Harry Albert Craven Griffiths (sometimes Craven-Griffiths; 30 September 1866 – 23 March 1935) was an Australian politician who served as a Country Party member of 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 1914 to 1921 and from 1924 until his death.

Biography

Griffiths was born in

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

, England, to Eleanor Alice (née Cooke) and Henry Craven Griffiths. He came to Western Australia in 1897, during the

gold rush A gold rush or gold fever is a discovery of gold—sometimes accompanied by other precious metals and rare-earth minerals—that brings an onrush of miners seeking their fortune. Major gold rushes took place in the 19th century in Australia, New Z ...

, and lived 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 ...

until 1907, when he moved to a property at Kellerberrin. Griffiths was involved in the establishment of the Farmers and Settlers' Association in the early 1910s,Harry Albert Craven Griffiths
Biographical Register of Members of the Parliament of Western Australia. Retrieved 26 January 2017. and at the 1914 state election was elected to parliament as a representative of the Country Party, its political wing. He held the seat of York until the 1921 election, when an irregularity in his nomination meant he was unable to recontest."THE YORK NOMINATIONS"
''The Daily News'', 24 February 1921. At the 1922 Legislative Council election, Griffiths unsuccessfully contested East Province as an "Independent Country" candidate, losing to

Vernon Hamersley Vernon Hamersley (1871–1946) was an Australian politician. He served the longest term ever as a Member of the Western Australian Legislative Council. Biography Early life Vernon Hamersley was born in Guildford, Western Australia. The son of S ...

. He re-entered parliament at the 1924 state election, winning the seat of Avon from the sitting Country member, Tom Harrison. He and Harrison had joined separate factions of the party after its 1923 split. Griffiths was re-elected on three more occasions before his death in office in March 1935 (aged 68). He had been married twice, having four children by his first wife.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Griffiths, Harry 1866 births 1935 deaths English emigrants to colonial Australia Members of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly National Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Western Australia Politicians from Manchester 20th-century Australian politicians