Thomas Duff (7 April 1870 – 6 June 1949) was an Australian businessman and politician who was a Nationalist Party member of the Legislative Assembly of

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 1918 to 1921. Duff was born in

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 ...

to Sophia (née Ross) and Robert Duff. He arrived in Western Australia in 1890, initially living in

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

and then moving to

Kalgoorlie Kalgoorlie is a city in the Goldfields–Esperance region of Western Australia, located east-northeast of Perth at the end of the Great Eastern Highway. It is sometimes referred to as Kalgoorlie–Boulder, as the surrounding urban area includ ...

in 1893 during the

gold rush A gold rush or gold fever is a discovery of gold—sometimes accompanied by other precious metals and rare-earth minerals—that brings an onrush of miners seeking their fortune. Major gold rushes took place in the 19th century in Australia, New Z ...

. He floated a gold mine in 1895, and was later employed as a building inspector. Duff purchased a farming property in Merredin in 1904. He became the licensee of the Merredin Hotel in 1907, and from 1912 was a part-owner of the ''Merredin Mercury'', a local newspaper. He also floated three more gold mines around that time, two in

Marvel Loch Marvel may refer to: Business * Marvel Entertainment, an American entertainment company ** Marvel Comics, the primary imprint of Marvel Entertainment ** Marvel Universe, a fictional shared universe ** Marvel Music, an imprint of Marvel Comic ...

and one in Westonia.Thomas Duff
– Biographical Register of Members of the Parliament of Western Australia. Retrieved 8 October 2016. At the 1917 state election, Duff contested the seat of Avon, but was defeated by Tom Harrison of the Country Party. He moved to Cottesloe (a suburb of Perth) later in the year, and made a second run for parliament at the 1918 Claremont by-election, finishing with 54.3 percent of the two-party-preferred vote. Duff did not re contest Claremont at the 1921 state election, and subsequently returned to Merredin. He retired in 1936 and returned to Perth, where he died in June 1949, aged 79. He had married Esther Mary Markwell in 1895, with whom he had two children.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Duff, Thomas 1870 births 1949 deaths Australian mining entrepreneurs Members of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly Nationalist Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Western Australia Politicians from Melbourne