Charles Cross (29 October 1891 – 26 October 1955) was an Australian trade unionist and politician who was a Labor Party 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 1933 to 1947, representing the seat of Canning. Cross was born in

March, Cambridgeshire March is a Fenland market town and civil parish in the Isle of Ely area of Cambridgeshire, England. It was the county town of the Isle of Ely which was a separate administrative county from 1889 to 1965. The administrative centre of Fenland ...

, England, to Jane (née Bridgestock) and George Cross. He came to Western Australia as a child. After leaving school, Cross farmed at Wagin and Katanning for periods. He attempted to enlist in the military in 1915, but was rejected for service and instead began working as a conductor for Perth Electric Tramways. Cross eventually became an official of the Tramway Employees' Union.Charles Cross
Biographical Register of Members of the Parliament of Western Australia. Retrieved 5 January 2017. He entered parliament in the Labor landslide at the 1933 state election, defeating Herbert Wells of the Nationalist Party. Cross was re-elected on three more occasions, though never with a comfortable majority, and lost his seat to

George Yates George Wilhelmus Mancius Yates (February 26, 1843 – June 25, 1876) was an officer in the U.S. 7th Cavalry Regiment. He was killed in the Battle of the Little Bighorn. Biography Yates was born in Albany, New York. He met Custer in Monroe, Mich ...

at the 1947 election. In 1950, he unsuccessfully ran against the sitting

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 ...

, Sir

Ross McLarty Sir Duncan Ross McLarty, (17 March 1891 – 22 December 1962) was an Australian politician and the 17th Premier of Western Australia. Early life McLarty was born in Pinjarra, Western Australia, the youngest of seven children of Edward McLarty ...

, in the seat of Murray. In 1955, Cross stood for Labor

preselection Preselection is the process by which a candidate is selected, usually by a political party, to contest an election for political office. It is also referred to as candidate selection. It is a fundamental function of political parties. The presele ...

in the seat of Beeloo for 1956 state election, but lost to

Colin Jamieson Colin John Jamieson, AO JP (26 May 1923 – 27 March 1990), was a politician in Western Australia. A member of the Labor Party, he served as a member of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly from 1953 until 1986, as the Minister for Wo ...

. He was killed in a level crossing accident later in the year, at the age of 63. Cross had been married twice, firstly to Ruth Naomi Ayres in 1916, with whom he had two children. He was widowed in 1944, and remarried in 1947 to Fifi Marie Anderson.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cross, Charles 1891 births 1955 deaths Accidental deaths in Western Australia Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Western Australia Australian people in rail transport English emigrants to colonial Australia Members of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly People from March, Cambridgeshire Road incident deaths in Western Australia Trade unionists from Western Australia