Joseph Thomas Davies (29 May 1880 – 16 July 1954) was an Australian trade unionist and politician who was a 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 1917 to 1924, representing the seat of Guildford.

Early life

Davies was born in

Pontypridd () ( colloquially: Ponty) is a town and a community in Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales. Geography comprises the electoral wards of , Hawthorn, Pontypridd Town, 'Rhondda', Rhydyfelin Central/Ilan ( Rhydfelen), Trallwng ( Trallwn) and Treforest (). ...

, Wales, to Elizabeth Olivia (née Morgan) and Joseph Edward Davies. He began working in the coal mines of

South Wales South Wales ( cy, De Cymru) is a loosely defined region of Wales bordered by England to the east and mid Wales to the north. Generally considered to include the historic counties of Glamorgan and Monmouthshire, south Wales extends westwards ...

as a boy, and then in 1899 emigrated to Australia. Davies settled in

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

, where he worked as a labourer (and later boilermaker) at the

Midland Railway Workshops The Midland Railway Workshops in Midland, Western Australia, were the main workshops for the Western Australian Government Railways (WAGR) for over 80 years. History The first railway workshops in Western Australia were located at Fremantle a ...

. He was involved in various railway trade unions, and in 1911 began working full-time as a union official. Davies also served on the West Guildford Road Board from 1907.Joseph Thomas Davies
Biographical Register of Members of the Parliament of Western Australia. Retrieved 6 January 2017.

Politics

Davies left the Labor Party in the aftermath of the 1916 split on conscription, joining the newly formed

National Labor Party The National Labor Party was formed by Australian Prime Minister Billy Hughes in 1916, following the 1916 Labor split on the issue of World War I conscription in Australia. Hughes had taken over as leader of the Australian Labor Party and Pr ...

. He entered parliament at the 1917 state election, defeating William Johnson (the sitting Labor member and a former party leader) in the seat of Guildford. Davies was re-elected at the 1921 election, albeit with a reduced majority. However, in 1924 William Johnson reclaimed the seat for the Labor Party. Davies attempted to re-enter parliament at the 1924 and 1926 Legislative Council elections, standing as a

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: Th ...

Metropolitan-Suburban Province The Metropolitan-Suburban Province was a three-member electoral province of the Western Australian Legislative Council, located in the metropolitan region of Perth. It was created by the ''Constitution Acts Amendment Act 1899'', and became effect ...

, but was defeated on both occasions. He made one final run for parliament at the 1948 Guildford-Midland by-election, standing as an independent, but polled just 0.9 percent of the vote. Davies died in Perth in 1954, aged 74. He had married Mary Theresa Brown in 1903, with whom he had ten children.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Davies, Joseph 1880 births 1954 deaths Members of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly National Labor Party members of the Parliament of Western Australia Nationalist Party (Australia) politicians People from Pontypridd Trade unionists from Western Australia Welsh emigrants to colonial Australia Western Australian local councillors

Early life

Politics

See also

References