Arthur Male (2 March 1870 – 20 January 1946) was an Australian businessman and politician who was 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 1905 to 1917, representing the seat of Kimberley. He was a minister in the first government of Frank Wilson.

Early life

Male was born in

Bridport Bridport is a market town in Dorset, England, inland from the English Channel near the confluence of the River Brit and its tributary the Asker. Its origins are Saxon and it has a long history as a rope-making centre. On the coast and withi ...

Dorset Dorset ( ; archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the unitary authority areas of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and Dorset (unitary authority), Dors ...

, England, to Martha (née Guppy) and Thomas Male. He emigrated to Australia in 1889, initially working on a farm in

Guildford Guildford () is a town in west Surrey, around southwest of central London. As of the 2011 census, the town has a population of about 77,000 and is the seat of the wider Borough of Guildford, which had around inhabitants in . The name "Guildf ...

(near

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

). In 1894, Male moved to Broome (a town in the Kimberley), where he managed a pearling business. He later went into partnership with George Streeter, and their firm, Streeter and Male, had diverse commercial interests in the Kimberley, including in the pearling, fishing, and cattle trades. Male was elected to the Broome Road Board in 1901, and later served as mayor of the Broome Municipality from 1908 to 1909.Arthur Male
– Biographical Register of Members of the Parliament of Western Australia. Retrieved 16 June 2016.

Politics

At the 1905 state election, Male ran against

Francis Connor Francis Connor (1857 – 24 August 1916) was an Australian businessman, pastoralist, and politician who served in both houses of the Parliament of Western Australia, as a member of the Legislative Assembly from 1893 to 1905 and as a member of ...

in the seat of Kimberley, and was successful. He was re-elected at the 1908 election. When Frank Wilson replaced

Newton Moore Major General Sir Newton James Moore, (17 May 1870 – 28 October 1936) was an Australian politician, businessman and army officer. He served as the eighth Premier of Western Australia from 1906 to 1910 and, following service in the First World ...

premier Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier. A premier will normally be a head of governm ...

in September 1910, he included Male in his new ministry, as 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 ...

. However, Wilson's government was defeated at the 1911 state election, with

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 labour ...

John Scaddan John Scaddan, CMG (4 August 1876 – 21 November 1934), popularly known as "Happy Jack", was Premier of Western Australia from 7 October 1911 until 27 July 1916. Early life John Scaddan was born in Moonta, South Australia, into a Cornish A ...

succeeding him as premier. Male remained in parliament until the 1917 election, which he did not contest. He ran for re-election as an "independent

Nationalist Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: The ...

" ten years later, at the 1927 election, but was defeated by the sitting member,

Aubrey Coverley Aubrey Augustus Michael Coverley (29 September 1895 – 19 March 1953) was an Australian politician who was a Labor Party member of the Legislative Assembly of Western Australia from 1924 until his death, representing the seat of Kimberley. H ...

Later life

Male retired to

in 1930, and died there in January 1946, aged 76. He had married Constance Cox in 1900, with whom he had five children.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Male, Arthur 1870 births 1946 deaths English emigrants to colonial Australia Mayors of places in Western Australia Members of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly Pearlers People from Bridport Western Australian local councillors