Edward Charles Vardon (10 November 1866 – 23 February 1937) was an Australian businessman and politician. He served briefly as a

Senator 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 ...

for

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 ...

(1921–1922) and was a member of 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 ...

(1918–1921, 1924–1930) before and after his service in federal parliament.

Early life

Vardon was born on 10 November 1866 in

Hindmarsh, South Australia Hindmarsh is an inner Suburbs and localities (Australia), suburb of Adelaide, South Australia. It is located in the City of Charles Sturt. The suburb is located between South Road, Adelaide, South Road to the west and North Adelaide. The Rive ...

. He was one of five children born to Mary Ann (née Pickering) and

Joseph Vardon Joseph Vardon (27 July 1843 – 20 July 1913) was an Australian politician. Born in Adelaide, he received a primary education before becoming a farm worker and apprentice printer, running his own printing business by 1871. He sat on Hindmar ...

, a printer. He was educated at

North Adelaide Grammar School North Adelaide Grammar School, later Whinham College was a private school operated in North Adelaide, South Australia by John Whinham (3 August 1803 – 13 March 1886) and his family. History John Whinham The founder of the school was born at Sh ...

, leaving to work in his father's business and eventually becoming a director of Vardon and Sons. His father was active in public affairs and held elective office at all three levels of government. Outside of the family business, Vardon also served as chairman of Mile End Cold Stores, the Adelaide Fruit and Produce Exchange Company, and the East End Markets on

East Terrace __NOTOC__ East Terrace marks the eastern edge of the Adelaide city centre. It is one of the main north–south thoroughfares through the east side of the city. Although the terrace essentially runs north–south between North Terrace and South ...

. He was president of the

South Australian Chamber of Manufactures The South Australian Chamber of Manufactures was founded in 1868 to promote manufacturing industries in the Colony and State of South Australia. Strongly Protectionist, it lobbied on such subjects as unionized labour, Federation, rail standardizatio ...

from 1910 to 1912.

State politics

Vardon was elected to the

at the 1918 state election, standing as a

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

on a joint ticket with two

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 ...

. He stood on a platform which included opposition to tax increases, reducing the number of state MPs, introducing

proportional representation Proportional representation (PR) refers to a type of electoral system under which subgroups of an electorate are reflected proportionately in the elected body. The concept applies mainly to geographical (e.g. states, regions) and political divis ...

, greater education spending, and the introduction of scripture classes in state schools. In parliament, Vardon's areas of interest included "federal and state taxation systems, industrial law and the minutiae of government expenditure". In 1918, several months after his election, he successfully introduced an amendment to the government's marriage legislation. His amendment provided for gender equality in

at-fault divorce Divorce (also known as dissolution of marriage) is the process of terminating a marriage or marital union. Divorce usually entails the canceling or reorganizing of the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage, thus dissolving the ...

, allowing women to file for divorce on the grounds of

adultery Adultery (from Latin ''adulterium'') is extramarital sex that is considered objectionable on social, religious, moral, or legal grounds. Although the sexual activities that constitute adultery vary, as well as the social, religious, and legal ...

where previously only men had been able to do so.

Federal politics

On 18 February 1921, Vardon was appointed 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 ...

to fill a

casual vacancy In politics, a casual vacancy (''casual'' in the sense of "by chance") is a situation in which a seat in a deliberative assembly becomes vacant during that assembly's term. Casual vacancies may arise through the death, resignation or disqualifi ...

caused by the death of

Robert Guthrie Robert Guthrie, MD, Ph.D. (June 28, 1916 – June 24, 1995) was an American microbiologist, best known for developing the bacterial inhibition assay used to screen infants for phenylketonuria at birth, before the development of irreversible n ...

. His term expired on 4 August due to the

Parliament of South Australia The Parliament of South Australia is the bicameral legislature of the Australian state of South Australia. It consists of the 47-seat House of Assembly ( lower house) and the 22-seat Legislative Council (upper house). General elections are ...

's failure to confirm his appointment, but this was rectified five days later. He had earlier been selected by the Liberal Union for its Senate ticket prior to the 1917 federal election, but withdrew in favour of

James Rowell Colonel James Rowell (20 January 1851 – 6 July 1940) was an English-born Australian politician, soldier and horticulturalist. Born in Cambridge, he migrated to Australia as a child and was educated in state schools. He served in the military ...

. According to his biographer Ann Millar, Vardon's speeches in the Senate put forward "the considered views of a thoughtful backbencher committed to government accountability, even when the government was controlled by his own party". He and his father are one of only two father-son pairs to both serve as senators, along with

James James is a common English language surname and given name: *James (name), the typically masculine first name James * James (surname), various people with the last name James James or James City may also refer to: People * King James (disambiguat ...

and

Allan Guy James Allan Guy, CBE (30 November 1890 – 16 December 1979) was an Australian politician who represented the Australian Labor Party in both the Tasmanian House of Assembly and the Federal House of Representatives, before leaving to represe ...

. Vardon continued his support of proportional representation and also supported parliamentary representation for the Northern Territory. He was an economic

protectionist Protectionism, sometimes referred to as trade protectionism, is the economic policy of restricting imports from other countries through methods such as tariffs on imported goods, import quotas, and a variety of other government regulations. ...

and supported reduced government spending, seeking to reduce the size of the

Commonwealth Public Service The Australian Public Service (APS) is the federal civil service of the Commonwealth of Australia responsible for the public administration, public policy, and public services of the departments and executive and statutory agencies of the G ...

and describing the construction of

Canberra Canberra ( ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The ci ...

as "unnecessary". In April 1922, Vardon was selected as one of the Liberal Union's three Senate candidates for the next federal election, along with James Rowell and Alexander McLachlan. Unlike at the previous two elections, the Liberal Union and National Party were unable to come to an arrangement for a joint ticket, with the former standing as " true blue" Liberals opposed to Prime Minister

Billy Hughes William Morris Hughes (25 September 1862 – 28 October 1952) was an Australian politician who served as the seventh prime minister of Australia, in office from 1915 to 1923. He is best known for leading the country during World War I, but ...

. He and the rest of the ticket were defeated.

Return to state politics and later life

In 1923, Vardon was appointed to the Apprenctices' Advisory Board as the representative of the Chamber of Manufactures. He was re-elected to the House of Assembly at the 1924 state election, winning his old seat of Sturt for the

Liberal Federation The Liberal Federation was a South Australian political party from 16 October 1923 to 1932. It came into existence as a merger between the rival Liberal Union and National Party, to oppose Labor. Encouraged by the overwhelming success of the E ...

. Vardon was defeated at the 1930 election, but in 1932 attempted to gain

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 Sturt for the new

Liberal and Country League Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and ...

Personal life

Vardon married Ellen Peel in 1888, with whom he had a son and a daughter. His wife's sister married David Gordon. He was widowed in 1927 and was also predeceased by his son. He died at his home in

Unley Park Unley Park is a southern suburb of Adelaide in the City of Unley. Its postcode is 5061. It is located on the north side of Cross Road, Adelaide, Cross Road and east of the Belair railway line. Access via public transport is from the Unley Park ...

on 23 February 1937, aged 70, having been ill since August 1936 and suffered bouts of ill health since 1928.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vardon, Edward Nationalist Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Australia Members of the Australian Senate for South Australia Members of the Australian Senate Members of the South Australian House of Assembly 1866 births 1937 deaths Liberal Party (1922) members of the Parliament of Australia 20th-century Australian politicians