James Black Ronald (27 August 1861 – 27 July 1941) was an Australian politician.

Life

Born in

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

, he was educated at the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...

, and became a

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...

clergyman. Migrating to Australia in 1888, he became a clergyman 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 ...

. In 1901, he attempted to gain

Protectionist Protectionism, sometimes referred to as trade protectionism, is the economic policy of restricting imports from other countries through methods such as tariffs on imported goods, import quotas, and a variety of other government regulations. ...

endorsement to contest 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 of the ...

seat of Southern Melbourne; when he was unsuccessful, he turned to the Labor Party, which endorsed him instead. Ronald won the seat, one of only two Victorian Labor members elected in the first federal election. Ronald's seat was abolished in 1906, and he attempted to gain Labor endorsement to contest the neighbouring

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 ...

. When this endorsement was given to James Mathews instead, Ronald contested the seat 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 ...

Labor candidate, but was unsuccessful. He rejoined the ALP after the election, but was one of many Labor members to leave in 1916 over the issue of

conscription Conscription (also called the draft in the United States) is the state-mandated enlistment of people in a national service, mainly a military service. Conscription dates back to antiquity and it continues in some countries to the present day un ...

, eventually ending up in the Nationalist Party. Ronald died in 1941.

References

Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Australia Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Southern Melbourne Members of the Australian House of Representatives 1861 births 1941 deaths Independent members of the Parliament of Australia 20th-century Australian politicians British emigrants to colonial Australia {{Australia-Labor-representative-stub