Robert Howe (1861 – 2 April 1915) was an Australian politician. He was an

Australian Labor Party The Australian Labor Party (ALP), also simply known as Labor, is the major centre-left political party in Australia, one of two major parties in Australian politics, along with the centre-right Liberal Party of Australia. The party forms t ...

member of the

Australian House of Representatives The House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameral Parliament of Australia, the upper house being the Senate. Its composition and powers are established in Chapter I of the Constitution of Australia. The term of members o ...

from 1910 until his death in office in 1915. Howe was born in

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area in Australia, named after Newcastle ...

in England, where he received a primary education. He migrated to Australia in 1882 and became a patternmaker and engineer, working for many years at the

Cockatoo Island Dockyard The Cockatoo Island Dockyard was a major dockyard in Sydney, Australia, based on Cockatoo Island. The dockyard was established in 1857 to maintain Royal Navy warships. It later built and repaired military and battle ships, and played a key role ...

. He was Sydney district secretary of the

Amalgamated Society of Engineers The Amalgamated Society of Engineers (ASE) was a major British trade union, representing factory workers and mechanics. History The history of the union can be traced back to the formation of the Journeymen Steam Engine, Machine Makers' and M ...

, and represented the union before the Industrial Court in an early award inquiry. He was elected to the

as the

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 la ...

member for Dalley at the 1910 election, defeating the sitting MP,

William Wilks Reverend William Wilks (1843–1923) was a notable British horticulturalist and clergyman. He served as secretary of the Royal Horticultural Society from 1888 to 1919 and as editor of its journal, he was instrumental in getting the work of Grego ...

. He was re-elected at the 1913 election after fending off a challenge to his Labor preselection from

Thomas Storey Thomas Storey (1871 – 5 January 1953) was an Australian politician. He was the younger brother of New South Wales premier John Storey, and father of Liberal Politician Sydney Storey. He was born in Balmain to shipbuilder William John Sto ...

, but had a nervous breakdown after the election and missed the first session of that term of parliament. He recovered for some time, but became ill again in late 1914, and died at his Balmain house in April 1915.

References

1861 births 1915 deaths Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Australia Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Dalley Members of the Australian House of Representatives Patternmakers (industrial) Australian trade union leaders 20th-century Australian politicians {{Australia-Labor-representative-stub