Sir Henry Bruce Lefroy (24 March 1854 – 19 March 1930) was the eleventh

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 ...

Biography

Lefroy was born in

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 ...

, Western Australia on 24 March 1854. His father was

Anthony O'Grady Lefroy Anthony O'Grady Lefroy (14 March 1816 – 21 January 1897), often known as O'Grady Lefroy, was an important government official in Western Australia before the advent of responsible government. O'Grady Lefroy was born at Limerick, Ireland on ...

, Colonial Treasurer of

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for over 30 years. Educated initially at Mrs McKnight's School in Perth; later he travelled to

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, where he continued his studies at the Preparatory School at

Exmouth Exmouth is a port town, civil parish and seaside resort, sited on the east bank of the mouth of the River Exe and southeast of Exeter. In 2011 it had a population of 34,432, making Exmouth the 5th most populous settlement in Devon. Histo ...

, then at

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and finally at

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from 1868 to 1872. In 1893 Lefroy returned to

to take over management of his father's farm at Walebing, which he inherited upon his father's death in 1897. Lefroy was a member of the Victoria Plains Road Board from 1872 until 1899, and its chairman from 1876 to 1897. In 1874 he was appointed a

Justice of the Peace A justice of the peace (JP) is a judicial officer of a lower or ''puisne'' court, elected or appointed by means of a commission ( letters patent) to keep the peace. In past centuries the term commissioner of the peace was often used with the sa ...

, and he was for a time a member of the local Board of Education. He married Rose Agnes Wittenoom in Perth on 15 April 1880, and they had three sons and a daughter. On 2 August 1892, Lefroy 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, Perth, Parliament House in the Western Australian capi ...

seat of Moore in a

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. On 12 May 1897, he was appointed Minister for Education in John Forrest's

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is a ...

. He held this portfolio until 28 April 1898, when he instead became Minister for Mines. He did not contest the election of 24 April 1901, and so ceased to be a minister when

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reconvened on 27 May. From July 1901 until 1904, Lefroy was Agent-General for Western Australia in

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. During his time in London, his first wife died on 17 April 1902. In 1903, he was appointed CMG, and on 23 November 1904, he married Madeleine Emily Stewart Walford in London. He had two sons and a daughter by his second wife. After returning to Western Australia, Lefroy unsuccessfully contested the

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in the

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. He was again a member of the Victoria Plains Road Board from 1906 to 1909, and was then chairman of the Moora Roads Board from 1909 until 1917. On 3 October 1911, Lefroy was again elected to the Legislative Assembly seat of Moore, after a hiatus of over ten years. In 1915, he replaced James Mitchell as deputy of the

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. He was appointed Minister for Lands and Agriculture in Frank Wilson's second government on 27 July 1916. Wilson's government had difficulty maintaining parliamentary support, and was put under pressure to try to repeat the success at federal level of

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

Billy Hughes in forming a Nationalist Party. A Nationalist Party was formed in May 1917, but the party voted to reconstruct the ministry by caucus election. Recognising that the intention was to oust the present ministry, Wilson and three of his ministers walked out of the meeting. Lefroy remained, and was elected leader of the party. Wilson then had no choice but to resign as premier, and Lefroy became

on 28 June 1917. Lefroy's entire ministry was elected by the whole parliamentary party, and it remains the only non-Labor government of Western Australia to be chosen in this way. It was an ill-assorted group, and consequently Lefroy's premiership was marked by infighting, factionalism and a lack of discipline. On one occasion a Royal Commission was announced without Lefroy's knowledge; and on another occasion the acting treasurer Robert Robinson accepted amendments to treasurer James Gardiner's budget against the wishes of other cabinet ministers. Lefroy was challenged for the leadership on 9 April 1919, and needed his own casting vote to survive because a number of his ministers declined to vote. When MacCallum Smith leaked this embarrassing information to the press, Lefroy resigned as premier and leader of the Nationalist Party on 17 April, and Hal Colebatch was elected in his place. Lefroy continued as member for Moore but was defeated at the general elections of 12 March 1921. He spent his remaining years at Walebing, dying there on 19 March 1930.

References

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External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lefroy, Henry Bruce 1854 births 1930 deaths Agents-General for Western Australia Western Australian local councillors Members of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly Commonwealth Liberal Party politicians Premiers of Western Australia Australian Knights Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George Australian politicians awarded knighthoods Treasurers of Western Australia Nationalist Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Western Australia