Thomas Davies Mutch (17 October 1885 – 4 June 1958) was an Australian politician.

Early life

Born in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

to busdriver William Murdoch Mutch and Sarah Davies, he arrived in

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

in 1887 and was educated at Double Bay Public School. He was subsequently a shearer for four years and joined the

Australian Workers' Union The Australian Workers' Union (AWU) is one of Australia's largest and oldest trade unions. It traces its origins to unions founded in the pastoral and mining industries in the 1880s and currently has approximately 80,000 members. It has exer ...

, becoming a staff worker in 1903 and helping to found the Australian Writers and Artists Union in 1910. On 23 September 1912 he married Edith Marjorie Hasenham; he remarried on 26 March 1928 Dorothy Anette Joyce at

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 ...

, with whom he had two children. From 1915 to 1916 he was New South Wales president and federal vice-president of the

Australian Journalists' Association The Australian Journalists Association (AJA) was an Australian trade union for journalists from 1910–1992. In 1913 the Australian Journalists' Association merged with the Australian Writers' and Artists' Union. This union had been formed in 19 ...

, and was convicted of incitement after the 1917 general strike.

Politics

He was an alderman at

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from 1923 to 1930 and Randwick from 1931 to 1937. Having been a member of the

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 ...

's central executive from 1913 to 1917, he was elected to the

New South Wales Legislative Assembly The New South Wales Legislative Assembly is the lower of the two houses of the Parliament of New South Wales, an Australian state. The upper house is the New South Wales Legislative Council. Both the Assembly and Council sit at Parliament Ho ...

in 1917 as the Labor member for

Botany Botany, also called , plant biology or phytology, is the science of plant life and a branch of biology. A botanist, plant scientist or phytologist is a scientist who specialises in this field. The term "botany" comes from the Ancient Greek w ...

. He served as Minister of Public Instruction from 1921 to 1922 and Minister for Education from 1925 to 1927, when he was expelled from the New South Wales Labor Party as a leading opponent of Premier Jack Lang. Defeated as an Independent Labor candidate in 1927, he became a freelance journalist and in 1931 joined the fledgling

United Australia Party The United Australia Party (UAP) was an Australian political party that was founded in 1931 and dissolved in 1945. The party won four federal elections in that time, usually governing in coalition with the Country Party. It provided two prim ...

. He returned to the Legislative Assembly in 1938 as the UAP member for Coogee, but resigned from the UAP and was defeated in 1941. Mutch died at Coogee in 1958. His great-nephew Stephen Mutch was a state and federal

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

MP.

References

1885 births 1958 deaths United Australia Party members of the Parliament of New South Wales Independent members of the Parliament of New South Wales Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly British emigrants to Australia Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of New South Wales 20th-century Australian politicians 20th-century Australian journalists {{Australia-Labor-NewSouthWales-MP-stub