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Melbourne","addressRegion":"Victoria","addressCountry":"Australia"}}},"author":{"@type":"Person","givenName":"Kathleen","familyName":"Thomson","name":"Kathleen Thomson"},"datePublished":"1969-01-01","description":"William Arthur Callander à Beckett (1833-1901), barrister, was born on 7 July 1833 at Kensington, London, eldest son of Sir William à Beckett and his wife Emily, née Hayley.","headline":"à Beckett, William Arthur (1833–1901)","keywords":"William Arthur à Beckett, biography","image":"https://adb.anu.edu.au/uploads/adb/2863/A030010.jpg","isPartOf":{"@type":"Book","bookEdition":3,"bookFormat":"https://schema.org/Hardcover","datePublished":1969,"description":"The Australian Dictionary of Biography contains concise, informative and fascinating descriptions of the lives of significant and representative persons in Australian history.","image":"https://adb.anu.edu.au/images/covers/volume3.png","isbn":522839096,"name":"Australian Dictionary of Biography","url":"https://adb.anu.edu.au","copyrightHolder":{"@type":"Organization","name":"The Australian National University","url":"https://www.anu.edu.au"},"copyrightYear":1969,"editor":{"@type":"Person","givenName":"Douglas","familyName":"Pike","name":"Douglas Pike"},"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Melbourne University Press","url":"https://www.mup.com.au"}}} </script> <title>Biography - William Arthur à Beckett - Australian Dictionary of Biography</title> <script async src="https://ssl.google-analytics.com/ga.js"></script> <script> var _gaq = _gaq || []; _gaq.push(['_setAccount', 'UA-21252809-2']); _gaq.push(['_trackPageview']); </script> <script async src="https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtag/js?id=G-RC1X4D063Z"></script> <script> window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; function gtag(){dataLayer.push(arguments);} gtag('js', new Date()); gtag('config', 'G-RC1X4D063Z'); </script> <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" 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class="clearFix" id="pageContent"> <div id="pageColumnMain"> <h2>William Arthur à Beckett (1833–1901)</h2> <p class="authorName">by <a href="/biographies/author/?author=3661">Kathleen Thomson</a></p> <div class="publish-notice publish-notice--major-project" style="background-color:#dee9f2;color:#153449;"> <p>This article was published:</p> <ul> <li> in the <a href="https://adb.anu.edu.au/biographies/project/?name=australian-dictionary-biography-volume-3" style="color:#905d27;"> <span class="publish-notice__project-name">Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 3</span> </a> , 1969 </li> <li>online in 2006</li> </ul> </div> <div class="biographyContent textContent" id="4081">  <div class="print"> <div class="mainPic"><a href="http://nla.gov.au/nla.cs-pa-http%253A%252F%252Fnla.gov.au%252Fnla.pic-an22392092" title="William Arthur à Beckett, by Alfred Williams"><img src="/uploads/adb/2863/thumbs/A030010_246x550.jpg" alt="William Arthur à Beckett, by Alfred Williams" width='246' height='311' /></a> </div> <p class="caption"><span class="captionName">William Arthur à Beckett</span>, by Alfred Williams</p><p class="credit"><a href="http://nla.gov.au/nla.cs-pa-http%253A%252F%252Fnla.gov.au%252Fnla.pic-an22392092">National Library of Australia, nla.pic-an22392092</a></p></div> <p> William Arthur Callander à Beckett (1833-1901), barrister, was born on 7 July 1833 at Kensington, London, eldest son of <a href="a-beckett-william-2862" title="a  Beckett, Sir William (1806 - 1869)">Sir William à Beckett</a> and his wife Emily, née Hayley. He went with his family to Sydney in May 1837 and to Port Phillip in February 1846. He attended schools in Sydney and Melbourne and at 18 began reading law under his father's direction. In January 1852 he was appointed associate to his father, then chief justice. In February 1853 he left with his family for England. There he studied applied sciences at King's College, London. He returned to Melbourne in December 1854 and was reappointed associate to his father. His brother Edward FitzHayley succeeded to the associateship in September 1855.  </p> <p> In February 1855 à Beckett was appointed second lieutenant in the Melbourne Volunteer Rifle Corps. On 17 September he married Emma (1838-1906), only child and heiress of John Mills, who had bought land in the first Melbourne sales. In March 1857 he took her to London, where their first daughter Emily was born in June. They returned to Melbourne in October 1858.</p> <p> His political career began in January 1868 when as a Constitutionalist candidate for Mornington he opposed <a href="mcculloch-james-4075" title="McCulloch, Sir James (1819 - 1893)">James McCulloch</a>. Though defeated à Beckett showed well in the poll and in September was elected to the Legislative Council for the Southern Province. He was a minister without office under <a href="duffy-charles-gavan-3450" title="Duffy, Sir Charles Gavan (1816 - 1903)">(Sir) Charles Gavan Duffy</a> from June 1871 to June 1872 and in <a href="berry-graham-2984" title="Berry, Sir Graham (1822 - 1904)">Berry</a>'s ministry from 7 August to 20 October 1875. As a parliamentarian he showed great diligence and spoke on every subject under discussion. He unsuccessfully sought representation for St Kilda in the elections of May 1877.</p> <p> à Beckett was appointed a territorial magistrate in 1861, magistrate for Melbourne General Sessions in 1869, and called to the Victorian Bar in September 1875. He went to London in 1886 and next year was admitted to the Inner Temple. He returned to Melbourne in 1892 and died in a private hospital at St Kilda on 16 December 1901, survived by his wife, two sons and four daughters. One son, William Gilbert, went to Cambridge (LL.B., 1892) and became a barrister at Inner Temple; the other, Arthur Heywood, served in Gallipoli and Egypt. A daughter, Emma Minnie, was an artist and married the artist <a href="boyd-arthur-merric-5323" title="Boyd, Arthur Merric (1862 - 1940)">Arthur Boyd</a>.</p> <p> à Beckett won notice for his individualism and whimsical wit. He was an original member and governor of the Old Colonists' Association in 1869, and a member of the Eclectic Association of Melbourne and of the Yorick Club, to which he presented some engravings. He held no particular religious belief, but subscribed to the Unitarian Christian Church building fund in 1864. He took a keen interest in horse-racing and studied heraldry. He had great pride in his ancestry, and by royal licence of 18 April 1888 he and his issue were authorized to use the surname and to bear the arms of à Beckett with proper distinctions.</p> </div> <div class="infoList"> <h3>Select Bibliography</h3> <ul> <li>I. Selby, <i>History of Melbourne</i> (Melb, 1924)</li><li>Berwick (Victoria) Shire Council, <i>From Bullock Track to Bitumen</i> (Berwick, 1962)</li><li>M. Boyd, <i>Day of My Delight</i> (Melb, 1965)</li><li><i>Age</i> (Melbourne), Aug-Sept 1868, 4 Oct 1876</li><li><i>Argus</i> (Melbourne), 27 Feb 1906</li><li>J. E. Parnaby, The Economic and Political Development of Victoria 1877-81 (Ph.D. thesis, University of Melbourne, 1951).</li> </ul> </div> <div class="infoList"> <h3>Additional Resources and Scholarship</h3> <ul> <li><a href="http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article9620629" target="_blank">inquest</a>, Argus (Melbourne), 18 December 1901, p 9</li> </ul> </div> <div class="infoList"> <div class="treelink"><h3 class="treelink">Related Entries in NCB Sites</h3><p class="treelink"><a class="treelink" href="/treeview/2863">view family tree</a></p></div> <ul> <li><strong><a href="https://oa.anu.edu.au/obituary/a-beckett-william-arthur-2863">à Beckett, William Arthur</a></strong> <span class="linkicon"><a href="https://oa.anu.edu.au/obituary/a-beckett-william-arthur-2863"><img src="/images/site/oa/siteIcon.jpg" alt="go to Obituaries Australia entry" title="go to Obituaries Australia entry"/></a></span></li> <li><a href="https://oa.anu.edu.au/obituary/a-beckett-emma-13429">à Beckett, Emma</a> (wife)<span 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(daughter)<span class="linkicon"><a href="https://peopleaustralia.anu.edu.au/biography/brett-constance-matilda-17146"><img src="/images/site/pa/siteIcon.jpg" alt="go to People Australia entry" title="go to People Australia entry"/></a></span></li> <li><a href="https://oa.anu.edu.au/obituary/chomley-ethel-beatrice-17156">Chomley, Ethel Beatrice</a> (daughter)<span class="linkicon"><a href="https://oa.anu.edu.au/obituary/chomley-ethel-beatrice-17156"><img src="/images/site/oa/siteIcon.jpg" alt="go to Obituaries Australia entry" title="go to Obituaries Australia entry"/></a></span></li> <li><a href="https://oa.anu.edu.au/obituary/a-beckett-william-gilbert-13430">à Beckett, William Gilbert</a> (son)<span class="linkicon"><a href="https://oa.anu.edu.au/obituary/a-beckett-william-gilbert-13430"><img src="/images/site/oa/siteIcon.jpg" alt="go to Obituaries Australia entry" title="go to Obituaries Australia entry"/></a></span></li> <li><a href="https://oa.anu.edu.au/obituary/a-beckett-arthur-haywood-13431">à Beckett, Arthur Haywood</a> (son)<span class="linkicon"><a href="https://oa.anu.edu.au/obituary/a-beckett-arthur-haywood-13431"><img src="/images/site/oa/siteIcon.jpg" alt="go to Obituaries Australia entry" title="go to Obituaries Australia entry"/></a></span></li> <li><a href="https://peopleaustralia.anu.edu.au/biography/backhouse-benjamin-talworth-17153">Backhouse, Benjamin Talworth</a> (son-in-law)<span class="linkicon"><a href="https://peopleaustralia.anu.edu.au/biography/backhouse-benjamin-talworth-17153"><img src="/images/site/pa/siteIcon.jpg" alt="go to People Australia entry" title="go to People Australia entry"/></a></span></li> <li><a href="https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/boyd-arthur-merric-5323">Boyd, Arthur Merric</a> (son-in-law)<span class="linkicon"><a href="https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/boyd-arthur-merric-5323"><img src="/images/site/adb/siteIcon.jpg" alt="go to ADB entry" title="go to ADB entry"/></a></span></li> <li><a href="https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/chomley-charles-henry-5587">Chomley, Charles Henry</a> (son-in-law)<span class="linkicon"><a href="https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/chomley-charles-henry-5587"><img src="/images/site/adb/siteIcon.jpg" alt="go to ADB entry" title="go to ADB entry"/></a></span></li> <li><a href="https://peopleaustralia.anu.edu.au/biography/a-beckett-emily-17157">à Beckett, Emily</a> (mother)<span class="linkicon"><a href="https://peopleaustralia.anu.edu.au/biography/a-beckett-emily-17157"><img src="/images/site/pa/siteIcon.jpg" alt="go to People Australia entry" title="go to People Australia entry"/></a></span></li> <li><a href="https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/a-beckett-sir-william-2862">à Beckett, William</a> (father)<span class="linkicon"><a href="https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/a-beckett-sir-william-2862"><img src="/images/site/adb/siteIcon.jpg" alt="go to ADB entry" title="go to ADB entry"/></a></span><span class="linkicon"><a href="https://oa.anu.edu.au/obituary/a-beckett-sir-william-2862"><img src="/images/site/oa/siteIcon.jpg" alt="go to Obituaries Australia entry" title="go to Obituaries Australia entry"/></a></span></li> <li><a href="https://peopleaustralia.anu.edu.au/biography/a-beckett-sarah-17161">à Beckett, Sarah</a> (sister)<span class="linkicon"><a href="https://peopleaustralia.anu.edu.au/biography/a-beckett-sarah-17161"><img src="/images/site/pa/siteIcon.jpg" alt="go to People Australia entry" title="go to People Australia entry"/></a></span></li> <li><a href="https://peopleaustralia.anu.edu.au/biography/a-beckett-edward-fitzhayley-17159">à Beckett, Edward Fitzhayley</a> (brother)<span class="linkicon"><a href="https://peopleaustralia.anu.edu.au/biography/a-beckett-edward-fitzhayley-17159"><img src="/images/site/pa/siteIcon.jpg" alt="go to People Australia entry" title="go to People Australia entry"/></a></span></li> <li><a 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alt="go to ADB entry" title="go to ADB entry"/></a></span><span class="linkicon"><a href="https://oa.anu.edu.au/obituary/a-beckett-thomas-turner-2861"><img src="/images/site/oa/siteIcon.jpg" alt="go to Obituaries Australia entry" title="go to Obituaries Australia entry"/></a></span></li> <li><a href="https://oa.anu.edu.au/obituary/a-beckett-arthur-martin-13432">à Beckett, Arthur Martin</a> (uncle)<span class="linkicon"><a href="https://oa.anu.edu.au/obituary/a-beckett-arthur-martin-13432"><img src="/images/site/oa/siteIcon.jpg" alt="go to Obituaries Australia entry" title="go to Obituaries Australia entry"/></a></span></li> <li><a href="https://peopleaustralia.anu.edu.au/biography/a-beckett-william-17164">à Beckett, William</a> (grandfather)<span class="linkicon"><a href="https://peopleaustralia.anu.edu.au/biography/a-beckett-william-17164"><img src="/images/site/pa/siteIcon.jpg" alt="go to People Australia entry" title="go to People Australia entry"/></a></span></li> <li><a href="https://peopleaustralia.anu.edu.au/biography/hay-isabel-emily-31293">Hay, Isabel Emily</a> (granddaughter)<span class="linkicon"><a href="https://peopleaustralia.anu.edu.au/biography/hay-isabel-emily-31293"><img src="/images/site/pa/siteIcon.jpg" alt="go to People Australia entry" title="go to People Australia entry"/></a></span></li> <li><a href="https://peopleaustralia.anu.edu.au/biography/clegg-mary-emma-17145/text28963">Clegg, Mary Emma</a> (granddaughter)<span class="linkicon"><a href="https://peopleaustralia.anu.edu.au/biography/clegg-mary-emma-17145/text28963"><img src="/images/site/pa/siteIcon.jpg" alt="go to People Australia entry" title="go to People Australia entry"/></a></span></li> <li><a href="https://peopleaustralia.anu.edu.au/biography/carse-eileen-constance-19555">Carse, Eileen Constance</a> (granddaughter)<span class="linkicon"><a href="https://peopleaustralia.anu.edu.au/biography/carse-eileen-constance-19555"><img src="/images/site/pa/siteIcon.jpg" alt="go to People Australia entry" title="go to People Australia entry"/></a></span></li> <li><a href="https://peopleaustralia.anu.edu.au/biography/a-beckett-emma-gertrude-18703/text30300">à Beckett, Emma Gertrude</a> (granddaughter)<span class="linkicon"><a href="https://peopleaustralia.anu.edu.au/biography/a-beckett-emma-gertrude-18703/text30300"><img src="/images/site/pa/siteIcon.jpg" alt="go to People Australia entry" title="go to People Australia entry"/></a></span></li> <li><a href="https://peopleaustralia.anu.edu.au/biography/backhouse-william-talworth-17154">Backhouse, William Talworth</a> (grandson)<span class="linkicon"><a href="https://peopleaustralia.anu.edu.au/biography/backhouse-william-talworth-17154"><img src="/images/site/pa/siteIcon.jpg" alt="go to People Australia entry" title="go to People Australia entry"/></a></span></li> <li><a href="https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/boyd-william-merric-5608">Boyd, William Merric</a> (grandson)<span class="linkicon"><a href="https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/boyd-william-merric-5608"><img src="/images/site/adb/siteIcon.jpg" alt="go to ADB entry" title="go to ADB entry"/></a></span></li> <li><a href="https://oa.anu.edu.au/obituary/backhouse-geoffrey-de-talworth-17152">Backhouse, Geoffrey de Talworth</a> (grandson)<span class="linkicon"><a href="https://oa.anu.edu.au/obituary/backhouse-geoffrey-de-talworth-17152"><img src="/images/site/oa/siteIcon.jpg" alt="go to Obituaries Australia entry" title="go to Obituaries Australia entry"/></a></span></li> <li><a href="https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/boyd-theodore-penleigh-5609">Boyd, Theodore Penleigh</a> (grandson)<span class="linkicon"><a href="https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/boyd-theodore-penleigh-5609"><img src="/images/site/adb/siteIcon.jpg" alt="go to ADB entry" title="go to ADB entry"/></a></span></li> <li><a href="https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/boyd-martin-a-beckett-9559">Boyd, Martin à Beckett</a> (grandson)<span class="linkicon"><a href="https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/boyd-martin-a-beckett-9559"><img src="/images/site/adb/siteIcon.jpg" alt="go to ADB entry" title="go to ADB entry"/></a></span></li> <li><a href="https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/a-beckett-sir-thomas-2860">à Beckett, Thomas</a> (cousin)<span class="linkicon"><a href="https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/a-beckett-sir-thomas-2860"><img src="/images/site/adb/siteIcon.jpg" alt="go to ADB entry" title="go to ADB entry"/></a></span><span class="linkicon"><a href="https://oa.anu.edu.au/obituary/a-beckett-sir-thomas-2860"><img src="/images/site/oa/siteIcon.jpg" alt="go to Obituaries Australia entry" title="go to Obituaries Australia entry"/></a></span></li> <li><a href="https://oa.anu.edu.au/obituary/weigall-marian-minnie-17163">Weigall, Marian</a> (cousin)<span class="linkicon"><a href="https://oa.anu.edu.au/obituary/weigall-marian-minnie-17163"><img src="/images/site/oa/siteIcon.jpg" alt="go to Obituaries Australia entry" title="go to Obituaries Australia entry"/></a></span></li> </ul> </div> <div class="citation"> <h3>Citation details</h3> <p>Kathleen Thomson, 'à Beckett, William Arthur (1833–1901)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/a-beckett-william-arthur-2863/text4081, published first in hardcopy 1969, accessed online 23 February 2025.</p> <p id="origPubDetails"><strong>This article was published in hardcopy in <em><strong>Australian Dictionary of Biography</strong></em>, Volume 3, (Melbourne University Press), 1969</strong></p> <p style="margin-top: 20px;">View the <a href="/frontpages/fp3.pdf" target="_blank">front pages</a> for Volume 3</p> </div> <div id="printFooter"> <p class="floatLeft">© Copyright Australian Dictionary of Biography, 2006-2025</p> </div> </div> <script type="text/javascript"> $(function() { Shadowbox.init({ counterType: 'skip', continuous: true, overlayOpacity: 0.80 }); }); </script> <div id="pageSidebar"> <div class="mainPic"><a href="http://nla.gov.au/nla.cs-pa-http%253A%252F%252Fnla.gov.au%252Fnla.pic-an22392092" title="William Arthur à Beckett, by Alfred Williams"><img src="/uploads/adb/2863/thumbs/A030010_246x550.jpg" alt="William Arthur à Beckett, by Alfred Williams" width='246' height='311' /></a> </div> <p class="caption"><span class="captionName">William Arthur à Beckett</span>, by Alfred Williams</p><p class="credit"><a href="http://nla.gov.au/nla.cs-pa-http%253A%252F%252Fnla.gov.au%252Fnla.pic-an22392092">National Library of Australia, nla.pic-an22392092</a></p> <div class="lifeSummary"> <h3>Life Summary <span><a href ="/lifesummary/a-beckett-william-arthur-2863" target="_blank">[details]</a></span></h3> <h5>Alternative Names</h5> <ul class="altnames"> <li>a'Beckett, William Arthur</li> </ul> <h5>Birth</h5> <p> <a href="/biographies/birth/?bdate=07071833">7 July</a>, <a href="/biographies/birth/?bdate=1833">1833</a> <br /> <a href="/biographies/search/?query=birthLocation%3A%22London%2C%20Middlesex%2C%20England%22">London</a>, <a href="/biographies/search/?query=birthLocation%3A%22Middlesex%2C%20England%22">Middlesex</a>, <a href="/biographies/search/?query=birthLocation%3A%22England%22">England</a> </p> <h5>Death</h5> <p> <a href="/biographies/death/?ddate=16121901">16 December</a>, <a href="/biographies/death/?ddate=1901">1901</a> (aged 68) <br /> <a href="/biographies/search/?query=deathLocation%3A%22St%20Kilda%2C%20Melbourne%2C%20Victoria%2C%20Australia%22">St Kilda, Melbourne</a>, <a href="/biographies/search/?query=deathLocation%3A%22Victoria%2C%20Australia%22">Victoria</a>, <a href="/biographies/search/?query=deathLocation%3A%22Australia%22">Australia</a> </p> <h5>Cause of Death</h5> <p> <a href="/biographies/search/?query=causeOfDeath%3A%22surgical%20complications%22">surgical complications</a> </p> <div class="life-summary__heading-container"> <h5 class="life-summary__heading--note">Cultural Heritage</h5> <button class="life-summary__note-button" title="View explanatory note" data-note-text-id="life-summary-cultural"> <img src="/images/down_arrow.png" class="life-summary__button-image"> </button> </div> <p class="life-summary__note-text" id="life-summary-cultural"> Includes subject's nationality; their parents' nationality; the countries in which they spent a significant part of their childhood, and their self-identity. </p><ul> <li> <a href="/biographies/search/?query=ethnicity%3A%22English%22">English</a> </li> </ul> <div class="life-summary__heading-container"> <h5 class="life-summary__heading--note">Religious Influence</h5> <button class="life-summary__note-button" title="View explanatory note" data-note-text-id="life-summary-religious"> <img src="/images/down_arrow.png" class="life-summary__button-image"> </button> </div> <p class="life-summary__note-text" id="life-summary-religious"> Includes the religion in which subjects were raised, have chosen themselves, attendance at religious schools and/or religious funeral rites; Atheism and Agnosticism have been included. </p><ul> <li> <a href="/biographies/search/?query=religion%3A%22Unitarian%22">Unitarian</a> </li> </ul> <h5> Passenger Ship </h5> <ul> <li> <a href="/biographies/search/?query=rele%3A%22996%22&re=true&rpp=200">City of Edinburgh (1836-37)</a> </li> </ul> <h5> Education </h5> <ul> <li> <a href="/biographies/search/?query=rele%3A%222130%22&re=true&rpp=200">King's College (London)</a> </li> </ul> <h5> Occupation or Descriptor </h5> <ul> <li> <a href="/biographies/occupation/?occupation=barrister&rpp=200">barrister</a> </li> <li> <a href="/biographies/occupation/?occupation=colonial%20militia%20%28Australia%29&rpp=200">colonial militia (Australia)</a> </li> <li> <a href="/biographies/occupation/?occupation=magistrate&rpp=200">magistrate</a> </li> <li> <a href="/biographies/occupation/?occupation=Member%20of%20Upper%20House&rpp=200">Member of Upper House</a> </li> </ul> <h5> Military Service </h5> <ul> <li> <a href="/biographies/search/?query=rele%3A%222458%22&re=true&rpp=200">Victoria Volunteer Artillery Regiment</a> </li> </ul> <h5> Clubs </h5> <ul> <li> <a href="/biographies/search/?query=rele%3A%224538%22&re=true&rpp=200">Yorick Club (Melbourne)</a> </li> <li> <a href="/biographies/search/?query=rele%3A%222947%22&re=true&rpp=200">Old Colonists' Association</a> </li> </ul> <h5> Key Organisations </h5> <ul> <li> <a href="/biographies/search/?query=rele%3A%221423%22&re=true&rpp=200">Eclectic Association of Melbourne</a> </li> </ul> </div> </div> </div> </div> <footer> <div class="clearFix" id="footer"> <h3>Australian Dictionary of Biography</h3> <p>An initiative of the <a href="https://history.cass.anu.edu.au/centres/ncb">National Centre of Biography</a> at the <a href="https://www.anu.edu.au/">Australian National University</a></p> <div class="clearFix"> <p class="floatLeft">© Copyright Australian Dictionary of Biography, 2006-2025</p> <p class="floatLeft cdp"><a 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