Joseph William Kirton (1861-1935) was an Australian politician, who after primary school was apprenticed to a trade, worked in the Victorian Post and Telegraph Department, with continued studies he became an

Auctioneer An auction is usually a process of buying and selling goods or services by offering them up for bids, taking bids, and then selling the item to the highest bidder or buying the item from the lowest bidder. Some exceptions to this definition ex ...

and Commission Agent. He served thee terms in the

Victorian Parliament The Parliament of Victoria is the bicameral legislature of the Australian state of Victoria that follows a Westminster-derived parliamentary system. It consists of the King, represented by the Governor of Victoria, the Legislative Assembly and ...

and became a Director and the Chief President of the

Australian Natives' Association The Australian Natives' Association (ANA) was a mutual society founded in Melbourne, Australia in April 1871. It was founded by and for the benefit of native-born white Australians and membership was restricted exclusively to that group. The A ...

Early life

Kirton was born in 1861 in

Ballarat East Ballarat East is a suburb of Ballarat in Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. From 1857 until 1921 the suburb had its own council (see below). The suburb covers a large area east of the city centre. It is the oldest urban area in Ballara ...

, the son of boot-maker Emanuel Kirton and his wife Jane Milburn, both from

Cumberland Cumberland ( ) is a historic county in the far North West England. It covers part of the Lake District as well as the north Pennines and Solway Firth coast. Cumberland had an administrative function from the 12th century until 1974. From 19 ...

, England. After a primary education in Oldham's National School and its successor, the Dana Street State School in Ballarat he was apprenticed to a trade and then worked in the Post and Telegraph Department. He continued his studies with a tutor from the

School of Mines A school of mines (or mining school) is an engineering school, often established in the 18th and 19th centuries, that originally focused on mining engineering and applied science. Most have been integrated within larger constructs such as minera ...

, and became an Auctioneer and Commission Agent.

Family

In 1893 he married Annie Elder Thomas, who died in 1897. In 1899 he married again, Violette Finnis. His brother,

Alfred Kirton Alfred James Kirton (14 April 1877 – 20 April 1960) was an Australian politician. He was born in Ballarat to bookmaker Emanuel Kirton and Jane Milburn. He left school at the age of twelve to work for a draper, and from the age of fifteen ...

, was elected as a Member of the Legislative Assembly representing Mornington 1932-1947.

Beliefs

Kirton was a man of strong beliefs that were ‘matured within three powerful Ballarat institutions, the Lydiard Street

Wesleyan Church The Wesleyan Church, also known as the Wesleyan Methodist Church and Wesleyan Holiness Church depending on the region, is a Methodist Christian denomination in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, South Africa, Namibia, Sierra Leone, L ...

Mutual Improvement Association, the Australian Natives’ Association, and the South Street Debating Society’. ‘A

teetotaller Teetotalism is the practice or promotion of total personal abstinence from the psychoactive drug alcohol, specifically in alcoholic drinks. A person who practices (and possibly advocates) teetotalism is called a teetotaler or teetotaller, or is ...

and

Sabbatarian Sabbatarianism advocates the observation of the Sabbath in Christianity, in keeping with the Ten Commandments. The observance of Sunday as a day of worship and rest is a form of first-day Sabbatarianism, a view which was historically heralded ...

, Kirton also expressed the concern of goldfields society for social justice and economic opportunity’.

Politics

Kirton represented Ballarat West in the

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

from 1889 to 1904, and from 1907 to 1908. In parliament he condemned privilege and fought against the abuse of free railway passes. He pioneered

old age pensions A pension (, from Latin ''pensiō'', "payment") is a fund into which a sum of money is added during an employee's employment years and from which payments are drawn to support the person's retirement from work in the form of periodic payments ...

and supported

income tax An income tax is a tax imposed on individuals or entities (taxpayers) in respect of the income or profits earned by them (commonly called taxable income). Income tax generally is computed as the product of a tax rate times the taxable income. Tax ...

, abolition of

plural voting Plural voting is the practice whereby one person might be able to vote multiple times in an election. It is not to be confused with a plurality voting system which does not necessarily involve plural voting. Weighted voting is a generalisation of p ...

, and

votes for women A vote is a formal method of choosing in an election. Vote(s) or The Vote may also refer to: Music *''V.O.T.E.'', an album by Chris Stamey and Yo La Tengo, 2004 *"Vote", a song by the Submarines from ''Declare a New State!'', 2006 Television * " ...

. He championed village settlement schemes and openly supported the

right to strike Strike action, also called labor strike, labour strike, or simply strike, is a work stoppage caused by the mass refusal of employees to work. A strike usually takes place in response to employee grievances. Strikes became common during the I ...

. But his biographer comments that ‘as a minister ... he seemed to forget lifelong principles and by calling the rail strike of May 1903 a rebellion he so alienated ... his working-class support that he lost his seat’. There are no records of his parliamentary speeches. He was Chairman of the 1897-98 Royal Commission on old age pensions, was a member of the Royal Commissions on gold mining (1889–91) and was a member of the Royal Commission into the factories and shops laws (1900–02) Kirton was Chairman of the Ballarat Water Commission in 1903.

Australian Natives Association

Joseph Kirton was a long-term member of the Ballarat ANA and its president in 1890. Becoming a director in 1892 and Chief President of the ANA in 1895, Kirton worked to achieve a democratic form of federation for Australia, with universal suffrage and limitation of the powers of the Senate. He actively supported the "Yes" campaign for Federation.

Later years

In 1911 Kirton moved to Melbourne, where he set up an estate agency and became secretary of Victorian Master Baker's Association, working with that organisation until 1921. He died in Balwyn in 1935 survived by his second wife, two daughters and a son.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kirton, Joseph 1861 births 1935 deaths Members of the Victorian Legislative Assembly Australian auctioneers People from Ballarat