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Sir Henry Newman Barwell
KCMG KCMG may refer to * KC Motorgroup, based in Hong Kong, China * Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George, British honour * KCMG-LP, radio station in New Mexico, USA * KCMG, callsign 1997-2001 of Los Angeles radio station KKLQ (FM) ...
(26 February 187730 September 1959) was the 28th
premier of South Australia The premier of South Australia is the head of government in the state of South Australia, Australia. The Government of South Australia follows the Westminster system, with a Parliament of South Australia acting as the legislature. The premier is ...
.


Early life

Born in
Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...
,
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 ...
, Barwell was educated at St Peter's College and
Adelaide University The University of Adelaide (informally Adelaide University) is a public research university located in Adelaide, South Australia. Established in 1874, it is the third-oldest university in Australia. The university's main campus is located on N ...
, graduating in law. Admitted to the bar in 1899, Barwell built a successful legal practice where he specialised in defending murder suspects and became a prominent figure in the Adelaide Establishment. In 1902, he married Anne Webb in
Clare, South Australia The town of Clare is located in South Australia in the Mid North region, 136 km north of Adelaide. It gives its name to the Clare Valley wine and tourist region. At the , Clare itself had a population of 3160 as part of an urban area with ...
and together they had one son and three daughters.


Political career

Barwell entered the
South Australian House of Assembly The House of Assembly, or lower house, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of South Australia. The other is the Legislative Council. It sits in Parliament House in the state capital, Adelaide. Overview The House of Assembly was creat ...
in 1915 as the Liberal Union member for the seat of
Stanley Stanley may refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''Stanley'' (1972 film), an American horror film * ''Stanley'' (1984 film), an Australian comedy * ''Stanley'' (1999 film), an animated short * ''Stanley'' (1956 TV series) ...
. In parliament he quickly became known both as an uncompromising conservative and as a likely future premier. He defended the restricted franchise 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 ...
, arguing that the Labor Party should not be allowed to gain control "over the capital that employs labor, and over the superior intellect that governs that labor". In 1917, Barwell was made
Attorney-General of South Australia The attorney-general of South Australia is the Cabinet minister in the Government of South Australia who is responsible for that state's system of law and justice. The attorney-general must be a qualified legal practitioner, although this wa ...
and Minister for Industry in
Archibald Peake Archibald Henry Peake (15 January 1859 – 6 April 1920) was an Australian politician. He was Premier of South Australia on three occasions: from 1909 to 1910 for the Liberal and Democratic Union, and from 1912 to 1915 and 1917 to 1920 for its ...
's cabinet and was forced to deal with the deteriorating relationship between the urban and rural constituencies of the Liberal Union, which worsened with the creation of the Country Party in 1919, taking many of the Liberal Union's supporters with it. Peake died soon after and Barwell became Premier of South Australia on 8 April 1920. Despite voter antipathy against Barwell over his abrasive and sometimes tactless political style, the Liberal Union was nonetheless returned to office at the 1921 election, with Barwell retaining the Premiership. Never one to shy away from controversy, Barwell publicly advocated the importation of coloured labour into tropical Australia,. contrary to the
White Australia Policy The White Australia policy is a term encapsulating a set of historical policies that aimed to forbid people of non-European ethnic origin, especially Asians (primarily Chinese) and Pacific Islanders, from immigrating to Australia, starting i ...
which at the time had almost unanimous support. Barwell argued that northern Australia had proven unsuitable for white settlement and only the large scale importation of "selected Asiatics working as coolie labour under indenture to white men" would help develop the region as they were the only race suited to such conditions. This was heresy for many Australians, particularly those in the opposition Labor Party, for which the White Australia Policy was historically a central plank in their policy platform. Labor politicians treated Barwell with undisguised contempt for the rest of his career, referring to him as "Black Barwell". Barwell's decisiveness was evident during his premiership when he addressed the state of the
South Australian Railways South Australian Railways (SAR) was the statutory corporation through which the Government of South Australia built and operated railways in South Australia from 1854 until March 1978, when its non-urban railways were incorporated into Austr ...
, which by 1922 had decayed to the point of imminent total collapse, endangering state finances. He forced the funding of a £5 million rehabilitation program through
parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...
and recruited a brilliant American railroad executive,
William Alfred Webb William Alfred Webb (1878–1936) was an American railroad executive who had wide experience with US railroads, including the management of nationwide railroad operations during World War I, before serving as Commissioner of the South Australian ...
, to lead it. He strongly supported Webb in applying business operating principles to the railways' operations. However, although the South Australian Railways was better prepared than most to meet the huge logistical demands of
World War 2 World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
, the huge investment did not make the railways profitable – mainly because of the impacts of the
Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...
and the growth in ownership of motor cars. One long-remembered legacy of his premiership, however, was the nicknaming of a fleet of
railcar A railcar (not to be confused with a railway car) is a self-propelled railway vehicle designed to transport passengers. The term "railcar" is usually used in reference to a train consisting of a single coach (carriage, car), with a drive ...
s, delivered during his reforms, as "Barwell's Bulls". In 1922 Barwell announced the "South Australian Farm Apprenticeship Scheme", which undertook the ambitious target of arranging the immigration of 6,000 young men and boys from
England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
to cover the 6,000 South Australian
World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
casualties. He travelled to England to personally oversee the recruitment of what became known as the "
Barwell Boys Sir Henry Newman Barwell KCMG (26 February 187730 September 1959) was the 28th premier of South Australia. Early life Born in Adelaide, South Australia, Barwell was educated at St Peter's College and Adelaide University, graduating in law. Ad ...
". Widespread unemployment in England led 14,000 boys, mainly aged between 15 and 17, to apply for the scheme. While the eventual number of Barwell Boys numbered only 1,700, the scheme was considered a great success, with many of the émigrés playing significant roles in the development of South Australia. While in London, Barwell was made a Knight Commander of the
Order of St Michael and St George The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is a British order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George IV, George IV, Prince of Wales, while he was acting as prince regent for his father, George III, King George III. ...
(KCMG) in the
Birthday Honours The Birthday Honours, in some Commonwealth realms, mark the reigning British monarch's official birthday by granting various individuals appointment into national or dynastic orders or the award of decorations and medals. The honours are presen ...
List of 1922. He returned to South Australia to find that he and his government were becoming increasingly unpopular due to his policies of
small government Libertarian conservatism, also referred to as conservative libertarianism and conservatarianism, is a political and social philosophy that combines conservatism and libertarianism, representing the libertarian wing of conservatism and vice ver ...
and
wage restraint Incomes policies in economics are economy-wide wage and price controls, most commonly instituted as a response to inflation, and usually seeking to establish wages and prices below free market level. Incomes policies have often been resorted to ...
, as well as lingering resentment over his earlier comments on importing coloured labour. Barwell lost the 1924 election to the John Gunn led Labor Party and, after briefly acting as Opposition Leader, resigned from state parliament, seeking a seat in the
Australian House of Representatives The House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameral Parliament of Australia, the upper house being the Senate. Its composition and powers are established in Chapter I of the Constitution of Australia. The term of members of the ...
with a view to becoming
Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...
. No seats were immediately forthcoming and instead he was forced to settle for appointment to the
Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...
, filling a vacancy caused by the death of Senator
James O'Loghlin James O'Loghlin (born 1966) is an Australian comedian, television and radio presenter. He works for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's Local Radio evening program in New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory. Career Previous ...
in 1925. Sitting with the
Nationalist Party of Australia The Nationalist Party, also known as the National Party, was an Australian political party. It was formed on 17 February 1917 from a merger between the Commonwealth Liberal Party and the National Labor Party, the latter formed by Prime Mini ...
, Barwell served in the Senate until 1928, often clashing with his party colleagues due to his outspokenness and independent mind. Realising that a move into the lower house was now a
forlorn hope A forlorn hope is a band of soldiers or other combatants chosen to take the vanguard in a military operation, such as a suicidal assault through the kill zone of a defended position, or the first men to climb a scaling ladder against a defende ...
, Barwell resigned from the Senate to accept the posting of South Australian Agent-General in
London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
. He served in that position until 1933, helping to prepare opinion for the Ottawa Agreement and for the closer collaboration of the various parts of the
British Empire The British Empire was composed of the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It began with the overseas possessions and trading posts esta ...
. Described by ''
The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...
'' as a "strong Imperialist with a practical outlook", Barwell was a firm believer in reciprocal trade between members of the Empire. After the completion of his term as Agent General, Barwell remained in London, entering into various business interests, before eventually returning to Adelaide in 1940, where he unsuccessfully stood for pre-selection in his old seat of Stanley. Growing increasingly deaf, Barwell served as Deputy Chairman of the South Australian Housing Trust for fifteen years until his death in 1959 from
cerebrovascular disease Cerebrovascular disease includes a variety of medical conditions that affect the blood vessels of the brain and the cerebral circulation. Arteries supplying oxygen and nutrients to the brain are often damaged or deformed in these disorders. The ...
.


Sport

Sir Henry was an expert lawn bowler and represented Australia at the
1934 British Empire Games The 1934 British Empire Games were the second edition of what is now known as the Commonwealth Games, held in England, from 4–11 August 1934. The host city was London, with the main venue at Wembley Park, although the track cycling events wer ...
.


References

  , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Barwell, Henry 1877 births 1959 deaths Premiers of South Australia Members of the Australian Senate for South Australia Members of the Australian Senate Nationalist Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Australia Australian Knights Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George Australian politicians awarded knighthoods People educated at St Peter's College, Adelaide Leaders of the Opposition in South Australia Attorneys-General of South Australia 20th-century Australian politicians Australian male bowls players Bowls players at the 1934 British Empire Games Commonwealth Games competitors for Australia