George Philip Barber (26 March 1863 – 7 November 1938) was a member of the Queensland Legislative Assembly. To the people of

Bundaberg Bundaberg is a city in the Bundaberg Region, Queensland, Australia, and is the tenth largest city in the state. Bundaberg's regional area has a population of 70,921, and is a major centre of the Wide Bay–Burnett geographical region. The Bun ...

, he was known as "Honest George".

Biography

Barber was born in Oulton Broad, a suburb of

Lowestoft Lowestoft ( ) is a coastal town and civil parish in the East Suffolk district of Suffolk, England.OS Explorer Map OL40: The Broads: (1:25 000) : . As the most easterly UK settlement, it is north-east of London, north-east of Ipswich and sou ...

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 ...

, the son of George Barber Snr and his wife Susan (née Gall). He was educated in the local parish and board schools and by 1875 was working as a seaman in the Dogger Bank fishing fleet before engaging in missionary work in India. After arriving in Queensland Barber took up banana farming and was a handyman at the local meatworks and labourer at a sawmill. He was also a Petty Officer in the Royal Australian Naval Reserve for the duration of World War I. In 1891Family History Search
— Victorian Government births, deaths, marriages, and divorces. Retrieved 8 May 2016. Barber married Mary Nichols (died 1939)Family History Search
— New South Wales Government births, deaths, marriages, and divorces. Retrieved 8 May 2016. in Melbourne and together had two sons and two daughters. He died in Brisbane in November 1938 and was cremated at

Mt Thompson Crematorium Mount Thompson Memorial Gardens and Crematorium (formerly Brisbane Crematorium) includes a heritage-listed chapel (the West Chapel), columbaria and other features. It is located on north-western slopes of Mount Thompson in Brisbane, Australia. ...

.George Philip Barber ( - 1938)
— Heaven Address. Retrieved 8 May 2016.

Public career

Following the resignation of

Thomas Glassey Thomas Glassey (26 February 1844 – 28 September 1936) was an Irish-born Australian politician. Born in Markethill, County Armagh, he received no formal education, working as a mill-worker and miner in Scotland and England. He migrated ...

to join the Australian Senate,Glassey, Thomas
— Queensland Parliament. Retrieved 8 May 2016. Barber, a member of the Labour Party, won the resulting by-election in 1901 for the seat of

in the Queensland Legislative Assembly. He defeated Michael Duffy, who had represented the seat from 1893 to 1896.Duffy, Michael
— Queensland Parliament. Retrieved 8 May 2016. Barber went on to represent the seat for 34 years, retiring at the 1935 state election. By the time of his retirement he was the

Father of the House Father of the House is a title that has been traditionally bestowed, unofficially, on certain members of some legislatures, most notably the House of Commons in the United Kingdom. In some legislatures the title refers to the longest continuously- ...

. For a period during his parliamentary career, Barber was Secretary of the Queensland Parliamentary Labor Party.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Barber, George Philip Members of the Queensland Legislative Assembly 1863 births 1938 deaths Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Queensland