![Grave_of_David_Watkins,_Sandgate_Cemetery](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f3/Grave_of_David_Watkins%2C_Sandgate_Cemetery.jpg)
David Watkins (5 May 1865 – 8 April 1935) was an Australian politician. He was an
Australian Labor Party
The Australian Labor Party (ALP), also simply known as Labor, is the major centre-left political party in Australia, one of two major parties in Australian politics, along with the centre-right Liberal Party of Australia. The party forms t ...
member of the
New South Wales Legislative Assembly
The New South Wales Legislative Assembly is the lower of the two houses of the Parliament of New South Wales, an Australian state. The upper house is the New South Wales Legislative Council. Both the Assembly and Council sit at Parliament Ho ...
for
Wallsend
Wallsend is a town in North Tyneside, England, at the eastern end of Hadrian's Wall. It has a population of 43,842 and lies east of Newcastle upon Tyne.
History Roman Wallsend
In Roman times, this was the site of the fort of Segedunum. This f ...
from 1894 until 1901. At
Federation
A federation (also known as a federal state) is a political entity characterized by a union of partially self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a central federal government (federalism). In a federation, the self-governin ...
, he was elected to the new
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 o ...
as the Labor member for
Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to:
*Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England
*Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England
*Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area in Australia, named after Newcastle ...
and served until his death in 1935. Watkins' death left former
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 i ...
Billy Hughes as the only remaining member of the First Parliament still in the House.
Early life and career
Watkins was born in
Wallsend
Wallsend is a town in North Tyneside, England, at the eastern end of Hadrian's Wall. It has a population of 43,842 and lies east of Newcastle upon Tyne.
History Roman Wallsend
In Roman times, this was the site of the fort of Segedunum. This f ...
,
New South Wales
)
, nickname =
, image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates:
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Australia
, established_title = Before federation
, es ...
, the third son of
Welsh
Welsh may refer to:
Related to Wales
* Welsh, referring or related to Wales
* Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales
* Welsh people
People
* Welsh (surname)
* Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peop ...
immigrants John Watkins, a miner, and his wife Mary Ann, née Hopkins. He was educated at Wallsend Public School, but left school at thirteen. He worked in the Wallsend office of the ''
Newcastle Morning Herald'' for two years, then worked for W. J. Johnson getting timber for the Wallsend Colliery. He went to work for the Wallsend Colliery directly in 1882, first as a water baler and wheeler, and then from 1884 as a miner. He was secretary of the Wallsend Lodge of the Miners' Union in from 1891 until his election to state parliament. As Wallsend secretary, Watkins, along with the union's general secretary, conducted and won an influential case about pay rates for certain types of coal seams (known as the "jerry case") that resulted in Wallsend workers receiving three years' backpay. Watkins was a member of the committee of management of the Wallsend Mining District Hospital and was heavily involved with the Wallsend and Plattsburg Musical and Literary Society and Wallsend Choral Society.
Colonial politics
He was elected to the Legislative Assembly for the Labor Party at the
1894 election as one of the first pledged Labor MPs, winning the new seat of
Wallsend
Wallsend is a town in North Tyneside, England, at the eastern end of Hadrian's Wall. It has a population of 43,842 and lies east of Newcastle upon Tyne.
History Roman Wallsend
In Roman times, this was the site of the fort of Segedunum. This f ...
by defeating incumbent Protectionist MP for
Northumberland
Northumberland () is a county in Northern England, one of two counties in England which border with Scotland. Notable landmarks in the county include Alnwick Castle, Bamburgh Castle, Hadrian's Wall and Hexham Abbey.
It is bordered by land on ...
Thomas Walker.
In his first term, Watkins was part of a 14-member Labor crossbench caucus that agreed to support the government of
George Reid
Sir George Houston Reid, (25 February 1845 – 12 September 1918) was an Australian politician who led the Reid Government as the fourth Prime Minister of Australia from 1904 to 1905, having previously been Premier of New South Wales fr ...
in exchange for the passage of the landmark ''Coal Mines Regulation Act 1896'' to reform working conditions for coal miners, alongside an unsuccessful push to change land tax legislation; he also gave evidence to a Royal Commission into the coal mining bill prior to its passage. Later, in 1899, after a dispute about tariffs and the introduction of an old-age pension, the protectionist Watkins played a critical role in convincing Labor to bring down the Reid government and install
William Lyne
Sir William John Lyne KCMG (6 April 1844 – 3 August 1913) was an Australian politician who served as Premier of New South Wales from 1899 to 1901, and later as a federal cabinet minister under Edmund Barton and Alfred Deakin. He is best kno ...
as Premier. In 1900, while a serving state MP, he was elected president of the Australian Labour Federation, in which capacity he was involved in settling several industrial disputes.
Federal politics
At the inaugural
1901 federal election following
Federation
A federation (also known as a federal state) is a political entity characterized by a union of partially self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a central federal government (federalism). In a federation, the self-governin ...
, Watkins switched to federal politics, winning 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 o ...
seat of
Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to:
*Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England
*Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England
*Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area in Australia, named after Newcastle ...
for Labor and easily defeating
Free Trade Party candidate
Owen Gilbert.
In 1902–04, Watkins was a member of the Royal Commission on the Bonuses for Manufactures Bill, which investigated the practicality of beginning iron works in Australia and possible industry incentives. In 1910, he was chairman of a parliamentary that visited the
Territory of Papua
The Territory of Papua comprised the southeastern quarter of the island of New Guinea from 1883 to 1975. In 1883, the Government of Queensland annexed this territory for the British Empire. The United Kingdom Government refused to ratify the a ...
to investigate issues around cheap imported labour and recommended that imported labour in Papua cease and local Papuan workers be employed instead. In 1916, he was chairman of the Australian section of the Empire War Delegation that visited England along with representatives of other Commonwealth dominions, and toured the
Western Front. Watkins was never appointed to ministerial office, but was party whip in both government and opposition from 1909 to 1914 and secretary of the parliamentary party from 1908 to 1916. He was temporary chairman of committees from 1920 to 1928.
Watkins sided with
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 i ...
James Scullin
James Henry Scullin (18 September 1876 – 28 January 1953) was an Australian Labor Party politician and the ninth Prime Minister of Australia. Scullin led Labor to government at the 1929 Australian federal election. He was the first Cathol ...
in the
1931 Labor split which saw the New South Wales branch expelled from the federal party and most of the New South Wales MPs sit separately in federal parliament as the
Australian Labor Party (NSW)
Lang Labor was a faction of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) consisting of the supporters of Jack Lang, who served two terms as Premier of New South Wales and was the party's state leader from 1923 to 1939.
Following the expulsion of the N ...
(
Lang Labor
Lang Labor was a faction of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) consisting of the supporters of Jack Lang, who served two terms as Premier of New South Wales and was the party's state leader from 1923 to 1939.
Following the expulsion of the N ...
); he remained in the federal Labor caucus and was expelled from the state branch as a result. He was bitterly opposed by Lang Labor candidates at his last two elections in 1931 and 1934 as a consequence of the split.
Watkins died of
cancer
Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...
at the Newcastle Mater Misericordiae Hospital on 8 April 1935 while still a sitting MP, aged 69. He was granted a
state funeral
A state funeral is a public funeral ceremony, observing the strict rules of Etiquette, protocol, held to honour people of national significance. State funerals usually include much pomp and ceremony as well as religious overtones and distinctive ...
and was buried at
Sandgate Cemetery
Sandgate Cemetery is a necropolis in the Hunter region near Newcastle, New South Wales, Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia, and has been continuously operating since 1881. The cemetery caters for all religious, ethnic and cultural requirement ...
. He had been an MP for over forty years of continuous service which he remained undefeated. He left an estate of £2,211. His second son,
David Oliver Watkins, stood for his seat in parliament at the
resulting by-election, which he won on a reduced margin and held for 23 years.
He married Marion Alice (née Arthur) with
Wesleyan
Wesleyan theology, otherwise known as Wesleyan– Arminian theology, or Methodist theology, is a theological tradition in Protestant Christianity based upon the ministry of the 18th-century evangelical reformer brothers John Wesley and Charle ...
forms on 30 July 1890. She predeceased him in 1933. They had three daughters and five sons.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Watkins, David
1865 births
1935 deaths
Members of the Australian House of Representatives
Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Newcastle
Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly
Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Australia
20th-century Australian politicians
Australian people of Welsh descent