Horatio William "Horace" Sholl (8 April 1851 – 8 November 1927) was an Australian pastoralist and politician in

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 ...

. He served in the Legislative Council for a brief period in 1888, and was later a member of the Legislative Assembly from 1891 to 1897.

Early life

Sholl 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 i ...

to Mary Ann (née Berckelman) and

Robert John Sholl Robert John Sholl (16 July 1819 – 19 June 1886) was a government administrator, magistrate, explorer, journalist, entrepreneur, harbourmaster, customs official, postmaster and lay reader in Western Australia (WA), during the colonial era. ...

. His mother was an immigrant from Ireland, while his father, a Cornishman, was a government magistrate. An older brother,

Robert Frederick Sholl Robert Frederick Sholl (27 August 1848 – 4 December 1909) was an entrepreneur and a member of the Parliament of Western Australia. His business interests included pearling vessels, real estate and mining. Sholl was also a representative at th ...

, and a brother-in-law, Edward Scott, were also members of parliament. Sholl left Perth at the age of 14 to join his parents in Roebourne, a newly founded settlement in what is now referred to as the

Pilbara The Pilbara () is a large, dry, thinly populated region in the north of Western Australia. It is known for its Aboriginal peoples; its ancient landscapes; the red earth; and its vast mineral deposits, in particular iron ore. It is also a g ...

region. He eventually entered the

pearling industry Cultured pearls are formed within a cultured pearl sac with human intervention in the interior of productive living molluscs in a variety of conditions depending upon the mollusc and the goals. Just as the same as natural pearls, cultured pearls ...

with his brother, and with the profits was able to buy a large station on the

Yule River The Yule River is an ephemeral river in the Pilbara region of Western Australia. It was named on 10 August 1861 by the surveyor and explorer Frank Gregory while on expedition in the area, after Thomas Newte Yule, at times farmer of Toodyay, w ...

.Horace William Sholl
– Biographical Register of Members of the Parliament of Western Australia. Retrieved 8 June 2016.

Politics and later life

In April 1888, Sholl stood at a Legislative Council by-election for North District (caused by the death of Alexander McRae), and was elected unopposed. However, he resigned from parliament after just over two months in office, allowing

Septimus Burt The Hon Septimus Burt KC (25 October 1847 – 15 May 1919) was a Western Australian lawyer, politician and grazier, the son of Sir Archibald Burt. He was born on 25 October 1847 at St Kitts in the West Indies, and educated at a private school ...

(who had recently been defeated in a by-election) to take his place. His resignation was praised as an act of "self-sacrifice" by '' The Western Mail''. In 1891, Sholl returned to parliament as a member of the Legislative Assembly, which had only been created the previous year. He won a by-election for the seat of Roebourne, caused by the resignation of

George Leake George Leake (3 December 1856 – 24 June 1902) was the third Premier of Western Australia, serving from May to November 1901 and then again from December 1901 to his death. Leake was born in Perth, into a prominent local family. Studying l ...

. Leake was the first member of the Legislative Assembly to resign his seat, and Sholl became the first member to be elected at a by-election. Sholl was re-elected at the

1894 Events January–March * January 4 – A military alliance is established between the French Third Republic and the Russian Empire. * January 7 – William Kennedy Dickson receives a patent for motion picture film in the United S ...

and 1897 general elections, but left parliament at the 1901 election. He eventually retired to

Peppermint Grove Peppermint (''Mentha'' × ''piperita'') is a hybrid species of mint, a cross between watermint and spearmint. Indigenous to Europe and the Middle East, the plant is now widely spread and cultivated in many regions of the world.Euro+Med Plantbas ...

, a riverside suburb of Perth. Sholl died there in 1927, aged 76."A NORTH-WEST IDENTITY."
''

The West Australian ''The West Australian'' is the only locally edited daily newspaper published in Perth, Western Australia. It is owned by Seven West Media (SWM), as is the state's other major newspaper, '' The Sunday Times''. It is the second-oldest continuous ...

'', 10 November 1927. He had married Jessie Cave in 1884, with whom he had three sons and seven daughters. Two of his sons-in-law, Thomas Davy and Hubert Parker, were also member of parliaments.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sholl, Horace 1851 births 1927 deaths Australian pastoralists Australian people of Cornish descent Australian people of Irish descent Members of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly Members of the Western Australian Legislative Council Politicians from Perth, Western Australia Pearlers

Early life

Politics and later life

See also

References