Thomas Percy Draper

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

KC (29 December 1864 – 11 July 1946) was an Australian lawyer, politician, and judge. He was a 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 1907 to 1911 and again from 1917 to 1921, and was

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 the first government of Sir James Mitchell. He later served on the Supreme Court of Western Australia from 1921 to 1939.

Early life

Draper was born in

Warrington Warrington () is a town and unparished area in the borough of the same name in the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England, on the banks of the River Mersey. It is east of Liverpool, and west of Manchester. The population in 2019 was estimat ...

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancashi ...

, England, to Annie (née Webster) and Thomas Draper, his father being a tanner. He attended

Tonbridge School (God Giveth the Increase) , established = , closed = , type = Public schoolIndependent day and boarding , religion = , president = , head_label ...

before going on to

Clare College, Cambridge Clare College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. The college was founded in 1326 as University Hall, making it the second-oldest surviving college of the University after Peterhouse. It was refounded ...

, where he graduated in 1886. Draper was

called to the bar The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call to ...

in England in 1891, as a member of the

Inner Temple The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, commonly known as the Inner Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court and is a professional associations for barristers and judges. To be called to the Bar and practise as a barrister in England and Wal ...

, but left for Western Australia the following year.Thomas Percy Draper
– Biographical Register of Members of the Parliament of Western Australia. Retrieved 15 June 2016. He taught for a term at The High School 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 spent a period as an associate to Alfred Hensman, a judge on the Supreme Court. Draper went into private practice in 1894, and eventually became a partner in the firm of Stephen Henry Parker. He was elected to the

Perth City Council 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 ...

in 1899, defeating Frank Wilson (a future

premier Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier. A premier will normally be a head of governm ...

), but resigned his seat in 1901.

Parliamentary career

Draper entered parliament at the 1907 by-election for the seat of West Perth as a Ministerialist. The by-election had been caused by the resignation of Frederick Illingworth. He was re-elected at the 1908 state election, but did not re-contest his seat at the 1911 election, instead choosing to focus on his legal practice. He had been made

King's Counsel In the United Kingdom and in some Commonwealth countries, a King's Counsel ( post-nominal initials KC) during the reign of a king, or Queen's Counsel (post-nominal initials QC) during the reign of a queen, is a lawyer (usually a barrister or ...

in 1910. During the war, Draper served as chairman of the state branch of the

Australian Red Cross The Australian Red Cross, formally the Australian Red Cross Society, is a humanitarian aid and community services charity in Australia. Tracing its history back to 1923 and being incorporated by royal charter in 1941, the Australian Red Cros ...

. He returned to parliament at the 1917 state election, winning his old seat of West Perth as a

Nationalist Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: The ...

candidate. In the

1918 New Year Honours The 1918 New Year Honours were appointments by King George V to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of the British Empire. The appointments were published in ''The London Gazette'' and ''The Times'' in Ja ...

, Draper was made a

Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(MBE) for his wartime services. He was promoted to commander of the order (CBE) in October of the same year. In May 1919, James Mitchell replaced

Hal Colebatch Sir Harry Pateshall Colebatch (29 March 1872 – 12 February 1953) was a long-serving and occasionally controversial figure in Western Australian politics. He was a member of the Western Australian Legislative Council for nearly 20 years, the ...

, and promoted Draper to his new ministry as

(replacing

Robert Thomson Robinson Robert Thomson Robinson (18 January 1867 – 19 September 1926) was an Australian lawyer and politician who was a member of the Legislative Assembly of Western Australia from 1914 to 1921, representing the seat of Canning. He served as a minis ...

). During his term in office, he introduced legislation that liberalised Western Australia's divorce laws, and also amended the state's electoral act to allow women to stand for parliament. At the 1921 state election, Draper was opposed in West Perth by two other Nationalist candidates –

Eben Allen Ebenezer "Eben" Allen (15 November 1868 – 20 May 1931) was an Australian businessman and politician who was a member of the Legislative Assembly of Western Australia from 1911 to 1917, representing the seat of West Perth. Allen was born in ...

, who had held the seat between 1911 and 1917, and

Edith Cowan Edith Dircksey Cowan (' Brown; 2 August 18619 June 1932) was an Australian social reformer who worked for the rights and welfare of women and children. She is best known as the first Australian woman to serve as a member of parliament. Cowan h ...

, one of the first five female candidates for parliament in Western Australia. Allen was eliminated on

first preferences In certain ranked-voting systems, a first-preference vote (or first preference, 1st preference, or primary vote) is the individual voter's first choice amongst (possibly) many. In certain ranked systems such as Instant-Runoff Voting or Single T ...

, and Cowan went on to win the seat with 50.8 percent of the

two-candidate-preferred vote In Australian politics, the two-party-preferred vote (TPP or 2PP) is the result of an election or opinion poll after preferences have been distributed to the highest two candidates, who in some cases can be independents. For the purposes of TPP, ...

against Draper. She became the first female parliamentarian in Australia, while Draper became the first sitting attorney-general to lose his seat at a general election.

Judicial career and later life

In April 1921, just over a month after losing his seat in parliament, Draper was nominated to the Supreme Court as a

puisne justice A puisne judge or puisne justice (; from french: puisné or ; , 'since, later' + , 'born', i.e. 'junior') is a dated term for an ordinary judge or a judge of lesser rank of a particular court. Use The term is used almost exclusively in common law ...

. He replaced John Rooth, who had retired due to ill health, and joined Sir Robert McMillan (the chief justice), Robert Burnside, and John Northmore on the bench. During his time on the court, Draper dealt mainly with

arbitration Arbitration is a form of alternative dispute resolution (ADR) that resolves disputes outside the judiciary courts. The dispute will be decided by one or more persons (the 'arbitrators', 'arbiters' or 'arbitral tribunal'), which renders the ' ...

cases, although he did preside over some criminal trials. He announced his intention to retire early from the court in December 1938, although his actual retirement did not take effect until July 1939. The premier at the time,

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 ...

John Willcock John Collings Willcock (9 August 1879 – 7 June 1956) was the 15th Premier of Western Australia, serving from 1936 until 1945. He was a member of the Australian Labor Party. Early life John Willcock was born at Frogmoor (now Frogmore), New So ...

, announced that he would not immediately fill the vacancy left by Draper, due to a perceived lack of need. The vacancy was in fact not filled until 1949, when

Lawrence Jackson Lawrence Christopher Jackson (born August 30, 1985) is a former American football defensive end who played in the National Football League (NFL). He was drafted by the Seattle Seahawks in the first round of the 2008 NFL Draft. He played colleg ...

was appointed as the new fourth justice. Draper died in Perth in July 1946, aged 81. Outside of politics and the judiciary, he had a keen interest in

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

, serving as president of the

Western Australian Cricket Association The Western Australian Cricket Association (known as the WACA) is the governing body for cricket in Western Australia. The WACA was formed on 5 November 1885. In 1893 the association opened the WACA Ground. Elite cricket The WACA is responsible ...

(WACA) from 1924 to 1939."NEW W.A.C.A. PRESIDENT."
''The West Australian'', 1 June 1939. He was married twice, firstly to Mabel Constance Parker in 1894, with whom he had four sons and two daughters. He was widowed in 1930, and remarried the following year to Bessie Melrose Barker (née Ferguson), but was widowed a second time in 1944. Draper was related by marriage to two other prominent legal identities in Western Australia – his first wife was the daughter of Sir Stephen Henry Parker, who was chief justice between 1906 and 1913, while her sister, Rose Elizabeth Parker, married Sir

Norbert Keenan Sir Norbert Michael Keenan QC (30 January 1864 – 24 April 1954) was an Australian lawyer and politician who was a member of the Legislative Assembly of Western Australia from 1905 to 1911 and again from 1930 to 1950. He was the leader of the ...

, who was attorney-general between 1906 and 1909.

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Draper, Thomas 1864 births 1946 deaths Alumni of Clare College, Cambridge Attorneys-General of Western Australia Australian barristers Australian Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Australian cricket administrators Australian King's Counsel Burials at Karrakatta Cemetery English barristers English emigrants to Australia Judges of the Supreme Court of Western Australia Members of the Inner Temple Members of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly Nationalist Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Western Australia People educated at Tonbridge School People from Warrington Perth City Councillors