He was born in Collingwood, Melbourne, Australia, the second child of William Deakin. In the 1890s he helped Australia become a country. He was Australia's first Attorney-General (head lawyer) when Edmund Barton was Prime Minister and then became Prime Minister after Barton left. He introduced the Bill to start Australia's High Court, began planning for a railway to cross Australia, took over control of New Guinea from Britain, and introduced old age pensions.