George Thomas Simpson (7 June 1856 – 7 August 1906) was an Australian businessman and politician who served in 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 1891 to 1899, representing the seat of Geraldton.

Early life

Simpson was born in

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

to Maria (née Hawthorne) and James Simpson. He initially attended

Sydney Grammar School (Praise be to God) , established = , type = Independent, day school , gender = Boys , religious_affiliation = None , slogan = , headmaster = R. B. Malpass , founder = Laurence Hynes Halloran , chairman = ...

, but his family later moved to

Dunedin Dunedin ( ; mi, Ōtepoti) is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from , the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. Th ...

, New Zealand, where he went to Dunedin High School. Simpson trained as a lawyer but did not complete his training, instead entering commercial life. He moved to Gisborne in 1878, and then returned to Australia in 1883, working as a stockbroker in

Broken Hill, New South Wales Broken Hill is an inland mining city in the far west of outback New South Wales, Australia. It is near the border with South Australia on the crossing of the Barrier Highway (A32) and the Silver City Highway (B79), in the Barrier Range. It is ...

. He came to Western Australia in 1888, and became the first secretary of the Perth Stock Exchange.George Thomas Simpson
– Biographical Register of Members of the Parliament of Western Australia. Retrieved 8 June 2016.

Politics and later life

Simpson was elected to parliament unopposed at an 1891 by-election for the seat of Geraldton, which had been prompted by the resignation of Edward Keane. After being re-elected at the 1894 and 1897 elections, he was declared bankrupt in 1899, and forced to resign his seat. He was unable to reclaim it at the resulting by-election, losing to Richard Robson. From the mid-1890s, Simpson suffered from

locomotor ataxia Locomotor ataxia is the inability to precisely control one's own bodily movements. __TOC__ Disease People afflicted with this disease may walk in a jerky, non-fluid manner. They will not know where their arms and legs are without looking (i.e. a f ...

. He was confined to hospital in late 1899, and eventually moved to a nursing home in Subiaco, where he died in 1906 (aged only 50)."GENERAL NEWS."
''Eastern Districts Chronicle'' (

York, Western Australia York is the oldest inland town in Western Australia, situated on the Avon River, east of Perth in the Wheatbelt, on Ballardong Nyoongar land,King, A and Parker, E: York, Western Australia's first inland town, Parker Print, 2003 p.3. and is ...

), 11 August 1906.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Simpson, George 1856 births 1906 deaths Australian expatriates in New Zealand Australian stockbrokers Members of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly People educated at Otago Boys' High School People educated at Sydney Grammar School Politicians from Sydney 19th-century Australian politicians 19th-century Australian businesspeople

Early life

Politics and later life

See also

References