beard, stroppy mane and left eyebrow set a smidgin higher than the right.