James Mathews (1865 – 16 October 1934) was an

Australian Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal A ...

politician. He was an

Australian Labor Party The Australian Labor Party (ALP), also simply known as Labor, is the major centre-left political party in Australia, one of two major parties in Australian politics, along with the centre-right Liberal Party of Australia. The party forms t ...

member of the

Australian House of Representatives The House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameral Parliament of Australia, the upper house being the Senate. Its composition and powers are established in Chapter I of the Constitution of Australia. The term of members o ...

from 1906 to 1931, representing the electorate of

Melbourne Ports The Division of Melbourne Ports was an Australian federal electoral division in the inner south-eastern suburbs of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It was located to the south of Melbourne's central business district and covered an area of appro ...

. Mathews was born in the Victoria Barracks in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

, where his father was regimental tailor, and spent seven years in

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

as a child when his father was deployed there. He was educated at Smith's school in

South Melbourne South Melbourne is an inner suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 3 km south of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Port Phillip local government area. South Melbourne recorded a population of 11,548 at ...

and became a tailor. He joined the Progressive Political League, a forerunner of the Victorian branch of the Labor Party, in 1892. Mathews went to

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

in 1893, and became secretary of the

Woolloomooloo Woolloomooloo ( ) is a harbourside, inner-city eastern suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Woolloomooloo is 1.5 kilometres east of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the City of Sydney. It is in a lo ...

branch of the Labor Party in the same year; he also organised for the Tailors' Union while in Sydney. Mathews returned to Melbourne in 1898, and worked for the Collins St firm of Haig Bros. before going into business for himself; he was operating a tailoring business in South Melbourne opposite the South Melbourne Post Office at the time of his election. Prior to his election, Mathews also spent six years as the secretary of the South Melbourne branch of the Labor Party, remained involved in the Tailors' Union, and had made two unsuccessful candidacies for the City of South Melbourne council. Mathews contested the 1903 federal election, but was defeated by incumbent Protectionist Samuel Mauger. Mauger moved to the new seat of Maribyrnong in 1906 and Mathews won the seat in his absence. He was then re-elected nine times, often running unopposed and never polling less than 65% of the primary vote. He was described ''

The Courier-Mail ''The Courier-Mail'' is an Australian newspaper published in Brisbane. Owned by News Corp Australia, it is published daily from Monday to Saturday in tabloid format. Its editorial offices are located at Bowen Hills, in Brisbane's inner northe ...

'' upon his death as "a speaker of great force" and "an apt interjector" in the House. Mathews was always opposed to war and militarism, and campaigned against conscription in the bitter referendums of 1916 and 1917. In 1917, he was one of several political figures prosecuted under the War Precautions Act with having "made false statements of a kind likely to affect the judgment of the electors" in the referendum, but represented himself and was acquitted. Mathews was struggling with serious health issues by the mid-1920s, and retired due to ill health at the 1931 federal election. He died in October 1934 and was cremated at Fawkner Crematorium and Memorial Park.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mathews, James Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Australia Australian trade unionists 1865 births 1934 deaths Members of the Cabinet of Australia Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Melbourne Ports 20th-century Australian politicians Colony of Victoria people