Sir Malcolm Fraser (1834–17 August 1900) was

Surveyor-General A surveyor general is an official responsible for government surveying in a specific country or territory. Historically, this would often have been a military appointment, but it is now more likely to be a civilian post. The following surveyor gen ...

in colonial

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 1872 to 1883 and Agent-General for the colony 1892 to 1898. Malcolm Fraser was born in

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( abbreviated Glos) is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn and the entire Forest of Dean. The county town is the city of Gl ...

, England in 1834. Nothing is known of his early life, except that he must have qualified as a surveyor at some stage, and that he emigrated to New Zealand. From 1857 to 1859, Fraser worked as a surveyor in

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

. He was then district surveyor for the Native Land Purchase Department until 1863; district surveyor for the Canterbury West Gold Fields until 1867; and finally Chief Surveyor for Westland until 1869. In 1870, Fraser emigrated to

to take up the position of that colony's Surveyor-General, which had become vacant on the retirement of

John Septimus Roe John Septimus Roe (8 May 1797 – 28 May 1878) was the first Surveyor-General of Western Australia. He was a renowned explorer, a member of Western Australia's legislative and executive councils for nearly 40 years, but also a participant in t ...

. Fraser was recruited to the position by then

Governor of Western Australia The governor of Western Australia is the representative in Western Australia of the monarch of Australia, currently King Charles III. As with the other governors of the Australian states, the governor of Western Australia performs constitutional ...

Frederick Weld Sir Frederick Aloysius Weld (9 May 1823 – 20 July 1891), was a New Zealand politician and a governor of various British colonies. He was the sixth premier of New Zealand, and later served as Governor of Western Australia, Governor of Tasman ...

, who had formerly been

Premier of New Zealand The prime minister of New Zealand ( mi, Te pirimia o Aotearoa) is the head of government of New Zealand. The prime minister, Jacinda Ardern, leader of the New Zealand Labour Party, took office on 26 October 2017. The prime minister (informa ...

and knew Fraser personally from that time. Fraser commenced as surveyor-general on 19 December 1870. In May 1871 he completely reorganised the Lands and Surveys Department, which resulted in the promotion of

John Forrest Sir John Forrest (22 August 1847 – 2 SeptemberSome sources give the date as 3 September 1918 1918) was an Australian explorer and politician. He was the first premier of Western Australia (1890–1901) and a long-serving cabinet minister i ...

and the dismissal of

Alexander Forrest Alexander Forrest Order of St Michael and St George, CMG (22 September 1849 – 20 June 1901) was an explorer and surveying, surveyor of Western Australia, and later also a member of parliament. As a government surveyor, Forrest explored many ...

. As surveyor-general, Fraser immediately became a nominated member of Western Australia's

Legislative A legislature is an assembly with the authority to make laws for a political entity such as a country or city. They are often contrasted with the executive and judicial powers of government. Laws enacted by legislatures are usually known as p ...

and

Executive Executive ( exe., exec., execu.) may refer to: Role or title * Executive, a senior management role in an organization ** Chief executive officer (CEO), one of the highest-ranking corporate officers (executives) or administrators ** Executive dir ...

Councils. He remained surveyor-general until 5 January 1883, when he was appointed to succeed Edric Gifford as

Colonial Secretary of Western Australia The Colonial Secretary of Western Australia was one of the most important and powerful public offices in Western Australia, in the time when Western Australia was a British colony. The Colonial Secretary was the representative of the British Colo ...

. Later that year, Fraser represented Western Australia at the Australasian Convention in Sydney. From June 1886 to June 1887, he was on leave in England, and while there he represented Western Australia at the Colonial and Imperial Exhibition in London. In 1888, he represented the state at the Intercolonial Conference in Sydney. After

Frederick Broome Sir Frederick Napier Broome (18 November 1842 – 26 November 1896) was a colonial administrator in the British Empire, serving in Natal, Mauritius, Western Australia, Barbados and Trinidad and Tobago. The Western Australian towns of Broom ...

's tenure as

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

came to an end in December 1889, Fraser was appointed Administrator of Western Australia until the appointment of the next governor. William Robinson was appointed Governor in October 1890, and one of his first tasks was to institute

responsible government Responsible government is a conception of a system of government that embodies the principle of parliamentary accountability, the foundation of the Westminster system of parliamentary democracy. Governments (the equivalent of the executive bran ...

. Under responsible government, the Executive Council was dissolved, and the office of Colonial Secretary became a ministerial portfolio. Rather than contest a

parliamentary A parliamentary system, or parliamentarian democracy, is a system of democracy, democratic government, governance of a sovereign state, state (or subordinate entity) where the Executive (government), executive derives its democratic legitimacy ...

seat, Fraser decided to retire on his pension. He retired on 28 December 1890, and shortly afterwards set sail for London. In April 1892 he came out of retirement to accept the position of the first Agent General for Western Australia in London, which position he held until 1898. Malcolm Fraser died at

Clifton Clifton may refer to: People *Clifton (surname) *Clifton (given name) Places Australia * Clifton, Queensland, a town **Shire of Clifton *Clifton, New South Wales, a suburb of Wollongong *Clifton, Western Australia Canada *Clifton, Nova Scotia ...

on 17 August 1900. He was survived by his three sons and two daughters. His wife since 1861, Elizabeth née Riddiford, had died four years earlier. Fraser was made CMG in 1881 and

KCMG KCMG may refer to * KC Motorgroup, based in Hong Kong, China * Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George, British honour * KCMG-LP, radio station in New Mexico, USA * KCMG, callsign 1997-2001 of Los Angeles radio station KKLQ (FM) ...

in 1897. Throughout his life Fraser had a reputation for his bad temper; Crowley (2000) referred to him as ''a man whose intemperate habits had been town gossip for years''. In 1881, the Victorian government botanist,

Ferdinand von Mueller Baron Sir Ferdinand Jacob Heinrich von Mueller, (german: Müller; 30 June 1825 – 10 October 1896) was a German-Australian physician, geographer, and most notably, a botanist. He was appointed government botanist for the then colony of Vict ...

named ''

Eremophila fraseri ''Eremophila fraseri'', commonly known as burra or jilarnu, is a flowering plant in the figwort family, Scrophulariaceae and is endemic to Western Australia. It is a shrub or small tree with all above-ground parts of the plant, apart from the pe ...

'' in his honour.

References

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Fraser, Malcolm 1834 births 1900 deaths Agents-General for Western Australia Australian Knights Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George Colonial Secretaries of Western Australia Members of the Western Australian Legislative Council People from Gloucestershire Surveyors General of Western Australia New Zealand surveyors Colony of Western Australia people 19th-century Australian politicians 19th-century Australian public servants Australian surveyors British emigrants to Australia