Francis Edward Sykes Willmott
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Francis Edward Sykes Willmott (1870 – 29 January 1941) was an Australian politician who was a member of both houses of the
Parliament of Western Australia The Parliament of Western Australia is the bicameral legislature of the Australian state of Western Australia, forming the legislative branch of the Government of Western Australia. The parliament consists of a lower house, the Legislative Ass ...
, serving in the Legislative Assembly from 1914 to 1921, and then in the Legislative Council from 1921 to 1926. He was the leader of the Country Party from 1915 to 1919.


Early life

Willmott was born in
Kirkley Kirkley is a district within the town of Lowestoft in the East Suffolk (district), East Suffolk district of the English county of Suffolk. It is located south of the centre of Lowestoft and the town's harbour and Lake Lothing. Kirkley was origin ...
,
Suffolk Suffolk () is a ceremonial county of England in East Anglia. It borders Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south; the North Sea lies to the east. The county town is Ipswich; other important towns include Lowes ...
, England, where his father, Henry Willmott, was the
rector Rector (Latin for the member of a vessel's crew who steers) may refer to: Style or title *Rector (ecclesiastical), a cleric who functions as an administrative leader in some Christian denominations *Rector (academia), a senior official in an edu ...
. He was educated at
St John's College, Hurstpierpoint (''Blessed are the pure in heart'') , established = , closed = , type = Public SchoolIndependent School , religious_affiliation = Church of England , president = , head_label = Headmaster , head = Dominic Mo ...
, and was a prefect in his final year. Willmott came to Western Australia in 1886, and initially worked on Edward Brockman's property in the
South West The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each sepa ...
. He later married Brockman's daughter, Frances Edith, and his brother-in-law,
Edmund Vernon Brockman Edmund Vernon Brockman (28 April 1882 – 4 January 1938) was an Australian politician who was a Nationalist Party member of the Legislative Assembly of Western Australia from 1933 until his death, representing the seat of Sussex. Brockman w ...
, was also a member of parliament. In 1896, Willmott went to Coolgardie to work on the
Goldfields Water Supply Scheme The Goldfields Water Supply Scheme is a pipeline and dam project that delivers potable water from Mundaring Weir in Perth to communities in Western Australia's Eastern Goldfields, particularly Coolgardie and Kalgoorlie. The project was commi ...
, supervising the tanks at
Niagara Niagara may refer to: Geography Niagara Falls and nearby places In both the United States and Canada *Niagara Falls, the famous waterfalls in the Niagara River *Niagara River, part of the U.S.–Canada border *Niagara Escarpment, the cliff ov ...
and
Mulline Mulline is an abandoned town located in the Goldfields-Esperance region in Western Australia. It is found between Kalgoorlie and Leonora in the Shire of Menzies. Gold was discovered in the area in the 1890s and following a gold rush to the ...
. He later supervised the construction of a road between Widgiemooltha and Esperance. Willmott eventually returned to the South West, and from 1902 to 1914 worked as a ranger for the Forests Department. He had a property near
Bridgetown Bridgetown (UN/LOCODE: BB BGI) is the capital and largest city of Barbados Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the Caribbean region of the Americas, and the most easterly of the Caribbean Island ...
, where he had a dairy farm and fruit orchards.Francis Edward Sykes Willmott
– Biographical Register of Members of the Parliament of Western Australia. Retrieved 21 May 2016.


Politics

At the 1914 state election, Willmott stood for the newly formed Country Party, defeating the sitting member for the seat of Nelson,
Charles Layman Charles Henry Layman (4 June 1865 – 23 March 1926) was an Australian politician who was a member of the Legislative Assembly of Western Australia from 1904 to 1914, representing the seat of Nelson. Layman was born in Wonnerup (a rural loca ...
. After the election, he was elected deputy leader of the party, with James Gardiner chosen as leader. Gardiner resigned from the position in March 1915, with Willmott elected in his place (and
Alfred Piesse Alfred Napoleon Piesse (17 July 1866 – 15 June 1939) was an Australian politician who served as a member of the Legislative Assembly of Western Australia from 1911 to 1924, representing the seat of Toodyay. He joined the Country Party upon ...
as his deputy). In July 1916, the Country Party combined with 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 ...
(led by Frank Wilson) to bring down the
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 ...
government of
John Scaddan John Scaddan, CMG (4 August 1876 – 21 November 1934), popularly known as "Happy Jack", was Premier of Western Australia from 7 October 1911 until 27 July 1916. Early life John Scaddan was born in Moonta, South Australia, into a Cornish A ...
. Wilson served as
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 ...
until June 1917, when he was replaced by
Henry Lefroy Sir Henry Bruce Lefroy (24 March 1854 – 19 March 1930) was the eleventh Premier of Western Australia. Biography Lefroy was born in Perth, Western Australia on 24 March 1854. His father was Anthony O'Grady Lefroy, Colonial Treasurer of Weste ...
(and the Liberal Party concurrently changed its name to the Nationalist Party). Willmott was appointed a
minister without portfolio A minister without portfolio is either a government minister with no specific responsibilities or a minister who does not head a particular ministry. The sinecure is particularly common in countries ruled by coalition governments and a cabinet w ...
in the new ministry, and retained the position until his defeat at the 1921 state election, serving under two more Nationalist premiers (
Hal Colebatch Sir Harry Pateshall Colebatch (29 March 1872 – 12 February 1953) was a long-serving and occasionally controversial figure in Western Australian politics. He was a member of the Western Australian Legislative Council for nearly 20 years, the ...
and James Mitchell). He had resigned as Country Party leader in July 1919, and was replaced by Tom Harrison. Willmott's time out of parliament was short-lived, as within two months he won a Legislative Council by-election for South-West Province, necessitated by the death of
Ephraim Clarke Ephraim Mayo Clarke (21 August 1846 – 15 April 1921) was an Australian politician who was a member of the Legislative Council of Western Australia from 1901 until his death, representing South-West Province. He was a minister in the second g ...
. Clarke had been elected to a six-year term in 1920, and Willmott consequently did not face re-election for another five years. At the 1926 election, he finished third behind Nationalist and Labor candidates with 29.2 percent of the vote, with the Nationalist Party's William Mann winning."LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ELECTIONS."
– ''The Bunbury Herald and Blackwood Express'', 18 May 1926.
After leaving parliament, Willmott returned to his Bridgetown farm, eventually retiring to
Busselton Busselton is a city in the South West region of the state of Western Australia approximately south-west of Perth. Busselton has a long history as a popular holiday destination for Western Australians; however, the closure of the Busselton ...
in 1938. He died 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 ...
in 1941, aged 70, after a period of ill health. Willmott's son,
Francis Drake Willmott Francis Drake Willmott (23 January 1904 – 4 August 2004) was an Australian politician who was a Liberal Party member of the Legislative Council of Western Australia from 1955 to 1974. He is the only member of the Parliament of Western Austral ...
, and nephew,
William Willmott William Henry Francis Willmott (16 May 1895 – 2 May 1947) was an Australian politician who was a member of the Legislative Assembly of Western Australia from 1938 until his death, representing the seat of Sussex. Willmott was born in Bussel ...
, were also members of parliament.


See also

*
Members of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly Following are lists of members of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly The Western Australian Legislative Assembly, or lower house, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of Western Australia, an Australian state. The Parliament s ...
*
Members of the Western Australian Legislative Council Following are lists of members of the Western Australian Legislative Council The Western Australian Legislative Council is the upper house of the Parliament of Western Australia, a state of Australia. It is regarded as a house of review for le ...


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Willmott, Francis 1870 births 1941 deaths Australian farmers English emigrants to colonial Australia Members of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly Members of the Western Australian Legislative Council National Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Western Australia People educated at Hurstpierpoint College People from Lowestoft