Sir Harry Sutherland Wightman Lawson
KCMG KCMG may refer to
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(5 March 1875 – 12 June 1952),
was an Australian politician who served as
Premier of Victoria
The premier of Victoria is the head of government in the Australian state of Victoria. The premier is appointed by the governor of Victoria, and is the leader of the political party able to secure a majority in the Victorian Legislative Assembly ...
from 1918 to 1924. He later entered federal politics, serving 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
Victoria
Victoria most commonly refers to:
* Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia
* Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada
* Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory
* Victoria, Seychelle ...
from 1929 to 1935, and was briefly a minister in the
Lyons Government. He was a member of the
Nationalist Party until 1931, when it was subsumed into the
United Australia Party
The United Australia Party (UAP) was an Australian political party that was founded in 1931 and dissolved in 1945. The party won four federal elections in that time, usually governing in coalition with the Country Party. It provided two prim ...
.
Early life
Lawson was born in
Dunolly, the son of a
Presbyterian
Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...
clergyman of
Scottish descent. He was educated at a local school and then, briefly, at
Scotch College in
Melbourne
Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...
. He was a noted
Australian rules football
Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an oval field, often a modified cricket ground. Points are scored by k ...
er, playing for
Castlemaine. He studied law with a Melbourne law firm and was called to the bar. He began a practice in Castlemaine, and was elected to the town council, serving as mayor in 1905. In 1901, he married Olive Horwood, with whom he had eight children.
State politics
In a by-election in December 1899, Lawson was elected to the
Victorian Legislative Assembly
The Victorian Legislative Assembly is the lower house of the bicameral Parliament of Victoria in Australia; the upper house being the Victorian Legislative Council. Both houses sit at Parliament House in Spring Street, Melbourne.
The presiding ...
for
Castlemaine 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 ...
,
[
] and represented the district, in its different incarnations, for 28 years.
[ In June 1904, he was elected to the new ]Electoral district of Castlemaine and Maldon
The Electoral district of Castlemaine and Maldon was an electoral district of the Victorian Legislative Assembly (Australia).
History
Castlemaine Boroughs was created in 1856 and abolished in 1859. It was replaced by Castlemaine in 1859 which ...
, holding the seat until a redistribution in 1927, when he was elected as member for Castlemaine and Kyneton.[ Lawson was President of the Board of Land and Works in the government of William Watt from 1913 to 1915, and ]Attorney-General
In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general or attorney-general (sometimes abbreviated AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. The plural is attorneys general.
In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have exec ...
and Solicitor-General in the government of Alexander Peacock
Sir Alexander James Peacock (11 June 1861 – 7 October 1933) was an Australian politician who served as the 20th Premier of Victoria.
Early Years
Peacock was born of Scottish descent at Creswick, the first Victorian Premier born afte ...
from 1915 to 1917. He remained loyal to Peacock when most country Liberal members supported John Bowser
Sir John Bowser (2 September 1856 – 10 June 1936),
Australian politician, was the 26th Premier of Victoria. He was born in London, the son of an army officer, and arrived in Melbourne as a child with his family. He grew up at Bacchus Mar ...
's rural faction, the Economy Party. When Bowser's short-lived government ended with his resignation in March 1918, Lawson succeeded him, also holding the portfolios of Attorney-General and Minister of Labour.[
Lawson became the longest-serving premier Victoria had seen, holding office for six continuous years, something none of his 26 predecessors had done. That was despite the further fragmentation of the non-]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 la ...
vote with the emergence of the Country Party. At the 1921 elections, Lawson's Nationalist Party won 30 seats, to Labor's 20 and the Country Party's 13. Both Labor and the Country Party preferred Lawson to each other, so Lawson was able to survive as a minority Premier. He was helped by Labor's continuing inability to win seats outside its strongholds in the industrial suburbs of Melbourne and a few provincial towns.[
The biggest test Lawson faced was the 1923 Victorian Police strike, which saw riots and looting in the streets of Melbourne. There was also increasingly bitter industrial strife in Melbourne as the prosperity of the pre-war years failed to return. There were major strikes on the waterfront and in the coal mining industry. Lawson gained a reputation as a tough conservative. He refused to give in to the demands of the police for better pay and conditions, running the risk of a breakdown in law and order, but once the strike was over he appointed a Royal Commission into police grievances, which gave them much of what they wanted.
In September 1923, Lawson formed Victoria's first conservative ]coalition
A coalition is a group formed when two or more people or groups temporarily work together to achieve a common goal. The term is most frequently used to denote a formation of power in political or economical spaces.
Formation
According to ''A Gui ...
, including five Country Party ministers. The coalition broke down in March 1924 when the Country Party made demands Lawson would not accept. The Country Party ministers resigned and united with Labor to bring Lawson down. After unsuccessfully contesting the Speakership, Lawson retired to the back bench, where he stayed until October 1928,[ when he quit state politics altogether.][
]
Federal politics
At the 1928 election, Lawson was elected 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 ...
as a Nationalist, taking his seat in July 1929. In October, the Scullin Labor government came to power and Lawson spent two years in opposition. In October 1933, he was appointed an Assistant Minister in the Lyons United Australia Party
The United Australia Party (UAP) was an Australian political party that was founded in 1931 and dissolved in 1945. The party won four federal elections in that time, usually governing in coalition with the Country Party. It provided two prim ...
government and, in 1934, he was made Minister in charge of Territories. In 1933, he was made a Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George
The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is a British order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George IV, George IV, Prince of Wales, while he was acting as prince regent for his father, George III, King George III.
...
. He retired at the 1934 election, his parliamentary term ending in June 1935.
Death and legacy
Lawson died in East Melbourne
East Melbourne is an inner-city suburb in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, east of Melbourne's Melbourne central business district, Central Business District, located within the City of Melbourne Local government areas of ...
,[ survived by seven of his eight children. His wife died in 1949 and his youngest son, who had joined the ]Royal Australian Air Force
"Through Adversity to the Stars"
, colours =
, colours_label =
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, mascot =
, anniversaries = RAAF Anniversary Commemoration ...
, was killed in 1941.[ His daughter, Helen Mary Keays, was appointed an OBE in 1972 for Women's Services. His last surviving child, Ina Constance Watson, died in Melbourne on 9 November 2012.
]
Notes
References
*Geoff Browne, ''A Biographical Register of the Victorian Parliament, 1900-84'', Government Printer, Melbourne, 1985
*Don Garden, ''Victoria: A History'', Thomas Nelson, Melbourne, 1984
*Robert S Lawson, ''Sir Harry Lawson - Premier and Senator'', Mullaya Publications, Melbourne, 1976
*Kathleen Thompson and Geoffrey Serle, ''A Biographical Register of the Victorian Parliament, 1856-1900'', Australian National University Press, Canberra, 1972
*Raymond Wright, ''A People's Counsel. A History of the Parliament of Victoria, 1856-1990'', Oxford University Press, Melbourne, 1992
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lawson, Harry
1875 births
1952 deaths
Australian Knights Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George
Australian politicians awarded knighthoods
Premiers of Victoria
Victoria (Australia) state politicians
Attorneys-General of Victoria
Solicitors-General of Victoria
Members of the Australian Senate
Members of the Australian Senate for Victoria
United Australia Party members of the Parliament of Australia
Nationalist Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Australia
Members of the Cabinet of Australia
People educated at Scotch College, Melbourne
Castlemaine Football Club players
Australian people of Scottish descent
Australian Freemasons
20th-century Australian politicians
Victorian Ministers for Agriculture