Sir Samuel Gillott (29 October 1838 – 29 June 1913) was an Australian lawyer and politician, commonly known as a former

Lord Mayor of Melbourne This is a list of the mayors and lord mayors of the City of Melbourne, a local government area of Victoria, Australia. Mayors (1842–1902) Lord mayors (1902–1980) The title of "Lord Mayor" was conferred on the position of mayor by Kin ...

Early life

Gillott was born in the city of

Sheffield Sheffield is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is Historic counties o ...

, then in the

West Riding of Yorkshire The West Riding of Yorkshire is one of three historic subdivisions of Yorkshire, England. From 1889 to 1974 the administrative county County of York, West Riding (the area under the control of West Riding County Council), abbreviated County ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, the son of Joseph and Elizabeth Gillott. Educated in Sheffield Grammar School, Gillott moved to

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

, Australia at the age of 17, in 1856. He was employed by a law firm, Vaughan, Moule & Seddon, and received his law degree from the

University of Melbourne The University of Melbourne is a public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in Victoria. Its main campus is located in Parkville, an inner suburb nor ...

. Immediately after he started practicing law, Vaughan, Moule & Seddon offered him a

partnership A partnership is an arrangement where parties, known as business partners, agree to cooperate to advance their mutual interests. The partners in a partnership may be individuals, businesses, interest-based organizations, schools, governments o ...

. During the 1890s, Gillott specialized in police court practice, with a firm exception being the Speight v. Syme libel case.

Politics

Gillott was elected as Mayor of Melbourne in 1896, but lost his mayorship in 1899 by one vote. In November 1899, Gillott was elected to the seat of

East Melbourne East Melbourne is an inner-city suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Melbourne local government area. East Melbourne recorded a population of 4,896 at the 2021 ...

, in the

Victorian Legislative Assembly The Victorian Legislative Assembly is the lower house of the bicameral Parliament of Victoria in Australia; the upper house being the Victorian Legislative Council. Both houses sit at Parliament House in Spring Street, Melbourne. The presiding ...

; he held this seat until December 1906. He became President of the Law Institute in 1900. In the same year, Gillott was re-elected as the Mayor of Melbourne. Promoted to Lord Mayor in 1901, Gillott was

knight A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood finds origins in the Gr ...

ed in the same year during the visit to Australia of the Duke and Duchess of Cornwall and York (later

King George V George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until his death in 1936. Born during the reign of his grandmother Que ...

and Queen Mary). In 1901, under the state ministry of Sir George Turner, Gillott was given the role of Honorary Minister. After the Turner Government's fall that year, he stayed on the ministry, becoming

Attorney General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general or attorney-general (sometimes abbreviated AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. The plural is attorneys general. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have exec ...

. In 1904, under the premiership of Sir

Thomas Bent Sir Thomas Bent (7 December 1838 – 17 September 1909) was an Australian politician and the 22nd Premier of Victoria. Early life Bent was born in Penrith, New South Wales the eldest of four sons and two daughters of James Bent, a hotel-keeper ...

, Gillott became the Chief Secretary and the Minister for Labour. Samuel Gillott Grave, Melbourne General Cemetery

In May 1906, controversy arose for Gillott when a demagogue reformer, William Judkins, held him responsible for

illegal gambling Gaming law is the set of rules and regulations that apply to the gaming or gambling industry. Gaming law is not a branch of law in the traditional sense but rather is a collection of several areas of law that include criminal law, regulatory law, c ...

. As proof, Judkins named

John Wren John Wren (3 April 1871 – 26 October 1953) was an Australian bookmaker, boxing and wrestling promoter, Irish nationalist, land speculator, newspaper owner, racecourse and racehorse owner, soldier, pro-conscriptionist and theatre owner. He b ...

's illegal betting schemes, which he held as evidence of a corrupt government. As a result of the controversial issue, Thomas Bent agreed to prohibit off-course betting. Later that year, Gillott introduced the gaming suppression bill. Following the gambling controversy, John Norton's newspaper, ''

The Truth The Truth may refer to: Film * ''The Truth'' (1920 film) starring Madge Kennedy * ''The Truth'' (1960 film) or ''La Vérité'', a French film by Henri-Georges Clouzot starring Brigitte Bardot * ''The Truth'' (1988 film), a Hong Kong trial crim ...

'', published an article on Gillott, linking him to a well known

brothel A brothel, bordello, ranch, or whorehouse is a place where people engage in sexual activity with prostitutes. However, for legal or cultural reasons, establishments often describe themselves as massage parlors, bars, strip clubs, body rub par ...

proprietor, Caroline Hodgson, and revealing his financial dealings with her since 1877. Resigning from parliament and the ministry after these allegations, Gillott returned to England, where he stayed for almost a year. Returning to Australia after a year in England, he resumed his seat in the Melbourne City Council, and became president and councillor of the

Working Men's College of Melbourne The Working Men's College was an Australian college of further education located in Melbourne, Victoria. It was founded in 1887 by a prominent Victorian parliamentarian and philanthropist, Francis Ormond. The college was the predecessor to th ...

. On another visit to England in 1913, Gillott died after falling down a flight of stairs at night in Sheffield. He was 74 years of age. His body was returned to Australia and was interred at

Melbourne General Cemetery The Melbourne General Cemetery is a large (43 hectare) necropolis located north of the city of Melbourne in the suburb of Carlton North. The cemetery is notably the resting place of four Prime Ministers of Australia, more than any other nec ...

Footnotes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gillott, Samuel 1838 births 1913 deaths Politicians from Melbourne Mayors and Lord Mayors of Melbourne People educated at Sheffield Grammar School Burials at Melbourne General Cemetery Accidental deaths from falls