Arthur Richman Addison (17 May 1842 – 29 July 1915) was an Australian politician.

History

Addison was born in Adelaide on 17 May 1842. His parents, Thomas Plummer Addison and Eliza, arrived in South Australia aboard the ''

Pestonjee Bomanjee The ''Pestonjee Bomanjee'' was a wooden sailing ship built in 1834 by James Lang of Dumbarton, Scotland. She was a three-masted wooden barque of 595 tons, 130 feet in length, 31.5 feet in breadth, first owned by John Miller Jnr and Company, Glasg ...

'', during October 1838. Thomas served for many years as deputy collector of Customs of South Australia. He was educated at St Peter's College, and on leaving found employment with Younghusband and Cadell's River Murray Navigation Company. After three years he worked for the National Bank, then four years with the

Bank of South Australia BankSA, formerly known as the Bank of South Australia, the State Bank of South Australia and the Savings Bank of South Australia is the largest bank in South Australia. It is a subsidiary of Westpac. History Bank SA, formerly known as The Ba ...

, mostly at the bank's

Port Elliot Port Elliot is a town in South Australia toward the eastern end of the south coast of the Fleurieu Peninsula. It is situated on the sheltered Horseshoe Bay, a small bay off the much larger Encounter Bay. Pullen Island lies outside the mouth of t ...

branch. He next went into business with

William Bowman William, Willie, Will, Bill, or Billy Bowman may refer to: Sportspeople * Bill Bowman (baseball) (1867–1944), American baseball player for the Chicago Colts * William Bowman (fencer) (1881–1947), American Olympic fencer * Bill Bowman (American ...

, setting up a flour milling business at Middleton, which proved highly profitable. He later settled in Orroroo, where, in partnership with Edward Trussell, he founded another milling business with which he was associated for the remainder of his life.

Politics

While at Port Elliot, Addison was involved with the district council, and served as chairman for much of that time. He succeeded Thomas Playford as chairman of the district councils of South Australia. He was the inaugural chairman of the

District Council of Orroroo The District Council of Orroroo was a local government area in South Australia, centred on the town of Orroroo. It was gazetted on 5 January 1888 under the provisions of the ''District Councils Act 1887'' and included all the land defined by th ...

from 1888 to 1890. He then entered South Australian politics, serving as a member of the

South Australian Legislative Council The Legislative Council, or upper house, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of South Australia. Its central purpose is to act as a house of review for legislation passed through the lower house, the House of Assembly. It sits in Parli ...

for the Northern District from 1888 to 1915. For six months in 1909 he was a

minister without portfolio A minister without portfolio is either a government minister with no specific responsibilities or a minister who does not head a particular ministry. The sinecure is particularly common in countries ruled by coalition governments and a cabinet w ...

. In 1903 he was offered the post of Chief Secretary in the Kingston government, but declined the honor.

Other interests

He was an active member of the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...

, and at Orroroo conducted a great number of services as

lay reader In Anglicanism, a licensed lay minister (LLM) or lay reader (in some jurisdictions simply reader) is a person authorised by a bishop to lead certain services of worship (or parts of the service), to preach and to carry out pastoral and teaching f ...

. He was a great sportsman, and a member of Tattersall's Club. He owned a number of thoroughbred horses, one in particular, Vistula, which won the ARC Grand National Hurdles in 1891 and the

Great Eastern Steeplechase The Great Eastern Steeplechase was an Australian Thoroughbred steeplechase horse race held annually at Oakbank, South Australia on Easter Saturday and Monday at the Oakbank Racecourse as part of the Oakbank Easter Racing Carnival. The first fixture ...

at Oakbank in 1892. He took a great interest in the Volunteer Militia, and rose to the rank of Captain with the Orroroo Volunteer Force, and later captained the Orroroo Defence Rifle Club, and won many trophies for marksmanship.

Family

He was twice married. His first wife, Elizabeth Bowman (c. 1849 – 12 January 1889), was a daughter of his partner William Bowman. They married on 12 May 1870 and had nine children. Arthur married again in 1893, to Adelaide Williams. A son, Walter Colman Addison (died 18 July 1951), was a champion target rifle shooter, winning the King's Prize at Bisley in 1907. He married Gertrude Madeleine Woods (19 Oct 1872 – ), daughter of E. J. Woods, on 8 May 1900. Their son Gerald Bowman Addison (died 1994) was also a noted marksman. Harold Mayo Addison (c. 1847 – 14 June 1941), first chairman of trustees of the

Savings Bank of South Australia The Savings Bank of South Australia was a bank founded in the colony of South Australia in 1848, based in Adelaide. In the early 20th century it established a presence in schools by setting up a special category of savings accounts for schoolch ...

, was a brother. He married Meta Louise Nixon, née Pelzer, (his second wife, died 8 January 1934) on 1 March 1904 after considerable publicity, she having been the subject of attempted murder by her first husband.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Addison, Arthur 1842 births 1915 deaths Members of the South Australian Legislative Council Australian flour millers and merchants Politicians from Adelaide 19th-century Australian businesspeople 19th-century Australian politicians Mayors of places in South Australia Anglican lay readers