Charles Mark Anthony "Mat" Davidson (2 May 1869 – 9 January 1949) was an Australian politician.

Early life

Davidson was born 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 ...

to James Davidson, a

tailor A tailor is a person who makes or alters clothing, particularly in men's clothing. The Oxford English Dictionary dates the term to the thirteenth century. History Although clothing construction goes back to prehistory, there is evidence of ...

from

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

, and his wife Margaret. Davidson left school at 12 to begin an apprenticeship as a tailor, which he did not complete. After a short period working on a coastal vessel trading with the

Pacific islands Collectively called the Pacific Islands, the islands in the Pacific Ocean are further categorized into three major island groups: Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. Depending on the context, the term ''Pacific Islands'' may refer to one of se ...

Davidson worked as a bushworker, shearer and tank sinker in the Monaro. He worked as miner from about 1888 to 1896 in

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

Broken Hill Broken Hill is an inland mining city in the far west of outback New South Wales, Australia. It is near the border with South Australia on the crossing of the Barrier Highway (A32) and the Silver City Highway (B79), in the Barrier Range. It is ...

and

Cobar Cobar is a town in central western New South Wales, Australia whose economy is based mainly upon base metals and gold mining. The town is by road northwest of the state capital, Sydney. It is at the crossroads of the Kidman Way and Barrier Hig ...

. He lost an eye in a mining accident and became a

tobacconist A tobacconist, also called a tobacco shop, a tobacconist's shop or a smoke shop, is a retailer of tobacco products in various forms and the related accoutrements, such as pipes, lighters, matches, pipe cleaners, and pipe tampers. More specia ...

and

barber A barber is a person whose occupation is mainly to cut, dress, groom, style and shave men's and boys' hair or beards. A barber's place of work is known as a "barbershop" or a "barber's". Barbershops are also places of social interaction and publi ...

in Cobar. He married Gertrude Mary Snape in July 1901 and they had three daughters and one son. Davidson was a foundation member of the

Australian Workers' Union The Australian Workers' Union (AWU) is one of Australia's largest and oldest trade unions. It traces its origins to unions founded in the pastoral and mining industries in the 1880s and currently has approximately 80,000 members. It has exerci ...

and helped to form a local branch of the

Amalgamated Miners' Association Amalgamation is the process of combining or uniting multiple entities into one form. Amalgamation, amalgam, and other derivatives may refer to: Mathematics and science * Amalgam (chemistry), the combination of mercury with another metal **Pan ama ...

in Cobar. He was active in local politics, being a member of the Political Labor League, the District Hospital Board, the racing club, the School of Arts and the Eight-Hour Day Sports committees. He also served as an alderman on the Cobar Municipal Council from 1913 to 1918, where he worked to promote railway extension.

Parliamentary career

In 1918 Davidson was elected as a Labor Party member for

in the

New South Wales Legislative Assembly The New South Wales Legislative Assembly is the lower of the two houses of the Parliament of New South Wales, an Australian state. The upper house is the New South Wales Legislative Council. Both the Assembly and Council sit at Parliament Ho ...

. With the introduction of

proportional representation Proportional representation (PR) refers to a type of electoral system under which subgroups of an electorate are reflected proportionately in the elected body. The concept applies mainly to geographical (e.g. states, regions) and political divis ...

in 1920, the seat of Cobar was absorbed into Sturt and he was elected as one of its members. He served as Labor

whip A whip is a tool or weapon designed to strike humans or other animals to exert control through pain compliance or fear of pain. They can also be used without inflicting pain, for audiovisual cues, such as in equestrianism. They are generally e ...

in the state parliament from 1923 to 1930. With the abolition of proportional representation in 1927, he was elected as the member for

Murray Murray may refer to: Businesses * Murray (bicycle company), an American manufacturer of low-cost bicycles * Murrays, an Australian bus company * Murray International Trust, a Scottish investment trust * D. & W. Murray Limited, an Australian who ...

. In 1930, following another redistribution, he was again elected as the member for Cobar. From November 1930 to May 1932 Davidson served as Secretary for Public Works in the Third Lang Ministry. During the 30 years he spent in state parliament his electorates always included Cobar. He died in office in the

suburb of

Little Bay, New South Wales Little Bay is a suburb in south-eastern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Little Bay is located 14 kilometres south-east of the Sydney central business district and is part of the local government area of the City of Randwic ...

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Davidson, Mat Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly 1869 births 1949 deaths Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of New South Wales