James George Drake (26 April 1850 – 1 August 1941), often cited as J. G. Drake, was an Australian politician. After a number of years in

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

colonial politics, he was elected to the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

at the first federal election in 1901. He subsequently held ministerial office under prime ministers

Edmund Barton Sir Edmund "Toby" Barton, (18 January 18497 January 1920) was an Australian politician and judge who served as the first prime minister of Australia from 1901 to 1903, holding office as the leader of the Protectionist Party. He resigned to ...

Alfred Deakin Alfred Deakin (3 August 1856 – 7 October 1919) was an Australian politician who served as the second Prime Minister of Australia. He was a leader of the movement for Federation, which occurred in 1901. During his three terms as prime ministe ...

, and

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 fr ...

, serving as

Postmaster-General A Postmaster General, in Anglosphere countries, is the chief executive officer of the postal service of that country, a Ministry (government department), ministerial office responsible for overseeing all other postmasters. The practice of having ...

(1901–1903),

Minister for Defence {{unsourced, date=February 2021 A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is an often-used name for the part of a government responsible for matters of defence, found in states ...

(1903),

Attorney-General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general or attorney-general (sometimes abbreviated AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. The plural is attorneys general. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have exec ...

(1903–1904), and

Vice-President of the Executive Council The Vice-President of the Executive Council is the minister in the Government of Australia who acts as the presiding officer of meetings of the Federal Executive Council when the Governor-General is absent. The Vice-President of the Executiv ...

(1904–1905).

Early life

Drake was born on 26 April 1850 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 ...

, England. He was the son of Ann (née Hyde) and Edward Drake, his father being a

pub A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and was ...

lican. He was educated at

King's College School King's College School, also known as Wimbledon, KCS, King's and KCS Wimbledon, is a public school in Wimbledon, southwest London, England. The school was founded in 1829 by King George IV, as the junior department of King's College London an ...

and then worked for merchant firms for several years. Drake left London in October 1873 and arrived in

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...

in January 1874. He sought work unsuccessfully in the tin mines at

Stanthorpe Stanthorpe is a rural town and locality in the Southern Downs Region, Queensland, Australia. In the , Stanthorpe had a population of 5,406 people. The area surrounding the town is known as the Granite Belt. Geography Stanthorpe lies on the New ...

before finding employment as a store clerk in

Toowoomba Toowoomba ( , nicknamed 'The Garden City' and 'T-Bar') is a city in the Toowoomba Region of the Darling Downs, Queensland, Australia. It is west of Queensland's capital city Brisbane by road. The urban population of Toowoomba as of the 2021 C ...

, later returning to Brisbane. He also spent some time as a jackaroo in western Queensland.

Journalism and legal career

In 1875, Drake began working as a journalist with the ''Bundaberg Star''. He subsequently moved to the '' Daily Northern Argus'' (

Rockhampton Rockhampton is a city in the Rockhampton Region of Central Queensland, Australia. The population of Rockhampton in June 2021 was 79,967, Estimated resident population, 30 June 2018. making it the fourth-largest city in the state outside of the ...

) and then returned to Brisbane to work on the ''

Telegraph Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages where the sender uses symbolic codes, known to the recipient, rather than a physical exchange of an object bearing the message. Thus flag semaphore is a method of telegraphy, whereas p ...

'' and ''

Courier A courier is a person or organisation that delivers a message, package or letter from one place or person to another place or person. Typically, a courier provides their courier service on a commercial contract basis; however, some couriers are ...

'' (as

leader writer A leader writer is a senior journalist in a British newspaper who is charged with writing the paper's editorial either in the absence of the editor or in cases where the editor chooses not to write editorials because their editorial skills may res ...

). For a brief period he moved to

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

and worked as a parliamentary reporter for the '' Argus''. Upon his return to Queensland he joined the staff of ''

Hansard ''Hansard'' is the traditional name of the transcripts of parliamentary debates in Britain and many Commonwealth countries. It is named after Thomas Curson Hansard (1776–1833), a London printer and publisher, who was the first official print ...

'', making use of his

shorthand Shorthand is an abbreviated symbolic writing method that increases speed and brevity of writing as compared to longhand, a more common method of writing a language. The process of writing in shorthand is called stenography, from the Greek ''ste ...

skills in transcribing debates in the colonial parliament; he was president of the Queensland Shorthand Writers' Association. Drake began reading law in May 1881 and was admitted to the bar in June 1882. He established a "flourishing practice" in partnership with Magnus Jensen. His radical views led to a friendship with the utopian socialist

William Lane William Lane (6 September 1861 – 26 August 1917) was an English-born journalist, author, advocate of Australian labour politics and a utopian socialist ideologue. Lane was born in Bristol, England into an impoverished family. After showin ...

, and in 1887 he became a shareholder, writer, and joint editor of Lane's weekly newspaper ''

The Boomerang ''The Boomerang'' was a weekly newspaper published in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. History The newspaper was established by William Lane in 1887, publishing its first issue on 19 November 1887. James Drake, future Attorney-General of A ...

''.

Military service

Drake was commissioned as a lieutenant in the Queeensland Defence Force in 1886, and promoted to captain in 1888 and major in 1900.

Colonial politics

Drake was a member of the

Legislative Assembly of Queensland The Legislative Assembly of Queensland is the sole chamber of the unicameral Parliament of Queensland established under the Constitution of Queensland. Elections are held every four years and are done by full preferential voting. The Assembl ...

for the

Electoral district of Enoggera Enoggera was an Queensland Legislative Assembly electoral districts, electoral district of the Legislative Assembly of Queensland, Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of Queensland. It existed from 1873 to 1950 and centred on the suburb ...

from 12 May 1888 to 7 December 1899. Following his period as an elected representative, he was appointed a life Member of the

Legislative Council of Queensland The Queensland Legislative Council was the upper house of the parliament in the Australian state of Queensland. It was a fully nominated body which first took office on 1 May 1860. It was abolished by the Constitution Amendment Act 1921, which to ...

on 7 December 1899, during which he was Postmaster-General and Secretary for Public Instruction in Queensland. Although membership of the Legislative Council was a life appointment, he resigned on 13 May 1901 in order to pursue a career in newly established

federal parliament The Parliament of Australia (officially the Federal Parliament, also called the Commonwealth Parliament) is the legislative branch of the government of Australia. It consists of three elements: the monarch (represented by the governor-gen ...

Federal politics

After

Federation A federation (also known as a federal state) is a political entity characterized by a union of partially self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a central federal government (federalism). In a federation, the self-governin ...

on 1 January 1901,

formed a caretaker ministry with

James Dickson James or Jim Dickson may refer to: Politicians *James Dickson (Scottish politician) (c. 1715–1771), MP for Lanark Burghs 1768–1771 *James Dickson (New South Wales politician) (1813–1863), member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly *Ja ...

as Queensland's sole representative. Dickson's sudden death just over a week later caused Barton to seek another Queenslander to join his ministry. Philp recommended that Drake be offered the position, and as a result he was appointed

on 5 February 1901. He was elected to the

as a

Protectionist Protectionism, sometimes referred to as trade protectionism, is the economic policy of restricting imports from other countries through methods such as tariffs on imported goods, import quotas, and a variety of other government regulations. ...

at the inaugural federal election held the following month. Drake was tasked with establishing a national post and telegraph system from the six existing colonial systems. He secured the passage of the ''Post and Telegraph Act 1901'', in his

second reading A reading of a bill is a stage of debate on the bill held by a general body of a legislature. In the Westminster system, developed in the United Kingdom, there are generally three readings of a bill as it passes through the stages of becoming ...

speech expressing the need for non-discrimination in the provision of services and the advantages of a publicly owned telegraph service. He was generally regarded as a competent administrator, although his appointment of Queenslander Robert Scott as the inaugural head of the

Postmaster-General's Department The Postmaster-General's Department (PMG) was a department of the Australian federal government, established at Federation in 1901, whose responsibilities included the provision of postal and telegraphic services throughout Australia. It was ...

led to accusation of state bias. ''

Punch Punch commonly refers to: * Punch (combat), a strike made using the hand closed into a fist * Punch (drink), a wide assortment of drinks, non-alcoholic or alcoholic, generally containing fruit or fruit juice Punch may also refer to: Places * Pun ...

'' regarded him as "a plodder – thorough rather than brilliant". Following a reshuffle in August 1903, Drake replaced John Forrest as

. He held the position for only six weeks, as Attorney-General

replaced Barton as prime minister the following month and appointed Drake as his successor. He presented the Commonwealth's arguments in ''

D'Emden v Pedder ''D'Emden v Pedder''. was a significant Australian court case decided in the High Court of Australia on 26 April 1904. It directly concerned the question of whether salary receipts of federal government employees were subject to state stamp dut ...

'', one of the first significant constitutional cases decided by the

High Court of Australia The High Court of Australia is Australia's apex court. It exercises Original jurisdiction, original and appellate jurisdiction on matters specified within Constitution of Australia, Australia's Constitution. The High Court was established fol ...

. Drake was a strong supporter of the

White Australia policy The White Australia policy is a term encapsulating a set of historical policies that aimed to forbid people of non-European ethnic origin, especially Asians (primarily Chinese) and Pacific Islanders, from immigrating to Australia, starting i ...

. Days before the 1903 federal election, in response to the ''Petriana'' affair, he stated that its provisions should even extend to shipwrecked sailors. '' The Argus'' reported he had told an election meeting in Sydney:

It was undesirable that educated gentlemen who had been in gaol, or coloured men who had been shipwrecked, should land in Australia in defiance of the law. They intended to keep their race pure, and make Australia a place worth living in.

Deakin's first government fell in April 1904. After a brief interlude of

Australian Labor Party The Australian Labor Party (ALP), also simply known as Labor, is the major centre-left political party in Australia, one of two major parties in Australian politics, along with the centre-right Liberal Party of Australia. The party forms the f ...

(ALP) government led by Chris Watson, opposition leader

formed a coalition government of his Free Traders and the Protectionists willing to support him. Drake joined the government as

and Leader of the Government in the Senate, holding office until the government fell in July 1905. He was not invited to join the Second Deakin ministry, although in January 1906 he established ''Commonwealth'', a

broadsheet A broadsheet is the largest newspaper format and is characterized by long Vertical and horizontal, vertical pages, typically of . Other common newspaper formats include the smaller Berliner (format), Berliner and Tabloid (newspaper format), ta ...

designed to counter anti-federation feeling in Queensland. He lost

preselection Preselection is the process by which a candidate is selected, usually by a political party, to contest an election for political office. It is also referred to as candidate selection. It is a fundamental function of political parties. The presele ...

prior to the 1906 federal election, and decided to retire from federal politics rather than stand for re-election as an independent.

Later life

Drake stood for the Queensland state seat of North Brisbane in 1907, but only gained 137 votes. He was state crown prosecutor from 1910 to 1920 and in 1912 was appointed Acting Deputy Judge of the

District Court of Queensland The District Court of Queensland (QDC) is the second tier in the court hierarchy of Queensland, Australia. The Court deals with serious criminal offences such as rape, armed robbery and fraud. Juries are used to decide if defendants are guilty ...

Death

He died in Brisbane Hospital and was buried in

Toowong Cemetery Toowong Cemetery is a heritage-listed cemetery on the corner of Frederick Street and Mt Coot-tha Road, Toowong, City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It was established in 1866 and formally opened in 1875. It is Queensland's largest ceme ...

.Drake James George
– Brisbane City Council Grave Location Search. Retrieved 18 February 2015. He was the last surviving member of the Barton, Reid and the first Deakin Cabinet. Drake was survived by four children from his marriage to Mary Street in 1897.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Drake, James George People educated at King's College School, London Members of the Cabinet of Australia Members of the Australian Senate for Queensland Members of the Australian Senate Protectionist Party members of the Parliament of Australia Attorneys-General of Australia 1850 births 1941 deaths Members of the Queensland Legislative Assembly Burials at Toowong Cemetery Members of the Queensland Legislative Council Defence ministers of Australia 20th-century Australian politicians English emigrants to colonial Australia Judges of the District Court of Queensland 20th-century Australian judges