George James Lambert (6 April 1879 – 30 June 1941) was an Australian 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 1916 to 1930 and again from 1933 until his death. He worked as a

metallurgist Metallurgy is a domain of materials science and engineering that studies the physical and chemical behavior of metallic elements, their inter-metallic compounds, and their mixtures, which are known as alloys. Metallurgy encompasses both the sc ...

before entering politics.

Early life

Lambert was born in

Malmsbury, Victoria Malmsbury is a town in central Victoria, Australia on the Old Calder Highway (C794), 95 km north-west of the state capital, Melbourne and 11 km north-west of Kyneton. Situated close by the Coliban River, Malmsbury has a population ...

, to Sarah Ann (née Smith) and William Richard Lambert. He trained in

metallurgy Metallurgy is a domain of materials science and engineering that studies the physical and chemical behavior of metallic elements, their inter-metallic compounds, and their mixtures, which are known as alloys. Metallurgy encompasses both the sc ...

at the

school of mines A school of mines (or mining school) is an engineering school, often established in the 18th and 19th centuries, that originally focused on mining engineering and applied science. Most have been integrated within larger constructs such as mine ...

Kyneton Kyneton ( ) is a town in the Macedon Ranges region of Victoria, Australia. The Calder Freeway bypasses Kyneton to the north and east. Kyneton is on Dja Dja Wurrung, Taungurung and Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung country. The town has four main streets: ...

, and in 1896 moved to Western Australia, where he set up as a

metallurgical assay A metallurgical assay is a compositional analysis of an ore, metal, or alloy, usually performed in order to test for purity or quality. Some assay methods are suitable for raw materials; others are more appropriate for finished goods. Raw pre ...

er in

Boulder In geology, a boulder (or rarely bowlder) is a rock fragment with size greater than in diameter. Smaller pieces are called cobbles and pebbles. While a boulder may be small enough to move or roll manually, others are extremely massive. In c ...

.George James Lambert
– Biographical Register of Members of the Parliament of Western Australia. Retrieved 5 January 2017. Lambert eventually established a chemical supply company, and was also in partnership with

Frederick Teesdale Frederick William Teesdale (3 April 1864 – 14 December 1931) was an Australian politician who was a Nationalist Party member of the Legislative Assembly of Western Australia from 1917 until his death, representing the seat of Roebourne. Te ...

for a time in a

plaster Plaster is a building material used for the protective or decorative coating of walls and ceilings and for Molding (decorative), moulding and casting decorative elements. In English, "plaster" usually means a material used for the interiors of ...

company. He served for periods on the

and Kalgoorlie Municipal Councils, and was also a president of the

Goldfields Football League The Goldfields Football League is an Australian rules football league based in the Goldfields region of Western Australia. Founded in 1896 as Hannans District Football Association, the league enjoyed a seat and full voting rights on the Austra ...

Politics and later life

Lambert entered parliament at the 1916 Coolgardie by-election, caused by the death of Charles McDowall. He retained Coolgardie with comfortable majorities until it was abolished in a redistribution prior to the 1930 state election. Most of the seat was incorporated into the new seat of Yilgarn-Coolgardie, along with the majority of the seat of Yilgarn. Because both Coolgardie and Yilgarn were Labor safe seats, the party decided to forgo a

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 ...

contest for the new seat and instead endorse multiple candidates. At the election,

Edwin Corboy Edwin Wilkie "Ted" Corboy (24 August 1896 – 6 August 1950) was an Australian politician. From 1918 to 2010, he held the record as the youngest ever Australian Member of Parliament#Australia, Member of Parliament. Early life Born in Victoria, ...

, the member for Yilgarn, outpolled Lambert by just four votes. Lambert subsequently lodged a petition alleging voting irregularities, but the Court of Disputed Returns ruled in Corboy's favour. After leaving parliament, Lambert worked for three years as the personal secretary of

Philip Collier Philip Collier (21 April 1873 – 18 October 1948) was an Australian politician who served as the 14th Premier of Western Australia from 1924 to 1930 and from 1933 to 1936. He was leader of the Labor Party from 1917 to 1936, and is Western Au ...

, the premier. He recontested Labor preselection in Yilgarn-Coolgardie prior to the 1933 state election, and defeated Corboy with a large majority."YILGARN-COOLGARDIE SELECTION BALLOT"
''Westralian Worker'', 29 July 1932. Lambert recorded an easy victory at the general election. However, his majority was narrowed to 178 votes at the 1936 election, and at the 1939 election he had to rely on preferences for the first time in his career. Lambert died in Perth in July 1941, aged 62, after a brief illness. He had married Elizabeth Everett Fleming in 1920, with whom he had two children.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lambert, George 1879 births 1941 deaths Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Western Australia Australian metallurgists Australian rules football administrators Goldfields Football League Members of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly People from Victoria (state) Western Australian local councillors

Early life

Politics and later life

See also

References