James Howard Catts (12 August 1877 – 26 November 1951) was an Australian politician, unionist and businessman.

Early life

Catts was born on 12 August 1877 in

Wagga Wagga, New South Wales Wagga Wagga (; informally called Wagga) is a major regional city in the Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia. Straddling the Murrumbidgee River, with an urban population of more than 56,000 as of June 2018, Wagga Wagga is the state's la ...

. He was the son of Amy (née Hedger) and James Catts; his father was a

joiner A joiner is an artisan and tradesperson who builds things by joining pieces of wood, particularly lighter and more ornamental work than that done by a carpenter, including furniture and the "fittings" of a house, ship, etc. Joiners may work in ...

and grocer. He was raised by his paternal grandfather in Sydney, living in

Stanmore Stanmore is part of the London Borough of Harrow in London. It is centred northwest of Charing Cross, lies on the outskirts of the London urban area and includes Stanmore Hill, one of the highest points of London, at high. The district, which ...

and attending the Macdonaldtown public school. He returned to live with his parents in

Orange Orange most often refers to: *Orange (fruit), the fruit of the tree species '' Citrus'' × ''sinensis'' ** Orange blossom, its fragrant flower *Orange (colour), from the color of an orange, occurs between red and yellow in the visible spectrum * ...

at the age of thirteen. The family established a bakery in

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also re ...

in 1894. Catts helped in the family business and also worked as a labourer and shearers' cook. At the age of 17, he became the secretary of the Farmers and Settlers' and the Progress associations at Forbes, and was general secretary of the United Progress Association of New South wales from 1900–03. He was also organising secretary of the New South Wales

Temperance Temperance may refer to: Moderation *Temperance movement, movement to reduce the amount of alcohol consumed *Temperance (virtue), habitual moderation in the indulgence of a natural appetite or passion Culture *Temperance (group), Canadian danc ...

Alliance, and held other prominent positions in railway unions. From 1913-14 he became general secretary of the Australian Union Federation and president of the Australasian Labour Federation, and founded the United Secretaries' Association in 1915.

Politics

Catts's first attempt to enter politics was unsuccessful, running in the 1904 state election as the

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 for Granville. He became the youngest member of the

Australian House of Representatives The House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameral Parliament of Australia, the upper house being the Senate. Its composition and powers are established in Chapter I of the Constitution of Australia. The term of members of the ...

in 1906 when he was elected to the seat of

Cook Cook or The Cook may refer to: Food preparation * Cooking, the preparation of food * Cook (domestic worker), a household staff member who prepares food * Cook (professional), an individual who prepares food for consumption in the food industry * ...

at the age of 28, and became associated with

King O'Malley King O'Malley (2 July 1858? – 20 December 1953) was an American-born Australian politician who served in the House of Representatives from 1901 to 1917, and served two terms as Minister for Home Affairs (1910–1913; 1915–16). He is remember ...

and

Billy Hughes William Morris Hughes (25 September 1862 – 28 October 1952) was an Australian politician who served as the seventh prime minister of Australia, in office from 1915 to 1923. He is best known for leading the country during World War I, but ...

. He became known 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. ...

and

nationalist Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: The ...

in Parliament. In

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

on 12 August 1907, he married Eva Alice Weber; they were divorced in 1920. On 18 August 1910, Catts was suspended from the House of Representatives for one day, the first member to be suspended. This was because he referred to a statement by Elliot Johnson as "a dirty, skunky thing to say", and also referred to members opposite as "you dirty skunks". Catts was director of the Federal and State Labor campaigns in New South Wales from 1914 to 1922. He was also the director of voluntary recruiting in New South Wales 1915–16, producing the weekly magazine ''Call to Arms''. He was also an opponent of

communism Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...

and

conscription Conscription (also called the draft in the United States) is the state-mandated enlistment of people in a national service, mainly a military service. Conscription dates back to antiquity and it continues in some countries to the present day un ...

, and was prosecuted for asserting that

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

hoped to annexe

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. He married for the second time on 8 September 1920, again at Sydney, Dorothy Marguerite Purcell. Catts was expelled from the Labor Party in 1922 having been accused of sectarianism, and unsuccessfully ran at the elections for the

Majority Labor Party The Majority Labor Party, sometimes called the Majority Australian Labor Party, was an Australian political party formed by federal Australian Labor Party MP James Catts in 1922. It did not win any seats in parliament. Catts resigned from the Lab ...

Later life

Catts continued to be active in the Labor Party, running unsuccessfully as the Federal Labor candidate for

Martin Martin may refer to: Places * Martin City (disambiguation) * Martin County (disambiguation) * Martin Township (disambiguation) Antarctica * Martin Peninsula, Marie Byrd Land * Port Martin, Adelie Land * Point Martin, South Orkney Islands Austral ...

in 1931. He was opposed to the

Lang Labor Lang Labor was a faction of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) consisting of the supporters of Jack Lang, who served two terms as Premier of New South Wales and was the party's state leader from 1923 to 1939. Following the expulsion of the N ...

Party, but unsuccessfully ran in East Sydney in 1940 as a

United Australia Party The United Australia Party (UAP) was an Australian political party that was founded in 1931 and dissolved in 1945. The party won four federal elections in that time, usually governing in coalition with the Country Party. It provided two prim ...

candidate. In 1944, he failed to be elected to

Sydney Municipal Council The City of Sydney is the local government area covering the Sydney central business district and surrounding inner city suburbs of the greater metropolitan area of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Established by Act of Parliament in 1842 ...

, and subsequently retired. In his retirement, Catts became secretary and treasurer of the New South Wales branch of the

British Astronomical Association The British Astronomical Association (BAA) was formed in 1890 as a national body to support the UK's amateur astronomers. Throughout its history, the BAA has encouraged observers to make scientifically valuable observations, often in collaborati ...

, devoting more time to his hobby of

astronomy Astronomy () is a natural science that studies astronomical object, celestial objects and phenomena. It uses mathematics, physics, and chemistry in order to explain their origin and chronology of the Universe, evolution. Objects of interest ...

. He died on 26 November 1951 at

Huntleys Point Huntleys Point is a suburb on the Lower North Shore of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Huntleys Point is located nine kilometres north-west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the Mun ...

, and was survived by his second wife, their son and three daughters.

Personal life

Catts married Eva Alice Weber in 1907, with whom he had one son. In 1919, his first wife petitioned for divorce on the grounds of adultery, alleging her husband had engaged in an extramarital affair with Dorothy Purcell that resulted in the birth of a child. The case attracted significant media attention given his status as a federal MP. His first wife was awarded

alimony Alimony, also called aliment (Scotland), maintenance (England, Ireland, Northern Ireland, Wales, Canada, New Zealand), spousal support (U.S., Canada) and spouse maintenance (Australia), is a legal obligation on a person to provide financial suppo ...

, with the presiding judge finding that Catts had illegally concealed assets in order to reduce the settlement. After the granting of the divorce, Catts married Purcell in September 1920. The couple had one son and three daughters together. He died on 26 November 1951 at

Huntleys Point, New South Wales Huntleys Point is a suburb on the Lower North Shore of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Huntleys Point is located nine kilometres north-west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the Munici ...

, aged 74. After his death, Dorothy Catts published biographies both of her husband and of his political ally

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Catts, James 1877 births 1951 deaths Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Australia Members of the Australian House of Representatives Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Cook (1906–1955) Australian trade unionists Majority Labor Party members of the Parliament of Australia 20th-century Australian politicians Australian bakers