Charles Frederic John North (14 September 1887 – 30 September 1979) was an Australian lawyer 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 1924 to 1956, initially representing the Nationalist Party and later the

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 was

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

from 1947 to 1953.

Early life

North was born in

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 ...

to Flora Frances (née Hamersley) and Frederic Dudley North. His father, a prominent civil servant, was a grandson of the Scottish artist Sir Francis Grant and a descendant of the

Barons North Baron North, of Kirtling Tower in the County of Cambridge, is an abeyance, abeyant title in the Peerage of England. Its most famous holder was Frederick North, 2nd Earl of Guilford, 8th Baron North, who served as Prime Minister of Great Britain ...

. His mother was the daughter of Edward Hamersley II, a member of the pioneering

Hamersley family The Hamersley family were a wealthy and well-connected family of early settlers in the colony of Western Australia. Members of the Hamersley family emigrated to Western Australia from England in 1837. Prominent members and connections of the fa ...

of Western Australia.North, Charles Frederic (1887–1979)
– Australian Dictionary of Biography. Retrieved 19 September 2011. North attended

Hale School Hale School is an independent, Anglican day and boarding school for boys, located in Wembley Downs, a western suburb of Perth, Western Australia. Named after the school founded by Bishop Mathew Blagden Hale in 1858, Hale School claims to b ...

, Perth, before being sent to England to continue his education at

Rugby School Rugby School is a public school (English independent boarding school for pupils aged 13–18) in Rugby, Warwickshire, England. Founded in 1567 as a free grammar school for local boys, it is one of the oldest independent schools in Britain. Up ...

. He studied law at

Oriel College Oriel College () is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in Oxford, England. Located in Oriel Square, the college has the distinction of being the oldest royal foundation in Oxford (a title formerly claimed by University College, wh ...

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

, graduating in 1909 with a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

.Charles Frederick John North
– thepeerage.com. Last updated 21 July 2008. Retrieved 19 September 2011. He was also a member of the college eight for three years. North was

called to the Bar The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call to ...

as part of the

Middle Temple The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known simply as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court exclusively entitled to call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple, Gray's Inn an ...

in 1912. He was admitted to the Western Australian bar upon his return to Australia the following year, and, making his debut in politics, went on to contest the 1914 federal election for the

Commonwealth Liberal Party The Liberal Party was a parliamentary party in Australian federal politics between 1909 and 1917. The party was founded under Alfred Deakin's leadership as a merger of the Protectionist Party and Anti-Socialist Party, an event known as the Fu ...

, standing for 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 ...

. North served as a captain in the

No. 16 Squadron RAF Number 16 Squadron, nicknamed ''the Saints'', is a flying squadron of the Royal Air Force providing Elementary Flying Training (EFT) with the Grob Tutor T.1 from RAF Wittering. It formed in 1915 at Saint-Omer to carry out a mixture of offensi ...

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 ...

, as an observer-air gunner. He returned to Western Australia after the conclusion of the war, practising as a solicitor in Perth. He was elected to the Cottesloe Municipal Council in 1921, and served as Mayor of Cottesloe from 1923 to 1924.

Politics

North was elected to the seat of Claremont at the 1924 state election, defeating a

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 ...

candidate, George Dennis, and the sitting member, John Thomson, who had lost the endorsement of the

Nationalists 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 ...

in favour of North. He was appointed government

whip A whip is a tool or weapon designed to strike humans or other animals to exert control through pain compliance or fear of pain. They can also be used without inflicting pain, for audiovisual cues, such as in equestrianism. They are generally e ...

in 1930, and remained whip of the Nationalists (and, from 1945, the Liberals) until assuming the role of speaker in 1947. North held Claremont with large margins at every election during this time, with the exceptions of

1933 Events January * January 11 – Sir Charles Kingsford Smith makes the first commercial flight between Australia and New Zealand. * January 17 – The United States Congress votes in favour of Philippines independence, against the wis ...

and

1936 Events January–February * January 20 – George V of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions and Emperor of India, dies at his Sandringham Estate. The Prince of Wales succeeds to the throne of the United Kingdom as King E ...

, when another Nationalist candidate,

Donald Cleland Brigadier Sir Donald Mackinnon Cleland, (28 June 1901 – 27 August 1975) was an Australian soldier and administrator. Early years Born on 28 June 1901 at Coolgardie, Western Australia, eldest son of Adelaide-born Elphinstone Davenport Cleland ...

, reduced the margin to less than 400 votes. During the 1930s, North became involved in the

Social Credit Social credit is a distributive philosophy of political economy developed by C. H. Douglas. Douglas attributed economic downturns to discrepancies between the cost of goods and the compensation of the workers who made them. To combat what he ...

movement, and served as state president of the Douglas Social Credit Movement. North also served as president of the Cottesloe sub-branch of the

Returned and Services League The Returned and Services League of Australia (RSL) is a support organisation for people who have served or are serving in the Australian Defence Force. Mission The RSL's mission is to ensure that programs are in place for the well-being, care ...

(RSL), and as patron of the

Claremont Football Club The Claremont Football Club, nicknamed Tigers, is an Australian rules football club based in Claremont, Western Australia, that currently plays in the West Australian Football League (WAFL) and WAFL Women's (WAFLW). Its official colours are na ...

and North Cottesloe Surf Life-saving Club.ELECTION OF SPEAKER. Mr. C. F. J. North Takes Office.
– ''The West Australian''. Published 1 August 1947. In July 1947, following the anti-

coalition's victory at the 1947 election, North was appointed Speaker of the Legislative Assembly, serving until the McLarty government's defeat at the 1953 election. Notably, as the first non-Labor speaker for fourteen years, he chose to wear the

traditional dress A folk costume (also regional costume, national costume, traditional garment, or traditional regalia) expresses an identity through costume, which is usually associated with a geographic area or a period of time in history. It can also indicat ...

associated with the position, including horsehair wig. Despite having held Claremont for 32 years, North was outpolled by two other Liberal candidates at the 1956 election, finishing with only 24.96% on first preferences as

Harold Crommelin Harold William Crommelin (9 April 1903 – 20 May 1998) was an Australian businessman and politician who was a Liberal Party member of the Legislative Assembly of Western Australia from 1956 to 1968, representing the seat of Claremont. Early ...

was elected in his place.Black and Prescott (1997), p. 59. North died at

Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital (SCGH) is a teaching hospital in Nedlands, Western Australia. Opened in 1958 as the Perth Chest Hospital and later named in honour of Sir Charles Gairdner, governor of Western Australia from 1951 to 1963, it is pa ...

in September 1979. He had received the Silver Jubilee Medal of

King George V George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until his death in 1936. Born during the reign of his grandmother Que ...

in 1935 and the Coronation Medal of

King George VI George VI (Albert Frederick Arthur George; 14 December 1895 – 6 February 1952) was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 until his death in 1952. He was also the last Emperor of Ind ...

in 1937. In 1916, he had married Bessie Saddington, with whom he had two daughters.

References

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:North, Charles 1887 births 1979 deaths Alumni of Oriel College, Oxford Australian Anglicans Australian military personnel of World War I Australian people of English descent Australian people of Scottish descent Australian social crediters Burials at Karrakatta Cemetery Liberal Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Western Australia Mayors of places in Western Australia Members of the Middle Temple Members of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly Nationalist Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Western Australia People educated at Rugby School People educated at Hale School Politicians from Perth, Western Australia

Charles Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English language, English and French language, French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic, Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''*k ...

Royal Air Force personnel of World War I Speakers of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly Commonwealth Liberal Party politicians 20th-century Australian politicians Western Australian local councillors

Early life

Politics

See also

References