John Albert Southwood (1868 – 18 October 1945) was an Australian politician, newspaperman and trade unionist. He represented the

South Australian House of Assembly The House of Assembly, or lower house, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of South Australia. The other is the South Australian Legislative Council, Legislative Council. It sits in Parliament House, Adelaide, Parliament House in the st ...

multi-member An electoral system or voting system is a set of rules that determine how elections and referendums are conducted and how their results are determined. Electoral systems are used in politics to elect governments, while non-political elections ma ...

seats of

Wallaroo Wallaroo is a common name for several species of moderately large macropods, intermediate in size between the kangaroos and the wallabies. The word "wallaroo" is from the Dharug ''walaru'', and not a portmanteau of the words "kangaroo" and "wal ...

from 1912 to 1915 and

East Torrens East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the fac ...

from 1915 to 1921. He was a member of the

United Labor Party The South Australian Labor Party, officially known as the Australian Labor Party (South Australian Branch) and commonly referred to simply as South Australian Labor, is the South Australian Branch of the Australian Labor Party, originally formed ...

until 1917, when he joined the National Party after the 1917 Labor split, but sat as an independent from 1920 until his retirement in 1921. Southwood was born at

, and apprenticed as a printer with a local firm. He moved to Broken Hill, where he worked on the composing staff of ''

The Barrier Miner ''The Barrier Miner'' was a daily broadsheet newspaper published in Broken Hill in far western New South Wales from 1888 to 1974. History First published on 28 February 1888, ''The Barrier Miner'' was published continuously until 25 November 1 ...

'', and became a foundation member of the Barrier Typographical Society. He subsequently moved to Katoomba, where he took over ''

The Katoomba Times ''The Katoomba Times'' was established by George W. Spring in early 1889. History In early 1889, the year Katoomba became a municipality, Spring established ''The Katoomba Times'' which ran under his sole proprietorship until September 1890 when ...

'' in partnership with George Spring. In 1895, Southwood and Spring moved to Kadina and established ''

The Plain Dealer ''The Plain Dealer'' is the major newspaper of Cleveland, Ohio, United States. In fall 2019, it ranked 23rd in U.S. newspaper circulation, a significant drop since March 2013, when its circulation ranked 17th daily and 15th on Sunday. As of Ma ...

''; their partnership would continue until August 1917, after which Spring ran the newspaper alone. Southwood also published a novel, ''His Other Half'', which began as a serial in the ''Plain Dealer'' in 1908 and was later released as a book. Prior to entering state politics, he was a

District Council of Kadina The District Council of Kadina was a local government area in South Australia from 1888 to 1984. History It was established by the '' District Councils Act 1887'', which took effect from 5 January 1888. It comprised the former District Council ...

councillor for several years, including a stint as mayor from 1907 to 1908, and was successful in establishing a municipal electric plant in the face of significant opposition. He was elected to the House of Assembly at the 1912 state election for Wallaroo, but successfully shifted to East Torrens in 1915 when a redistribution reduced the number of members for the Wallaroo electorate. A supporter of conscription in World War I, he was expelled from the Labor Party in the 1917 Labor split and joined the new National Party, which went into coalition with the conservative Liberal Union. He was re-elected for the National Party at the 1918 election, but resigned from that party to sit as an Independent Labor MHA in 1920 after disagreements with the agenda of the conservative government. He retired at the 1921 election. Southwood was elected South Australian state secretary of the

Australian Theatrical and Amusement Employees' Association The Australian Theatrical and Amusement Employees' Association was an Australian trade union which existed between 1910 and 1993. It represented a wide range of workers employed in the entertainment industry in Australia. Coverage The ATAEA ...

in 1915, succeeding

Lionel Hill Lionel Laughton Hill (14 May 1881 – 19 March 1963) was an Australian politician who served as the thirtieth Premier of South Australia, representing the South Australian Branch of the Australian Labor Party. Early life Born in Adelaide, So ...

. He served as state secretary for thirty years, retiring in 1945, only two weeks before his death. He had also served two terms as the union's federal president.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Southwood, John Members of the South Australian House of Assembly Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of South Australia Independent members of the Parliament of South Australia 1868 births 1945 deaths People from Wallaroo, South Australia Mayors of places in South Australia Colony of South Australia people Colony of New South Wales people