John Storey (15 May 1869 – 5 October 1921) was an Australian politician who was

Premier of New South Wales The premier of New South Wales is the head of government in the state of New South Wales, Australia. The Government of New South Wales follows the Westminster Parliamentary System, with a Parliament of New South Wales acting as the legislature. ...

from 12 April 1920 until his sudden death in

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 ...

. His leadership enabled the New South Wales Labor Party to recover after the split over conscription and to allow it to continue to be a left-wing pragmatist rather than a socialist party.

Early life

Storey was born at or near Huskisson,

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 ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

to English immigrant parents, William John, a shipbuilder, and Elizabeth Graham. His family moved to Balmain when he was six, but his father died soon afterwards. He was educated at Darling Road Superior Public School and at night school. At fourteen he was apprenticed to boilermaking with Perdriau and West and then worked at

Mort's Dock Mort's Dock is a former dry dock, slipway, and shipyard in Balmain, New South Wales, Australia. It was the first dry dock in Australia, opening for business in 1855 and closing more than a century later in 1959. The site is now parkland. Histor ...

. He helped found the Balmain Cricket Club in 1897 and was a leading all-rounder for its top grade team. He was a member of the United Society of Boilermakers and Iron Ship Builders of New South Wales. In 1908 Storey was a founder of the Balmain District Rugby League Football Club.

Elected to Parliament

Storey joined the Labor Electoral League, the precursor of the Labor Party, on its foundation in 1891, and was elected to represent Balmain North in the Legislative Assembly in 1901. Although he was an effective parliamentarian, he was beaten for election to the recreated seat of Balmain by Walter Anderson in 1904, but defeated Anderson in 1907. The McGowen Labor Government came to power in 1910, but Storey did not nominate for election to Cabinet. In 1916, the non-parliamentary party attempted to discipline Premier William Holman, and elected a Cabinet headed by Storey on 27 April. The party reversed that decision on 4 May and Storey handed back power to Holman, although legally there had never been any transfer of power. However, the split in the party widened further with the dispute over

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 ...

and, in November, Holman, along with Prime Minister

Billy Hughes William Morris Hughes (25 September 1862 – 28 October 1952) was an Australian politician who served as the seventh prime minister of Australia, in office from 1915 to 1923. He is best known for leading the country during World War I, but ...

, were expelled from the party. The remnants of the Labor Party were then in opposition to Holman's Nationalist Government, but Storey refused to become party leader and

Ernest Durack Ernest Durack (10 August 1882 – 16 November 1967) was an Australian politician. He was a member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly from 1913 until 1917, and the leader of the Labor Party (ALP) in New South Wales for three months unti ...

was elected to that position. Durack resigned unexpectedly in February 1917 and Storey had no choice but to accept the leadership. His good public speaking and amiability helped to reduce the scale of Labor's defeat in the 1917 election. He worked hard in 1918 and 1919 to prevent

socialist Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the e ...

s taking over the party and his policy speech for the 1920 election promised child endowment and suburban rail electrification rather than socialism.

Premier

Labor won the 1920 election with a majority of one and Storey became Premier. His thin majority, combined with a substantial minority in Legislative Council (made up of life appointees) and attacks of

nephritis Nephritis is inflammation of the kidneys and may involve the glomeruli, tubules, or interstitial tissue surrounding the glomeruli and tubules. It is one of several different types of nephropathy. Types * Glomerulonephritis is inflammation of th ...

made his job hard. His private secretary at this time was

V. Gordon Childe Vere Gordon Childe (14 April 189219 October 1957) was an Australian archaeologist who specialised in the study of European prehistory. He spent most of his life in the United Kingdom, working as an academic for the University of Edinburgh and th ...

, later internationally famous in the field of

archaeology Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscap ...

, who wrote the book ''How Labor Governs'', based on his experience as Storey's secretary. In June 1920, he appointed Judge

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 ...

to carry out a royal commission in to the imprisonment of twelve IWW members in 1916 for

treason Treason is the crime of attacking a state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to overthrow its government, spying on its military, its diplo ...

arson Arson is the crime of willfully and deliberately setting fire to or charring property. Although the act of arson typically involves buildings, the term can also refer to the intentional burning of other things, such as motor vehicles, wat ...

sedition Sedition is overt conduct, such as speech and organization, that tends toward rebellion against the established order. Sedition often includes subversion of a constitution and incitement of discontent toward, or insurrection against, estab ...

and

forgery Forgery is a white-collar crime that generally refers to the false making or material alteration of a legal instrument with the specific intent to defraud anyone (other than themself). Tampering with a certain legal instrument may be forbidd ...

. On Ewing's recommendation, ten were released in August. In early 1921, he

prorogued A legislative session is the period of time in which a legislature, in both parliamentary and presidential systems, is convened for purpose of lawmaking, usually being one of two or more smaller divisions of the entire time between two elections ...

Parliament to prevent his Government being overthrown during a six months absence to visit financiers and a

Harley Street Harley Street is a street in Marylebone, Central London, which has, since the 19th century housed a large number of private specialists in medicine and surgery. It was named after Edward Harley, 2nd Earl of Oxford and Earl Mortimer.< ...

doctor in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

. Despite the warnings of his doctor, he undertook heavy work in London and on his return to Sydney in July.

Death

He was admitted to hospital and died at Clermont Private Hospital, Darlinghurst and was survived by his wife, three sons and two of his three daughters. His funeral service was held at St. Andrew's Cathedral on 7 October 1921, and he was buried at the Field of Mars Cemetery in

Ryde Ryde is an English seaside town and civil parish on the north-east coast of the Isle of Wight. The built-up area had a population of 23,999 according to the 2011 Census and an estimate of 24,847 in 2019. Its growth as a seaside resort came af ...

the same day.Sydney Morning Herald: Funeral Notice, 07/10/1921 (page 7) In 1926, Premier Jack Lang opened the John Storey Memorial Dispensary in Little Regent Street,

Chippendale, New South Wales Chippendale is a small inner-city suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia on the southern edge of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the City of Sydney. Chippendale is located between Broadway to the nort ...

. It served as a practical memorial to John Storey and still functions as a pathology clinic.

Notes

External links

E-Text of 'How Labor Governs'
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Storey, John 1869 births 1921 deaths Premiers of New South Wales Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of New South Wales Deaths from nephritis Leaders of the Opposition in New South Wales Australian boilermakers