John Ewing (6 October 1863 – 30 November 1933) was an Australian politician who served in both houses of the

Parliament of Western Australia The Parliament of Western Australia is the bicameral legislature of the Australian state of Western Australia, forming the legislative branch of the Government of Western Australia. The parliament consists of a lower house, the Legislative Ass ...

. He was a member of the Legislative Assembly from 1901 to 1904 and again from 1905 to 1908, and then served as a member of the Legislative Council from 1916 until his death. Ewing was born in

Wollongong Wollongong ( ), colloquially referred to as The Gong, is a city located in the Illawarra region of New South Wales, Australia. The name is believed to originate from the Dharawal language, meaning either 'five islands/clouds', 'ground near wate ...

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

, to Elizabeth (née Thomson) and Thomas Campbell Ewing. His brothers,

Norman Ewing Norman Kirkwood Ewing (26 December 1870 – 19 July 1928), Australian politician, was a member of three parliaments: the Western Australian Legislative Assembly, the Australian Senate, and the Tasmanian House of Assembly. He became a Judge of ...

and Sir

Thomas Ewing Thomas Ewing Sr. (December 28, 1789October 26, 1871) was a National Republican and Whig politician from Ohio. He served in the U.S. Senate as well as serving as the secretary of the treasury and the first secretary of the interior. He is also ...

, were also politicians. Ewing was educated at

The King's School, Parramatta The King's School is an Education in Australia#Non-government schools, independent Anglican Church of Australia, Anglican, Pre-school education, early learning, primary school, primary and secondary school, secondary day and boarding school, boardi ...

, and afterward worked as a surveyor in southern New South Wales. He came to Western Australia in 1896, initially working as a surveyor on the goldfields. He later settled in the

South West The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each sepa ...

, living at Bunbury, and in 1897 was responsible for surveying the townsite of

Collie Collies form a distinctive type of herding dogs, including many related landraces and standardized breeds. The type originated in Scotland and Northern England. Collies are medium-sized, fairly lightly-built dogs, with pointed snouts. Many ...

.John Ewing
– Biographical Register of Members of the Parliament of Western Australia. Retrieved 25 May 2016. At the 1901 state election, Ewing was elected to represent the South-West Mining constituency in the Legislative Assembly, running as a supporter of the Ministerialist faction (led by

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 ...

). He lost his seat (which had been renamed Collie) at the 1904 election, to

Labor Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

's Ernest Henshaw. After losing his seat, Ewing was elected chairman of the

Collie Road Board The Collie Road District was an early form of local government area in the Collie region of Western Australia. It was established on 26 January 1900, separating the area in and around the town of Collie from the Dardanup and Brunswick Road Dist ...

in 1905. However, he served for only a short amount of time, as he re-claimed his former seat at that year's state election. At the 1908 election, Ewing lost his seat for a second time, defeated by Labor's Arthur Wilson (who would hold Collie until 1947). Afterward, he returned to his previous profession as a surveyor, working for the Midland Railway Company. Ewing contested the seat of Bunbury at the 1911 state election, but was unsuccessful, losing to Labor's William Thomas. He eventually re-entered parliament in 1916, winning a Legislative Council by-election for South-West Province (caused by the death of

John Winthrop Hackett Sir John Winthrop Hackett Sr. (4 February 184819 February 1916), generally known as "Winthrop Hackett", was a proprietor and editor of several newspapers in Western Australia, a politician and a university chancellor. Early life Hackett was b ...

). Ewing was appointed chairman of the committees in the Legislative Council in August 1920, and in June 1923 was elevated to Sir James Mitchell's ministry, as Minister for Education,

Minister for Justice A Ministry of Justice is a common type of government department that serves as a justice ministry. Lists of current ministries of justice Named "Ministry" * Ministry of Justice (Abkhazia) * Ministry of Justice (Afghanistan) * Ministry of Just ...

, and

Minister for the North-West Minister for Regional Development is a position in the government of Western Australia, currently held by Alannah MacTiernan of the Labor Party. The position was first created in 1977, for the government of Charles Court, and has existed in most ...

. The Nationalist–Country coalition government was defeated at the 1924 state election, with Ewing consequently losing his place in the ministry. He did not return to the ministry when the coalition was returned to power at the 1927 election. In the last years of his life, Ewing was in frequent poor health, and went blind, although he remained a member of parliament. He died in a convalescent home in Perth in November 1933, aged 70."DEATH OF HON. JOHN EWING, M.L.C."
''The South-Western News'' (

Busselton Busselton is a city in the South West region of the state of Western Australia approximately south-west of Perth. Busselton has a long history as a popular holiday destination for Western Australians; however, the closure of the Busselton ...

), 1 December 1933.

References

, - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Ewing, John 1863 births 1933 deaths Australian surveyors Members of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly Members of the Western Australian Legislative Council People educated at The King's School, Parramatta People from Wollongong Western Australian local councillors Nationalist Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Western Australia