Archibald Gilchrist (1878 – 10 March 1955) was an Australian businessman and politician. He served in the Legislative Assembly of

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

from 1914 to 1917, representing the seat of Gascoyne.

Early life

Gilchrist was born in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

to Hadassah (née Kendall) and Archibald Gilchrist, his father being a

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...

minister. He was raised in Sydney, and attended Sydney High School before finding work on the staff of the

Public Library of New South Wales The State Library of New South Wales, part of which is known as the Mitchell Library, is a large heritage-listed special collections, reference and research library open to the public and is one of the oldest libraries in Australia. Establi ...

. Gilchrist moved to

Carnarvon, Western Australia Carnarvon is a coastal town situated approximately north of Perth, in Western Australia. It lies at the mouth of the Gascoyne River on the Indian Ocean. The popular Shark Bay world heritage area lies to the south of the town and the Ningaloo ...

, in 1904, where he was the pastor of a Presbyterian church for a period (although without becoming ordained). He was later appointed manager of ''

The Northern Times ''The Northern Times'' was a newspaper published in Carnarvon, Western Australia from 1905–1983. History ''The Northern Times'' was published from 26 August 1905 to 26 August 1983 in Carnarvon, Western Australia. It absorbed the ''Geral ...

'', a local newspaper which he eventually took over as proprietor.Archibald Gilchrist
– Biographical Register of Members of the Parliament of Western Australia. Retrieved 5 January 2017.

Politics and military service

In 1913, Gilchrist toured the

North-West The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, Radius, radially arrayed compass directions (or Azimuth#In navigation, azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east ...

as an organiser for the

Commonwealth Liberal Party The Liberal Party was a parliamentary party in Australian federal politics between 1909 and 1917. The party was founded under Alfred Deakin's leadership as a merger of the Protectionist Party and Anti-Socialist Party, an event known as the Fus ...

, campaigning against the

1913 referendums Events January * January 5 – First Balkan War: Battle of Lemnos – Greek admiral Pavlos Kountouriotis forces the Turkish fleet to retreat to its base within the Dardanelles, from which it will not venture for the rest of th ...

. He was a prominent advocate of migration schemes, and served as secretary of the New Settlers' League and the

Big Brother Movement The Big Brother Movement was a youth migration program run by a non-profit organisation based in Sydney, Australia. It aimed to bring youths from Britain to Australia to work on farms or in the Australian outback. With the cooperation of the Austr ...

. At the 1914 state election, Gilchrist was elected to the seat of Gascoyne for the

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a li ...

. He defeated John McDonald, the sitting

Labor Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the la ...

member. Gilchrist enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force in December 1915, and served with a medical corps until receiving a medical discharge in December 1916. He returned to Carnarvon in time to contest the 1917 election, but was defeated by Edward Angelo.

Later life

Gilchrist moved to

Mildura Mildura is a regional city in north-west Victoria, Australia. Located on the Victorian side of the Murray River, Mildura had a population of 34,565 in 2021. When nearby Wentworth, Irymple, Nichols Point and Merbein are included, the area h ...

, Victoria, in 1921, becoming a sub-editor of the ''

Sunraysia Daily The ''Sunraysia Daily'' is a local newspaper in the north-western Sunraysia region of Victoria, Australia, it is published on Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday. From its first publication in 1920 until 14 September 2007, it was published ...

''. He owned 3TR, a radio station servicing the

Gippsland Gippsland is a rural region that makes up the southeastern part of Victoria, Australia, mostly comprising the coastal plains to the rainward (southern) side of the Victorian Alps (the southernmost section of the Great Dividing Range). It cove ...

region, from 1934 to 1938, and at the 1937 Victorian state election unsuccessfully ran as an independent in the seat of Gippsland North. Between 1939 and 1945, Gilchrist lived in the United States and gave lectures about Australia on behalf of Rotary International. He died in Sydney in March 1955.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gilchrist, Archibald 1878 births 1955 deaths Australian newspaper editors Australian newspaper proprietors Australian radio people Members of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly People educated at Sydney Boys High School Politicians from Melbourne 20th-century Australian politicians Nationalist Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Western Australia