Thomas Chesson (c. 1867 – 6 May 1943) was an Australian trade unionist and politician who was a Labor 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 1913 to 1930, representing the seat of Cue. Chesson was born in

Adelong, New South Wales Adelong is a small town in the Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia, situated on the banks of the Adelong Creek. Adelong sits on the Snowy Mountains Highway and is a part of the Snowy Valleys Council. At the , Adelong had an urban popul ...

, to Bridget (née McKay) and John Benjamin Chesson. Arriving in Western Australia in the 1890s, he settled in the inland mining town of Cue, where he worked on the mines. He became prominent in local labour circles, serving as a branch official for various

general union A general union is a trade union (called ''labor union'' in American English) which represents workers from all industries and companies, rather than just one organisation or a particular sector, as in a craft union or industrial union. A gene ...

s.Thomas Chesson
– Biographical Register of Members of the Parliament of Western Australia. Retrieved 26 June 2016. Chesson entered parliament in November 1913, following the resignation of

Edward Heitmann Edward Ernest Heitmann (3 June 1878 – 30 January 1934), was an Australian politician and member of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly from 1904 to 1917, then a member of the Australian House of Representatives until 1919. Edward Heit ...

. He was the only candidate at the by-election, and was re-elected unopposed another four times at state elections, only once facing another candidate (at the 1921 election). The seat of Cue was abolished at the 1930 election, and Chesson left parliament. He eventually retired to

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 ...

, dying there in May 1943."Death of Tom Chesson"
''

Westralian Worker The ''Westralian Worker'' was a newspaper established in Kalgoorlie, Western Australia in 1900 and published until its demise in 1951 in Perth, Western Australia. History It was established as the ''Official organ of the Western Australian L ...

'', 14 May 1943. He had married Kate Martin in 1901, with whom he had six children.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chesson, Thomas 1860s births 1943 deaths Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Western Australia Members of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly People from Adelong, New South Wales Trade unionists from Western Australia