John Stewart (23 May 1868 – 30 August 1927) was an Australian businessman and politician who briefly represented the seat of Claremont in 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 1917 to 1918. Stewart was born in

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

, to Jeannie (née Moore) and Bruce Stewart. He arrived in Western Australia in the 1890s, and by 1897 was working as an accountant in

Fremantle Fremantle () () is a port city in Western Australia, located at the mouth of the Swan River in the metropolitan area of Perth, the state capital. Fremantle Harbour serves as the port of Perth. The Western Australian vernacular diminutive for ...

. In 1900, he founded a produce firm, John Stewart & Co., and subsequently became prominent in Fremantle's mercantile sector, serving as a president of the

Fremantle Chamber of Commerce The Fremantle Chamber of Commerce is a business and commerce advocacy association in Fremantle, Western Australia. History In 1853 the Western Australian Chamber of Commerce was founded. In 1873 the Chamber of Commerce requested and was grant ...

.Black, David, and Bolton, Geoffrey (1990).
Biographical Register of Members of the Parliament of Western Australia: Volume One (1870–1930)
'', p. 105. At the 1914 state election, Stewart unsuccessfully contested the seat of Fremantle as a

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

candidate, opposing 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 ...

government of

John Scaddan John Scaddan, CMG (4 August 1876 – 21 November 1934), popularly known as "Happy Jack", was Premier of Western Australia from 7 October 1911 until 27 July 1916. Early life John Scaddan was born in Moonta, South Australia, into a Cornish A ...

. He was defeated by Labor's William Carpenter, the sitting member, placing second (in front of another Liberal candidate) with 29.40 percent of the vote. A strong supporter of the war effort against Germany, Stewart resigned from the Fremantle Chamber of Commerce in June 1916 to protest its apparent unwillingness to bar "persons of enemy birth" from membership. Prominent in local

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...

circles, he was a member of the boards of Scotch College and Presbyterian Ladies' College, each located in the seat of Claremont. Stewart stood for that electorate at the 1917 election, running as one of three

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 ...

candidates. He placed second on first preferences, but on the

two-candidate-preferred vote In Australian politics, the two-party-preferred vote (TPP or 2PP) is the result of an election or opinion poll after preferences have been distributed to the highest two candidates, who in some cases can be independents. For the purposes of TPP, ...

eventually won on a majority of just two votes, following a recount. Stewart's time in parliament, however, was short-lived, as he resigned due to ill-health less than a year after taking office. The resulting by-election was won by another Nationalist,

Thomas Duff Thomas John Duff (1792–1848) was an Irish architect from Newry, County Down. Duff was the principal architect of a number of Roman Catholic churches and cathedrals in the northeast of Ireland. His work included three churches dedicated to St ...

. Stewart had married Lily Berry Tate in June 1897 in Fremantle, and the couple went on to have four sons and a daughter together. Later becoming residents of Cottesloe, the couple left for an extended tour of Europe in 1926. On the return voyage to Australia, on the SS ''Narkunda'' in late August 1927, they were at sea near

Gibraltar ) , anthem = " God Save the King" , song = " Gibraltar Anthem" , image_map = Gibraltar location in Europe.svg , map_alt = Location of Gibraltar in Europe , map_caption = United Kingdom shown in pale green , mapsize = , image_map2 = Gib ...

when Stewart jumped from a porthole wearing only his pyjamas. Both he and an engineer who had dived after him were drowned, and an inquest returned a verdict of suicide, brought on by "acute insomnia and

neurasthenia Neurasthenia (from the Ancient Greek νεῦρον ''neuron'' "nerve" and ἀσθενής ''asthenés'' "weak") is a term that was first used at least as early as 1829 for a mechanical weakness of the nerves and became a major diagnosis in North A ...

". Aged 59 at the time of his death, Stewart was eulogised in ''

The West Australian ''The West Australian'' is the only locally edited daily newspaper published in Perth, Western Australia. It is owned by Seven West Media (SWM), as is the state's other major newspaper, ''The Sunday Times''. It is the second-oldest continuousl ...

'' as a "capable business man" and "generous donor", "possessing gifts above the average"."SUICIDE AT SEA."
– ''The West Australian'', 1 September 1927.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stewart, John 1868 births 1927 deaths Australian politicians who committed suicide Australian Presbyterians Members of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly Nationalist Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Western Australia Politicians from Glasgow Scottish emigrants to Australia Suicides by drowning in Australia People who died at sea