Hugh Menzies (4 September 1857 – 13 February 1925) was an Australian politician representing the

electoral district of Stawell Stawell was an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial ca ...

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 presidin ...

between 1902 and 1904 as a Ministerialist member. He served as Mayor of the

Shire of Stawell The Shire of Stawell was a local government area about west-northwest of Melbourne, the state capital of Victoria, Australia. The shire covered an area of , and existed from 1861 until 1995. Stawell itself was managed by a separate entity; ...

from 1895 to 1896. He was the older brother of James Menzies and uncle of

Sir Robert Menzies ''Sir'' is a formal honorific address in English for men, derived from Sire in the High Middle Ages. Both are derived from the old French "Sieur" (Lord), brought to England by the French-speaking Normans, and which now exist in French only as ...

, the 12th and longest serving Prime Minister of Australia.

Biography

Menzies was born in Ballarat, Victoria to emigrant parents Robert and Elizabeth of

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

. Before entering state politics, Menzies was a

publican In antiquity, publicans ( Greek τελώνης ''telōnēs'' (singular); Latin ''publicanus'' (singular); ''publicani'' (plural)) were public contractors, in whose official capacity they often supplied the Roman legions and military, managed th ...

and a bank manager, and a long-serving Councillor for the

. He won the state seat of Stawell as a Ministerialist candidate which was subsequently abolished and replaced with the combined

electoral district of Stawell and Ararat The Electoral district of Stawell and Ararat was an electoral district of the Victorian Legislative Assembly. It was created from the Electoral district of Stawell and Electoral district of Ararat which were abolished in 1904. Members Elect ...

. He contested the redistributed seat in both 1904 and 1908, and both times lost to

Richard Toutcher Richard Frederick Toutcher (27 May 1861 – 6 September 1941) was an Australian politician. He was born in Maryborough to Charles and Ellen Toutcher and attended the local grammar school. He became a civil servant in the Postal Department, ...

, the incumbent member for Ararat. Menzies married Eleanor Lodge in 1885. He died on 13 February 1925, and was interred at

Brighton Cemetery Brighton General Cemetery is located in the Melbourne suburb of Caulfield South, Victoria, but takes its name from Brighton, Victoria. History The Cemetery pre-dates the Caulfield Roads Board - the first official recognition of the suburb of Ca ...

References

Victoria (Australia) state politicians Australian people of Scottish descent People from Ballarat 1857 births 1925 deaths 20th-century Australian politicians Members of the Victorian Legislative Assembly Mayors of places in Victoria (Australia) Australian bankers {{Australia-mayor-stub