Jonathan Charles Billing Pockerage Seaver (born 7 June 1855, date of death unknown) was an Irish-born Australian politician, engineer and surveyor. He was born at

Kingstown Kingstown is the capital, chief port, and main commercial centre of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. With a population of 12,909 (2012), Kingstown is the most populous settlement in the country. It is the island's agricultural industry centre ...

near

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

, the eldest son of Thomas Seaver and arrived in

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 ...

around 1857. At sixteen he became a tutor and after an abortive attempt at a church career worked as an engineer and surveyor. He traveled widely, spending some time in

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

, where he married Mary Robinson on 22 November 1880, before settling in

Gloucester Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean to the west, east of Monmouth and east ...

. In 1887 he was elected to the

New South Wales Legislative Assembly The New South Wales Legislative Assembly is the lower of the two houses of the Parliament of New South Wales, an Australian state. The upper house is the New South Wales Legislative Council. Both the Assembly and Council sit at Parliament Ho ...

as the

Free Trade Free trade is a trade policy that does not restrict imports or exports. It can also be understood as the free market idea applied to international trade. In government, free trade is predominantly advocated by political parties that hold econo ...

member for

and retained the seat in 1889. In May 1891 four free traders, Seaver,

George Reid Sir George Houston Reid, (25 February 1845 – 12 September 1918) was an Australian politician who led the Reid Government as the fourth Prime Minister of Australia from 1904 to 1905, having previously been Premier of New South Wales f ...

Jack Want John Henry "Jack" Want (4 May 1846 – 22 November 1905) was an Australian barrister and politician, as well as the 19th Attorney-General of New South Wales. Early life Want was born at the Glebe, Sydney, the fourth son of nine children of Ra ...

and John Haynes, voted against the

fifth Parkes Ministry Fifth is the ordinal form of the number five. Fifth or The Fifth may refer to: * Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution, as in the expression "pleading the Fifth" * Fifth column, a political term * Fifth disease, a contagious rash that ...

in a motion of no confidence, which was only defeated by the casting vote of the

Speaker Speaker may refer to: Society and politics * Speaker (politics), the presiding officer in a legislative assembly * Public speaker, one who gives a speech or lecture * A person producing speech: the producer of a given utterance, especially: ** In ...

. Whilst the government survived the motion, parliament was dissolved on 6 June 1891. Such was Seaver's animosity to

Sir Henry Parkes Sir Henry Parkes, (27 May 1815 – 27 April 1896) was a colonial Australian politician and longest non-consecutive Premier of the Colony of New South Wales, the present-day state of New South Wales in the Commonwealth of Australia. He has be ...

, he did not contest Gloucester, but instead contested

St Leonards St Leonards may refer to: Places Australia *St Leonards, New South Wales **St Leonards railway station *St Leonards, Tasmania, suburb of Launceston * St Leonards, Victoria Canada *St. Leonard's, Newfoundland and Labrador New Zealand * St ...

, stating that his sole reason was opposing Parkes. His opposition was ineffective however as Parkes topped the poll, while Seaver finished a distant last. Seaver left Sydney with his family on the ''R.M.S. Australia'' in August 1896 bound for London. Little is known about his subsequent life. It is possible that he died in

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

in 1928 however this is not confirmed by a reliable source.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Seaver, Jonathan 1855 births Year of death missing Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly Free Trade Party politicians