Sir Joseph Totterdell (4 August 1885 – 26 December 1959) was an Australian politician who was the

Lord Mayor of Perth __TOC__ The history of the City of Perth, a local government area of Western Australia is defined over three distinct periods: *From 1829 to 1838 — controlled by the Governor of Western Australia *From 1838 to 1858 — controlled by the ''Pe ...

from 1945 to 1953. He was also a

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a li ...

member of the Legislative Assembly 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 ...

from 1950 to 1953, representing the seat of West Perth. Totterdell was born in

Marple Marple may refer to: Places * Marple, Greater Manchester, a town close to Stockport, in England ** Marple Bridge, a village within the Metropolitan Borough of Stockport, in Greater Manchester ** Marple railway station in Marple, Greater Manchest ...

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the west, Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, and Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south. Cheshire's county t ...

, England. Apprenticed to a bricklayer after leaving school, he emigrated to Australia in 1903, eventually opening a building firm with his brothers. Totterdell was elected to the

City of Perth A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...

council in 1931, and served as a councillor until 1945, when he was elected lord mayor.Joseph Totterdell
– Biographical Register of Members of the Parliament of Western Australia. Retrieved 16 May 2016. At the 1950 state election, while still remaining lord mayor, he successfully contested the seat of West Perth for the Liberal Party, replacing a former leader of the party,

Robert Ross McDonald Sir Robert Ross McDonald QC (25 January 1888 – 25 March 1964) was an Australian politician who was a member of the Legislative Assembly of Western Australia from 1933 to 1950, representing the seat of West Perth. He served as leader of the ...

. However, Totterdell would serve only a single term in parliament, as at the 1953 election he was defeated by the high-profile

Labor Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

candidate,

Stan Heal Stanley "Pops" Heal (30 July 1920 – 15 December 2010) was an Australian rules footballer who played for Melbourne in the Victorian Football League (VFL) as well as West Perth in the West Australian National Football League (WANFL) during the ...

(a former

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an oval field, often a modified cricket ground. Points are scored by k ...

er). He retired as lord mayor at the end of the same year, having been knighted in the

1953 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 1953 for the United Kingdom were announced on 30 December 1952, to celebrate the year passed and mark the beginning of 1953. This was the first New Year Honours since the accession of Queen Elizabeth II. The ''Honours list'' ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Totterdell, Joseph 1885 births 1959 deaths Australian Congregationalists Australian Knights Bachelor English emigrants to Australia Liberal Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Western Australia Mayors and Lord Mayors of Perth, Western Australia Members of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly People from Marple, Greater Manchester Australian builders 20th-century Australian politicians