James Isaac Mann (22 June 1892 – 20 June 1965) was an Australian politician who was a 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 1930 to 1962. He represented two Wheatbelt electorates, holding the seat of Beverley from 1930 to 1950 and the seat of Avon Valley from 1950 to 1962, and at various times sat for the Country Party, the Nationalist Party, the

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a li ...

, and 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 ...

Early life

Mann was born in

Toodyay, Western Australia Toodyay (, nys, Duidgee), known as Newcastle between 1860 and 1910, is a town on the Avon River in the Wheatbelt region of Western Australia, north-east of Perth. The first European settlement occurred in the area in 1836. After flooding i ...

, to Caroline Jane (née Edwards) and John Gibson Mann. He was raised in

Beverley Beverley is a market town, market and minster (church), minster town and a civil parishes in England, civil parish in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England, of which it is the county town. The town centre is located south-east of York's centre ...

, where his father was an early settler and served as the town's mayor for a period. Mann enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force in December 1914, and during the war served with the 10th Light Horse Regiment. After returning to Australia, he took up land at Beverley as part of a

soldier settlement Soldier settlement was the settlement of land throughout parts of Australia by returning discharged soldiers under soldier settlement schemes administered by state governments after World War I and World War II. The post-World War II settlemen ...

scheme.James Isaac Mann
– Biographical Register of Members of the Parliament of Western Australia. Retrieved 20 September 2016.

Politics

Mann first ran for parliament at the 1924 state election, but was narrowly defeated by Charles Wansbrough in the seat of Beverley, losing by just 15 votes on the

two-candidate-preferred In Australian politics, the two-party-preferred vote (TPP or 2PP) is the result of an election or opinion poll after preferences have been distributed to the highest two candidates, who in some cases can be independents. For the purposes of TPP, ...

count. Both Mann and Wansbrough stood for the Country Party, but owing to a split in party stood for different factions, with Mann representing the Ministerial faction (supporting the government of James Mitchell) and Wansbrough representing the Executive faction (opposing Mitchell's government). At the 1927 state election, Mann recontested Beverley for the Nationalist Party, but was again defeated by Wansbrough. He had switched back to the Country Party by the 1930 election, and on his third attempt defeated Wansbrough with 55.4 percent of the two-candidate-preferred vote. From 1943 to 1947, Mann was deputy chairman of committees in the Legislative Assembly. He resigned from the Country Party in March 1949,"MR. J. I. MANN RESIGNS FROM C.D.L."
''The Beverley Times'', 11 March 1949. and initially sat as an

before joining the

Liberal and Country League Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and ...

in May 1949. He was a supporter of a merger between the two parties (in order to provide a more consistent opposition to the Labor Party), and the Liberal Party later merged into

. The seat of Beverley was abolished at the 1950 state election, and Mann transferred to the new seat of Avon Valley. He held that seat until his retirement at the 1962 election, consistently winning large majorities (and running unopposed on one occasion, in 1953). Mann and

Ross McLarty Sir Duncan Ross McLarty, (17 March 1891 – 22 December 1962) was an Australian politician and the 17th Premier of Western Australia. Early life McLarty was born in Pinjarra, Western Australia, the youngest of seven children of Edward McLarty ...

(who also retired in 1962) were the last remaining MPs elected in 1930.

Later life and family

Mann died in Beverley in June 1965, aged 72. He had married Clara Constance Smith in April 1919, with whom he had two sons and two daughters. His father-in-law, Edmund Horace Smith, was also a member of parliament.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mann, James 1892 births 1965 deaths Australian Army soldiers Australian farmers Australian military personnel of World War I Independent members of the Parliament of Western Australia Liberal Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Western Australia Members of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly National Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Western Australia Nationalist Party (Australia) politicians People from Beverley, Western Australia