Peter Ernest Cowan (3 January 1882 – 7 May 1955) was a Member of the

Western Australian Legislative Assembly The Western Australian Legislative Assembly, or lower house, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of Western Australia, an Australian state. The Parliament sits in Parliament House in the Western Australian capital, Perth. The Legisla ...

from 1928 to 1930. Born in

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 ...

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

on 3 January 1882, he was the son of farmer Robert Cowan and Christina née McMartin. Nothing is known of his early life until 1894, when he arrived in Esperance,

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 ...

. On 31 October 1914 he married Lilly Mary Prisk, with whom he had five sons and four daughters. Cowan spent most of his life prospecting for gold on the north-eastern goldfields of Western Australia. In 1918 he was working as a labourer on the Gwalia woodline, and the following year settled at Leonora, where he worked as a timber-cutter and labour. In 1828 he was working as a barman when he successfully contested a Legislative Assembly

by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election (Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election used to f ...

for the seat of Mount Leonora on a

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 ...

ticket. He held the seat until its abolition at the election of 12 April 1930. In that election he contested the seat of Mount Magnet, but was defeated by the Labor incumbent

Michael Troy Michael Francis Troy (October 3, 1940 – August 3, 2019) was an American competitive swimmer, a two-time Olympic champion, and world record-holder in three events. The peak of Troy's swimming career occurred between 1959 and 1960 while he was ...

. From 1934 to 1937, Cowan worked as a labourer at

Lake Darlot Lake Darlot is an ephemeral lake in the centre of Western Australia, lying approximately east-north-east of Leinster, and north of Leonora in the Goldfields-Esperance region. Its surface elevation is 434 metres above mean sea-level. Discover ...

. In 1939 he worked as a

cyanide Cyanide is a naturally occurring, rapidly acting, toxic chemical that can exist in many different forms. In chemistry, a cyanide () is a chemical compound that contains a functional group. This group, known as the cyano group, consists of ...

solutionist at the Victory battery at Leonora. In the general election of 29 April 1944 he contested a

Western Australian Legislative Council The Western Australian Legislative Council is the upper house of the Parliament of Western Australia, a state of Australia. It is regarded as a house of review for legislation passed by the Legislative Assembly, the lower house. The two Houses ...

North East Province seat as an Independent Labor candidate, but was unsuccessful. In 1946 he was working as a shop assistant. Cowan suffered from

silicosis Silicosis is a form of occupational lung disease caused by inhalation of crystalline silica dust. It is marked by inflammation and scarring in the form of nodular lesions in the upper lobes of the lungs. It is a type of pneumoconiosis. Silicos ...

in later life. He died at the Wooroloo Sanatorium on 7 May 1955, and was buried in

Karrakatta Cemetery Karrakatta Cemetery is a metropolitan cemetery in the suburb of Karrakatta in Perth, Western Australia. Karrakatta Cemetery first opened for burials in 1899, the first being that of wheelwright Robert Creighton. Managed by the Metropolitan Ce ...

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cowan, Peter Ernest 1882 births 1955 deaths Burials at Karrakatta Cemetery Members of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly People from Wallaroo, South Australia Gold prospectors Australian gold prospectors People from Esperance, Western Australia Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Western Australia 20th-century Australian politicians