William Beattie Gordon (20 October 1862 – 12 August 1943) was an Australian politician who 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 1901 to 1911.

Early life

Gordon was born in

Gawler, South Australia Gawler is the oldest country town on the Australian mainland in the state of South Australia. It was named after the second Governor (British Vice-Regal representative) of the colony of South Australia, George Gawler. It is about north of the ...

, to Margaret (née Leonard) and James Gordon. His parents were originally from

Renfrewshire Renfrewshire () ( sco, Renfrewshire; gd, Siorrachd Rinn Friù) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland. Located in the west central Lowlands, it is one of three council areas contained within the boundaries of the historic county of Renfr ...

, Scotland, and his father was a Free Church of Scotland minister. Initially working as a clerk for the

Bank of Adelaide The Bank of Adelaide was founded in 1865 in Adelaide, the capital of South Australia. It was incorporated by an act of the Parliament of South Australia. The original directors of the company were Henry Ayers, Thomas Greaves Waterhouse, Robert ...

, Gordon later spent a period living in the south-east of the colony, working as a jackaroo and later as a farmer near Bordertown. He moved to Western Australia in 1890, and set up 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 ...

as a livestock auctioneer and salesman. From 1899 to 1901, Gordon was chairman of the Canning Road Board.William Beattie Gordon
– Biographical Register of Members of the Parliament of Western Australia. Retrieved 26 June 2016.

Politics

At the 1901 state election, Gordon was elected to parliament as the member for the newly created seat of South Perth. His seat was abolished at the 1904 election, but he successfully transferred to the seat of Canning, which had been re-created. Gordon was appointed government

whip A whip is a tool or weapon designed to strike humans or other animals to exert control through pain compliance or fear of pain. They can also be used without inflicting pain, for audiovisual cues, such as in equestrianism. They are generally e ...

after the election, and served in the position until the 1911 election, when he was defeated in Canning by the Labor Party's Charles Lewis. He made an attempt to re-enter parliament at the 1918 Legislative Council elections, but was defeated by

Archibald Sanderson Archibald Sanderson (1 April 1870 – 18 June 1937) was an Australian politician and journalist. Born at Glenthompson in Victoria to pastoralist John Sanderson and Agnes Roberts, he attended Haileybury College and Christ Church, Oxford (graduatin ...

Metropolitan-Suburban Province The Metropolitan-Suburban Province was a three-member electoral province of the Western Australian Legislative Council, located in the metropolitan region of Perth. It was created by the ''Constitution Acts Amendment Act 1899'', and became effect ...

Later life

After leaving office, Gordon lived in the country, farming first at

Namban Namban is a small locality in Western Australia with the post code 6512.Namban Postcode
Australia Post It is north of ...

and later at Gingin. He died in Perth in August 1943, aged 80. Gordon had married Harriet Ann Scott in 1896, with whom he had four sons and two daughters. One of his sons, Jim Gordon, won the

Victoria Cross The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest and most prestigious award of the British honours system. It is awarded for valour "in the presence of the enemy" to members of the British Armed Forces and may be awarded posthumously. It was previously ...

in World War II. Additionally, Gordon's older brother, Sir

John Hannah Gordon Sir John Hannah Gordon KC (26 July 1850 – 23 December 1923) was a Scottish-Australian politician and judge. He was a member of the South Australian Legislative Council from 1888 to 1892 and from 1893 to 1903. He was a minister under four Prem ...

, was a member of parliament in South Australia.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gordon, William 1862 births 1943 deaths Australian people of Scottish descent Mayors of places in Western Australia Members of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly People from Gawler, South Australia Western Australian local councillors Colony of South Australia people