Henry Daglish (18 November 1866 – 16 August 1920) was an Australian politician who was the sixth
premier of Western Australia
The premier of Western Australia is the head of government of the state of Western Australia. The role of premier at a state level is similar to the role of the prime minister of Australia at a federal level. The premier leads the executive bra ...
and the first from the
Labor Party, serving from 10 August 1904 to 25 August 1905. Daglish was born in
Ballarat
Ballarat ( ) is a city in the Central Highlands (Victoria), Central Highlands of Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. At the 2021 Census, Ballarat had a population of 116,201, making it the third largest city in Victoria. Estimated resid ...
, Victoria, and studied at the
University of Melbourne
The University of Melbourne is a public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in Victoria. Its main campus is located in Parkville, an inner suburb nor ...
. In 1882, he worked as a mechanical engineer but soon switched to working in the Victorian public service. He first stood for election in 1896 but failed to win 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 ...
seat of
Melbourne South. He then moved to
Subiaco, Western Australia
Subiaco (known colloquially as Subi) is an inner-Western suburbs (Perth), western suburb of Perth, the capital of Western Australia. It is approximately west of Perth's central business district, in the City of Subiaco local government area. H ...
, where he found work as a chief clerk in the Western Australian Police Department. In 1900, Daglish was elected to the
Subiaco Municipal Council and in April the following year, he was elected to 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 sits in Parliament House in the Western Australian capital, Perth.
The Legisla ...
as the member for the newly created
seat of Subiaco, becoming one of six Labor members in 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 sits in Parliament House in the Western Australian capital, Perth.
The Legisla ...
. The party elected him as its
whip
A whip is a tool or weapon designed to strike humans or other animals to exert control through pain compliance or fear of pain. They can also be used without inflicting pain, for audiovisual cues, such as in equestrianism. They are generally e ...
, and he resigned from the Subiaco council on 1 May 1901. On 1 December 1902, Daglish was sworn in as
mayor of Subiaco, having been elected the previous month.
In the
1904 state election, Labor won 22 of the Legislative Assembly's 50 seats, making it the party with the most seats. On 8 July 1904, the Labor Party caucus elected Daglish as the party's leader, and on 10 August, he successfully moved a
motion of no confidence
A motion of no confidence, also variously called a vote of no confidence, no-confidence motion, motion of confidence, or vote of confidence, is a statement or vote about whether a person in a position of responsibility like in government or mana ...
in the government of
Walter James
Walter may refer to:
People
* Walter (name), both a surname and a given name
* Little Walter, American blues harmonica player Marion Walter Jacobs (1930–1968)
* Gunther (wrestler), Austrian professional wrestler and trainer Walter Hahn (born 1 ...
, who resigned as premier.
Governor
A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...
Frederick Bedford
Admiral Sir Frederick George Denham Bedford, (24 December 1838 – 30 January 1913) was a senior Royal Navy officer and Governor of Western Australia from 24 March 1903 to 22 April 1909.
Naval career
Bedford was born on 24 December 1838, and ...
then swore in Daglish as premier of Western Australia,
colonial treasurer
Colonial or The Colonial may refer to:
* Colonial, of, relating to, or characteristic of a colony or colony (biology)
Architecture
* American colonial architecture
* French Colonial
* Spanish Colonial architecture
Automobiles
* Colonial (1920 au ...
and
minister for education. His keynote speech on 23 August was poorly received; militant Labor supporters saw him as giving up on Labor policies. In parliament, Daglish struggled to achieve anything due to a hostile
Legislative Council; his one major success was the passing of a new Public Service Act. In June 1905, a cabinet reshuffle decreased Daglish's popularity within the Labor Party but he defeated a motion of no confidence at a caucus meeting later that month. Daglish resigned as premier on 22 August 1905 when his plan to buy the
Midland Railway Company for
£1.5 million () failed to pass through parliament.
Hector Rason
Sir Cornthwaite Hector William James Rason (18 June 1858 – 15 March 1927), better known as Hector Rason, was the seventh Premier of Western Australia.
Early life
Rason was born in Cleeve, Somerset, in England on 18 June 1858. He was the son ...
succeeded him as premier on 25 August.
On 27 September 1905, Daglish resigned as leader of the Labor Party. He then left the party and styled himself as an
Independent
Independent or Independents may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups
* Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s
* Independ ...
Labor politician. He was again elected Mayor of Subiaco on 5 June 1907 and served until 1908. From August 1907 to September 1910, Daglish held the position of Chairman of Committees, and from September 1910 to October 1911, he was the
minister for works in
Frank Wilson's Liberal government. At the
October 1911 state election, Daglish lost his seat in parliament to Labor candidate
Bartholomew James Stubbs and failed to regain the seat at the
1914 state election. Daglish died at his home in Subiaco on 16 August 1920.
Daglish railway station
Daglish railway station (officially Daglish Station) is a commuter railway station on the boundary of Daglish and Subiaco, suburbs of Perth, Western Australia. Opened on 14 July 1924, the station was named after Henry Daglish, who had been a ...
and the suburb of
Daglish, Western Australia
Daglish is a small western suburb of Perth, the capital of Western Australia. It is approximately west of the Perth central business district, and within the City of Subiaco local government area. It was named after Henry Daglish, who was the ...
, are named after him.
Early life
Henry Daglish was born in
Ballarat
Ballarat ( ) is a city in the Central Highlands (Victoria), Central Highlands of Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. At the 2021 Census, Ballarat had a population of 116,201, making it the third largest city in Victoria. Estimated resid ...
, Victoria, on 18 November 1866, to Mary Ann (
née
A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth re ...
James) and William Daglish, an engine driver. He was educated in
Geelong
Geelong ( ) (Wathawurrung: ''Djilang''/''Djalang'') is a port city in the southeastern Australian state of Victoria, located at the eastern end of Corio Bay (the smaller western portion of Port Phillip Bay) and the left bank of Barwon River, ...
and in 1881 he attended the
University of Melbourne
The University of Melbourne is a public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in Victoria. Its main campus is located in Parkville, an inner suburb nor ...
. He gained a mechanical engineering apprenticeship at a foundry in 1882
but a year later, he left engineering to join the public service as a clerk in the Victorian Police Department.
On 20 August 1894, in
Carlton, Victoria
Carlton is an inner-city suburb in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, 3 km north of Melbourne's Melbourne central business district, Central Business District, located within the City of Melbourne Local government areas of Vic ...
, Daglish married Edith May Bishop, with whom he had one son and one daughter.
With an increasing interest in the
labour movement
The labour movement or labor movement consists of two main wings: the trade union movement (British English) or labor union movement (American English) on the one hand, and the political labour movement on the other.
* The trade union movement ...
, by June 1895, Daglish was the secretary of the United Public Service Association. In September 1895, he went into business
as an auctioneer, accountant and legal manager.
In 1895 and 1896, Daglish was a member of the
National Anti-Sweating League
The National Anti-Sweating League is the name adopted by two groups of social reformers in Australia and Britain at the turn of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Both campaigned against the poor conditions endured by many workers in so-ca ...
, a group campaigning against the poor conditions endured by low-paid workers.
In 1896, Daglish stood in a by-election for the
seat of Melbourne South in 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 ...
, receiving 34 out of 2,192 total votes.
Later the same year, Daglish moved to Western Australia (WA) after taking an offer of
£200 () to resign from the recession-hit Victorian public service; he settled in the working-class suburb
Subiaco, west of
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 ...
, the state capital.
Daglish wrote a letter to
Premier John Forrest requesting work in the WA public service in 1897; he was offered and accepted a position as assistant to the chief clerk in the WA Police Department.
He later resigned and entered business as an auctioneer, accountant and legal manager.
Political career
In November 1899, Daglish unsuccessfully stood for election to the Central Ward of the
Subiaco Municipal Council. The following year, he was elected unopposed to the council's South Ward, his term starting on 1 December 1900.
Daglish resigned from the public service in 1901 to stand as a
Labor Party candidate in the newly created
seat of Subiaco in 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 sits in Parliament House in the Western Australian capital, Perth.
The Legisla ...
.
In the
1901 Western Australian state election on 24 April, Daglish was elected to that seat with the largest majority in the state, and became the
whip
A whip is a tool or weapon designed to strike humans or other animals to exert control through pain compliance or fear of pain. They can also be used without inflicting pain, for audiovisual cues, such as in equestrianism. They are generally e ...
of the Labor Party. The party had only seven members, all of whom, aside from Daglish, represented seats in the mining regions of
Murchison and the
Goldfields
Goldfield or Goldfields may refer to:
Places
* Goldfield, Arizona, the former name of Youngberg, Arizona, a populated place in the United States
* Goldfield, Colorado, a community in the United States
* Goldfield, Iowa, a city in the United State ...
. He tendered his resignation from the Subiaco Municipal Council on 1 May 1901.
One of Daglish's successes in his first term is the carrying of his motion in favour of an
eight-hour working day for the Railway Department.
He was also successful in stopping the spending of money to help public servants immigrate from England, instead spending the money on assisting Western Australian workers migrate their families from the eastern states. He also advocated for the
non-alienation of crown lands and the introduction of a comprehensive system of old age pensions.
In November 1902, Daglish was elected unopposed as
mayor of Subiaco. He was sworn in on 1 December 1902 by
Walter James
Walter may refer to:
People
* Walter (name), both a surname and a given name
* Little Walter, American blues harmonica player Marion Walter Jacobs (1930–1968)
* Gunther (wrestler), Austrian professional wrestler and trainer Walter Hahn (born 1 ...
, the premier of Western Australia. The premier had earlier made a speech heaping much praise on Daglish. He was again elected mayor unopposed the following year.
Daglish was appointed to the
Kings Park Board in his capacity as the member for Subiaco in October 1902. In January 1903, Daglish joined the Perth Hospital Board, which managed Perth Public Hospital (now known as
Royal Perth Hospital). On the board, he "earned a reputation for shouldering the real or fancied troubles of dissatisfied ex-patients".
He was also a member of the
Lake Monger
Lake Monger ( nys, Keiermulu) is a large urban wetland on the Swan Coastal Plain in suburban Perth, Western Australia nestled between the suburbs of Leederville, Wembley and Glendalough.
Located less than from the city of Perth and situated ...
Board and the
Karrakatta Cemetery
Karrakatta Cemetery is a metropolitan cemetery in the suburb of Karrakatta in Perth, Western Australia. Karrakatta Cemetery first opened for burials in 1899, the first being that of wheelwright Robert Creighton. Managed by the Metropolitan Ce ...
Board.
In February 1904, the Labor Party held a conference at which they decided on the issues of their campaigning and platforms they would take to the next election. The issues were:
* Referendum on abolishing the
Legislative Council
* A tax on unimproved land values and no further
alienation of crown lands
* Old age pensions
* Maximum working day of eight hours
* Local control and state management of the liquor trade
* Departmental construction of public works
* Nationalisation of monopolies and the establishment of a Department of Labour
* State banking and insurance
* Limitation on state borrowing except for the purpose of reproductive works
* The establishment of a
sinking fund
A sinking fund is a fund established by an economic entity by setting aside revenue over a period of time to fund a future capital expense, or repayment of a long-term debt.
In North America and elsewhere where it is common for public and priva ...
for the redemption of all future loans
In the general campaign were policies of electoral, taxation, land, industrial and mining reform.
Premier of Western Australia
The Labor Party supported all but two pieces of the government's legislation during the
fourth parliament. Despite this, they withdrew support for the
James Ministry in August 1903.
At the
July 1904 state election, Daglish was re-elected with 80% of Subiaco's vote. The Labor Party won 22 seats, James's
Ministerialist faction won 18 seats, and independents won 10 seats. The number of seats Labor won surprised most people, many of whom expected only a modest increase over the seven seats won in 1901. Two bills that passed in the previous session of parliament helped Labor; the ''Redistribution of Seats Act 1904'' created new electorates in areas where Labor did well, and the ''Electoral Act 1904'' abolished
plural voting
Plural voting is the practice whereby one person might be able to vote multiple times in an election. It is not to be confused with a plurality voting system which does not necessarily involve plural voting. Weighted voting is a generalisation of p ...
for property owners and made it easier for newcomers to Western Australia to qualify for the electoral roll.
Labor leader
Robert Hastie
Robert "Bob" Hastie (27 July 1861 – 9 April 1914) was an Australian politician who was the first parliamentary leader of the Labour Party in Western Australia. He was a member of the state's Legislative Assembly from 1901 to 1905.
Hastie wa ...
said James should not resign until parliament met, and so James continued as premier following the election.
On 8 July 1904, the Labor Party caucus elected Daglish as the party's leader. Labor leader Hastie was universally hated and the leadership ballot was initially going to be between Hastie, Daglish,
George Taylor,
Patrick Lynch,
Wallace Nelson
Wallace Alexander Nelson (29 April 1856 – 5 May 1943) was a short term Western Australian politician. He represented the electoral district of Hannans from 1904 to 1905 in the Western Australian Legislative Assembly. He was described as the ...
and
Henry Ellis Henry Ellis may refer to:
* Henry Augustus Ellis (1861–1939), Irish Australian physician and federalist
* Henry Ellis (diplomat) (1788–1855), British diplomat
* Henry Ellis (governor) (1721–1806), explorer, author, and second colonial Gover ...
. Hastie pulled out of the contest, and only Daglish and Taylor were left. Newspapers reported the vote was almost unanimously for Daglish. The party decided to sit in opposition and not try and seek government because the caucus had been divided on whether to align with independents sympathetic for the party's cause. When Daglish was elected Labor leader, the ''Sunday Figaro'', a newspaper in
Kalgoorlie
Kalgoorlie is a city in the Goldfields–Esperance region of Western Australia, located east-northeast of Perth at the end of the Great Eastern Highway. It is sometimes referred to as Kalgoorlie–Boulder, as the surrounding urban area includ ...
, said he was "certainly one of the best debaters in the Legislative Assembly. He is a quiet, deliberate speaker, given more to argument than declamation, bearing in this respect a likeness to
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