Sir John McWhae (22 June 1858 – 17 September 1927) was an Australian politician. He was born in

Ballarat Ballarat ( ) is a city in the Central Highlands (Victoria), Central Highlands of Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. At the 2021 Census, Ballarat had a population of 116,201, making it the third largest city in Victoria. Estimated resid ...

to miner Peter McWhae and Grace Wilson. His father found success on the Ballarat goldfields and the family returned to Scotland for a time, returning to

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

in 1871. McWhae worked as a bank clerk before becoming a sharebroker and a member of the Ballarat Stock Exchange. From around 1890 he worked on the

Melbourne Stock Exchange 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 metropoli ...

, and he secured his own fortune speculating on the

Kalgoorlie Kalgoorlie is a city in the Goldfields–Esperance region of Western Australia, located east-northeast of Perth at the end of the Great Eastern Highway. It is sometimes referred to as Kalgoorlie–Boulder, as the surrounding urban area includ ...

boom in 1899 (after early successes at

Broken Hill Broken Hill is an inland mining city in the far west of outback New South Wales, Australia. It is near the border with South Australia on the crossing of the Barrier Highway (A32) and the Silver City Highway (B79), in the Barrier Range. It is ...

and a setback at Coolgardie. In 1910 he was elected to the

Victorian Legislative Council The Victorian Legislative Council (VLC) is the upper house of the bicameral Parliament of Victoria, Australia, the lower house being the Legislative Assembly. Both houses sit at Parliament House in Spring Street, Melbourne. The Legislative Co ...

for

Melbourne Province Melbourne Province was an electorate of the Victorian Legislative Council (Australia). Melbourne Province was created in 1882 when Central Province was abolished in the redistribution of Provinces. Its area included central Melbourne, Carlto ...

. He was associated with the Economy Party in 1917 and was appointed

Minister of Public Works This list indicates government departments in various countries dedicated to public works or infrastructure. See also * Public works * Ministry or Board of Public Works, the imperial Chinese ministry overseeing public projects from the Tang ...

; in 1918 he became a minister without portfolio focusing on combating the

1918 influenza epidemic The 1918–1920 influenza pandemic, commonly known by the misnomer Spanish flu or as the Great Influenza epidemic, was an exceptionally deadly global influenza pandemic caused by the H1N1 influenza A virus. The earliest documented case was ...

. In 1921 he resigned from Parliament to accept an appointment as Victorian Agent-General, succeeding

Peter McBride Peter McBride (15 September 1877 – 3 January 1951) was a Scottish professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper for Preston North End and the Scotland national football team. McBride was born in Ayr, and played for Ayr F.C. until join ...

. He held this position until 1924, and was knighted on his retirement. McWhae died in

Yokohama is the second-largest city in Japan by population and the most populous municipality of Japan. It is the capital city and the most populous city in Kanagawa Prefecture, with a 2020 population of 3.8 million. It lies on Tokyo Bay, south of To ...

in Japan in 1927.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McWhae, John 1858 births 1927 deaths Nationalist Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Victoria Members of the Victorian Legislative Council Vice-Presidents of the Board of Land and Works Australian Knights Bachelor Agents-General for Victoria Politicians from Ballarat Australian people of Scottish descent Ministers for Public Works (Victoria) People from the Colony of Victoria