John Peden (politician)  Sir John Beverley Peden (26 April 1871 – 31 May 1946) was an Australian jurist and politician. Born in Randwick to farmer Magnus Jackson Peden, a mayor of Randwick, and Elizabeth Neathway Brown, he attended public school at Bega before studying at Sydney Grammar School and the University of Sydney, where he received a Bachelor of Arts in 1892 and a Bachelor of Laws in 1898. He was an assistant lecturer in Latin at the university from 1896 to 1898, when he was called to the bar. He lectured in law from 1903 and became a professor and faculty Dean in 1910. Appointed to the New South Wales Legislative Council as a Nationalist in 1917, from 1929 to 1946 he was President of the Council; he was both the last President appointed directly by the governor, and the first elected by his fellow councillors. Peden died in Paddington in 1946. John Beverley Peden was born on 26 April 1871, the second son and sixth child of Magnus Jackson Peden, merchant and farmer, later mayor of Randwick and of Bega, and his wife Elizabeth Neathway Brown. His maternal family had migrated to Australia in the 1820s and his paternal family in the 1830s. His Grandfather, David Peden, was an Alderman of the Sydney Municipal Council from 1849 to 1853. Peden was educated at Bega Public School and eventually moved to Sydney Grammar School where he won the Knox prize. Upon leaving secondary school, Peden matriculated in 1889 to the University of Sydney, from where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in 1892 with first-class honours in Latin and in logic and mental philosophy. Following this he commenced law studies and during this time was vice-warden of his residential college, St Paul's College (1892–1898), assistant lecturer in Latin (1896), president of the University of Sydney Union (1893–1894 and again in 1910–1911) and of the Undergraduates' Association, and editor of the university literary journal "Hermes" (1895). In 1898 he graduated with a Bachelor of Laws with first-class honours and the University medal. On 4 August 1898, was called to the Bar of New South Wales and worked in the chambers of Sydney barrister Richard Meares Sly. That same year he also served as joint secretary of Australasian Association for Advancement of Science. Appointed in 1902 a part-time Challis lecturer in the law of property at the university, on 21 December 1904 he married Margaret Ethel Maynard at St Philip's Church, Sydney, and had two daughters, Margaret Elizabeth Maynard Peden and Barbara Constance Wyburn Peden.