Alfred Napoleon Piesse (17 July 1866 – 15 June 1939) was an Australian politician who served as a member of 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 1911 to 1924, representing the seat of Toodyay. He joined the Country Party upon its formation in 1914, and served as state deputy leader from 1915 to 1921, initially under

Francis Willmott Francis Edward Sykes Willmott (1870 – 29 January 1941) was an Australian politician who was a member of both houses of the Parliament of Western Australia, serving in the Legislative Assembly from 1914 to 1921, and then in the Legislative ...

and then under Tom Harrison.

Early life

Piesse was born in

Guildford, Western Australia Guildford is a suburb of Perth, Western Australia, 12 km northeast of the city centre within the City of Swan. Guildford was founded in 1829 as one of the earliest settlements of the Swan River Colony. It is one of only three towns in the ...

, to Elizabeth Ellen (née Oxley) and William Roper Piesse. Three of his brothers, Arnold, Charles, and Frederick Piesse, were also members of parliament. After leaving school, Piesse initially worked as a post office messenger, and then joined the Telegraph Department. As a

telegraphist A telegraphist (British English), telegrapher (American English), or telegraph operator is an operator who uses a telegraph key to send and receive the Morse code in order to communicate by land lines or radio. During the Great War the Roya ...

, he worked in various remote locations in Western Australia, including Esperance, Eucla (on the border with

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

Bremer Bay Bremer may refer to: People *Bremer (surname) * Bremer Ehrler (born 1914), American politician * Bremer (born 1997), Brazilian footballer Places ;Australia *Bremer Bay, Western Australia * Bremer Marine Park *Bremer Island * Bremer River (disambig ...

, and Israelite Bay. Piesse left the Telegraph Department and moved to Toodyay in 1894, working variously as a court clerk, magistrate, and tax collector. He was elected to the Toodyay Road Board in 1907, and served as its chairman from 1907 to 1912.

Politics and later life

Piesse entered parliament at the 1911 state election, defeating the sitting

Speaker of the Legislative Assembly Speaker of the Legislative Assembly is a title commonly held by Speaker (politics), presiding officers of parliamentary bodies styled Legislative Assembly, legislative assemblies. The office is most widely used in state and territorial legislatures ...

Timothy Quinlan Timothy Francis Quinlan KSS (18 February 1861 – 8 July 1927) was an Irish-born Australian politician who represented the electorates of West Perth and Toodyay in the Western Australian Legislative Assembly between 1890 and 1894, and 18 ...

, in the seat of Toodyay. Elected as a member of

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 joined the Country Party upon its formation in 1914, and became one of its first members in parliament. In March 1915, Piesse was elected deputy leader of the party, at the same time as

was elected leader. He remained deputy leader under Tom Harrison, who replaced Willmott in July 1919, but in May 1921 was replaced by

Alec Thomson Alexander Thomson (9 March 1873 – 18 November 1953), known as Alec Thomson, was an Australian politician, and a member of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly from 1914 until 1930 representing the seat of Katanning, and a member of t ...

, instead becoming

party whip A whip is an official of a political party whose task is to ensure party discipline in a legislature. This means ensuring that members of the party vote according to the party platform, rather than according to their own individual ideology ...

. The Country Party split into two rival factions in 1923, with Piesse joining the Ministerial faction (comprising supporters of the coalition with the Nationalist Party). However, at the 1924 state election, he was defeated by

John Lindsay John Vliet Lindsay (; November 24, 1921 – December 19, 2000) was an American politician and lawyer. During his political career, Lindsay was a U.S. congressman, mayor of New York City, and candidate for U.S. president. He was also a regular ...

, a member of the opposing Executive faction of the party. A few months after his defeat in Toodyay, Piesse stood for election to the Legislative Council, but was again defeated, losing to

Hector Stewart Hector Joseph Stewart MLC (29 July 1875 – 9 August 1931) was the member of the Western Australian Legislative Council for the South-East Province, from 1917 to 1931. He was a member of what was then the Country Party (now the National Party). ...

South-East Province The South-East Province was an electoral region of the Western Australian Legislative Council, introduced after the introduction of responsible government in the 1890s. It initially comprised Williams, Plantagenet The House of Plantagenet ( ...

. He eventually retired to Kendenup, a small town in the Great Southern. He died there in June 1939, aged 72. A nephew,

Harold Harold may refer to: People * Harold (given name), including a list of persons and fictional characters with the name * Harold (surname), surname in the English language * András Arató, known in meme culture as "Hide the Pain Harold" Arts a ...

, was also a member of parliament in Western Australia and a second nephew, Edmund Piesse was a Senator for Western Australia.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Piesse, Alfred 1866 births 1939 deaths Mayors of places in Western Australia Members of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly National Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Western Australia Politicians from Perth, Western Australia Telegraphists Western Australian local councillors Colony of Western Australia people

Early life

Politics and later life

See also

References