Joseph Cookworthy (1828 – 21 February 1909) was a settler of

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

. He arrived in the colony in 1873, having previously been an army officer and civil servant in India. Cookworthy served in the

Legislative Assembly of Western Australia The Western Australian Legislative Assembly, or lower house, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of Western Australia, an Australian state. The Parliament sits in Parliament House in the Western Australian capital, Perth. The Legisla ...

from 1890 until 1897, representing the seat of Sussex.

Early life

Cookworthy was born in

Plymouth Plymouth () is a port city and unitary authority in South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately south-west of Exeter and south-west of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to the west and south-west. Plymouth ...

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devon is ...

, England, to Jane (née Urquhart) and Joseph Collier Cookworthy. He trained as a physician, but did not take up the profession, instead joining the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

. He served with the

14th Dragoons The 14th King's Hussars was a cavalry regiment in the British Army, first raised in 1715. It saw service for two centuries, including the First World War, before being amalgamated with the 20th Hussars to form the 14th/20th King's Hussars in 192 ...

in Persia and India, but after the

Indian Mutiny of 1857 The Indian Rebellion of 1857 was a major uprising in India in 1857–58 against Company rule in India, the rule of the East India Company, British East India Company, which functioned as a sovereign power on behalf of the The Crown, British ...

joined the

Indian Civil Service The Indian Civil Service (ICS), officially known as the Imperial Civil Service, was the higher civil service of the British Empire in India during British rule in the period between 1858 and 1947. Its members ruled over more than 300 million ...

. Cookworthy came to Western Australia in 1873, settling at

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 ...

(in the colony's

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 se ...

region). He was elected to the Sussex Road Board the following year, serving until 1880, and also became a

justice of the peace A justice of the peace (JP) is a judicial officer of a lower or ''puisne'' court, elected or appointed by means of a commission ( letters patent) to keep the peace. In past centuries the term commissioner of the peace was often used with the sa ...

.Joseph Cookworthy
– Biographical Register of Members of the Parliament of Western Australia. Retrieved 5 June 2016.

Politics and later life

Cookworthy first attempted to enter politics at the 1884 Legislative Council elections, standing in the seat of Vasse. He was defeated by

George Layman George Layman was born at Wonnerup House in 1838 and resided there until his death on 13 December 1921. His father, George Layman, was fatally speared by a local Wardandi Noongar warrior referred to as Goewar, also spelt as Gayware, Gaywal or G ...

. At the 1890 general election (the first to be held for the Legislative Assembly), Cookworthy was elected to the seat of Sussex. He retained his seat at the 1894 election, but was defeated by Ernest Locke at the 1897 election. While in parliament, Cookworthy was twice responsible (in 1893 and 1896) for introducing legislation that would have allowed women to vote in colonial elections for the first time (although only unmarried women meeting the property qualification would gain this right). His attempts were unsuccessful, in part due to the opposition of Sir

John Forrest Sir John Forrest (22 August 1847 – 2 SeptemberSome sources give the date as 3 September 1918 1918) was an Australian explorer and politician. He was the first premier of Western Australia (1890–1901) and a long-serving cabinet minister i ...

(the

premier Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier. A premier will normally be a head of governm ...

), although Forrest reversed his position a few years later and women's suffrage became law in 1899. Cookworthy died in Busselton in February 1909, aged 81. His sister, Mary Frances, married Thomas Webster, a prominent English barrister, and was the step-mother of

Richard Webster, 1st Viscount Alverstone Richard Everard Webster, 1st Viscount Alverstone, (22 December 1842 – 15 December 1915) was a British barrister, politician and judge who served in many high political and judicial offices. Background and education Webster was the second son ...

."DEATH OF MR. JOSEPH COOKWORTHY"
''The South-Western News'' (Busselton, Western Australia), 26 February 1909.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cookworthy, Joseph 1828 births 1909 deaths 19th-century British Army personnel Australian suffragists British emigrants to colonial Australia British people in colonial India Indian Civil Service (British India) officers Members of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly Military personnel from Plymouth, Devon People from Busselton Settlers of Western Australia Western Australian local councillors 19th-century Australian politicians 14th King's Hussars officers

Early life

Politics and later life

See also

References