After a controversial decision by Barton's colleague George Coulthard against the home side, the crowd spilled onto the pitch and assaulted some of the English players, leading to international cricket's first riot.

[17] The publicity that attended the young Barton's presence of mind in defusing that situation reputedly helped him take his first step towards becoming Australia's first prime minister, winning a state lower house seat later that year.

[18] In 1876 Barton stood for the New South Wales Legislative Assembly in the poll of the graduates of the University of Sydney (who were required to wear gowns for the occasion), but was beaten by William Charles Windeyer 49 votes to 43.

[20] In January 1889, he agreed to being appointed Attorney General of New South Wales in George Dibbs's Protectionist government, despite his previous support for free trade.

[21] Barton was an early supporter of federation, which became a serious political agenda after Henry Parkes' Tenterfield Oration, and was a delegate to the March 1891 National Australasian Convention.

After the Labor Party withdrew support and the government fell in October 1891, Parkes persuaded him to take over the leadership of the Federal movement in New South Wales.

[16] Dibbs formed a Protectionist government in New South Wales, and Barton agreed to return to the office of Attorney General, with the right of carrying out private practice as a lawyer.

His attempt to draft the federal resolutions was delayed by a period as acting Premier of New South Wales, during which he had to deal with the 1892 Broken Hill miners' strike and the carriage of a complex electoral reform bill.

In December, he and Richard O'Connor, the Minister for Justice, were questioned about their agreement to act as private lawyers against the government in Proudfoot v. the Railway Commissioners.

In September, he won a by-election for Hastings and Macleay and was immediately elected leader of the opposition, which consisted of a mixture of pro-federation and anti-federation protectionists.

[16][21] In August 1899 when it became clear that the Labor Party could be manoeuvred into bringing down the Reid government, Barton resigned as leader of the opposition, as he was unacceptable to Labour, and William Lyne took his place.

[23] He resigned from Parliament in February 1900 so that he could travel to London with Alfred Deakin and Charles Kingston to explain the federation bill to the Government of the United Kingdom.

Around the same time on 15 January 1900 Barton published a 28-page United Australia magazine to disseminate an informative narrative for the propositions of a future Federal Government that he hoped to lead.

He and various other dignitaries were driven through the streets of Sydney in a procession watched by thousands of onlookers, beginning in The Domain and ending at Centennial Park.

[29] He was tasked by the Colonial Office with selecting someone to form a caretaker government prior to the first federal election; this individual would be Australia's first prime minister.

[30] It was widely assumed that Barton would be offered the position, and he had begun making preparations for the role, including a draft platform for the first federal elections.

[40] Barton instead delivered "an electoral masterstroke"[16] by making White Australia the centrepiece of the government's campaign, thereby attracting many working-class voters concerned about "coloured labour".

[43] Barton outlined his platform for the first federal election at a speech on 17 January 1901, delivered at the West Maitland Town Hall within his prospective electorate.

His plans included the establishment of the federal capital, the High Court and the Inter-State Commission, and a "moderately protectionist tariff" in order to raise the revenue to introduce old-age pensions and a uniform postal system.

The Labour Party required legislation to limit immigration from Asia as part of its agreement to support the government, but Barton had promised the introduction of the White Australia Policy in his election campaign.

[48] On their way home from the United Kingdom, Barton and Forrest visited Canada, including Toronto, Ottawa (where they were guests of the Governor-General), and the Pacific Coast.

[51] His appointment was largely uncontroversial, given his role in drafting the constitution, experience as a barrister, and acceptance of a puisne judgeship rather than the position of chief justice.

Symon objected to the judges hearing cases in each of the state capitals, believing the court should sit only in Melbourne and Sydney, and also thought their travelling expenses were excessive.

[59] However, others have suggested that his lack of separate judgments was not representative of his work ethic and reflected more a general dislike of concurring opinions as liable to complicate the interpretation of rulings.

The same year saw a major shift in the composition of the court, with two new seats created and a third judge appointed to fill the vacancy caused by O'Connor's death.

[62] The influx of new voices contributed to Barton's movement away from Griffith, as he showed "a return of energy and initiative [...] greater independence and at times disagreement" than in his earliest years on the court.

[60] He joined with Griffith and O'Connor in the majority opinion in R v Barger (1908), "the High Court's most decisive intervention to date in thwarting social reforms passed by the Commonwealth parliament".

[66] During World War I, Barton joined the majority in Farey v Burvett (1915), which saw the court adopt a broad view of the federal government's defence power.

[77] In 1905, the Japanese government conferred the Grand Cordon, Order of the Rising Sun, and Barton was granted permission to retain and wear the insignia.

The honour was presented in acknowledgement of his personal role in resolving a conflict concerning the Commonwealth's Pacific Island Labourers Act and the Queensland protocol to the Anglo-Japanese Treaty.