William Henry Kitson (20 November 1886 – 13 December 1952) was an Australian politician who was a Labor Party member of the Legislative Council 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 1924 to 1947. He was a minister in the governments of

Philip Collier Philip Collier (21 April 1873 – 18 October 1948) was an Australian politician who served as the 14th Premier of Western Australia from 1924 to 1930 and from 1933 to 1936. He was leader of the Labor Party from 1917 to 1936, and is Western Au ...

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 ...

, and

Frank Wise Frank Joseph Scott Wise AO (30 May 1897 – 29 June 1986) was a Labor Party politician who was the 16th Premier of Western Australia. He took office on 31 July 1945 in the closing stages of the Second World War, following the resignation of ...

, and later served as Agent-General for Western Australia from 1947 until his death.

Early life

Kitson was born in

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by popula ...

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other English counties, functions have ...

, England, to Ellen (née Lister) and James Kitson. He came to Western Australia in 1910, and initially worked as a labourer at

Torbay Torbay is a borough and unitary authority in Devon, south west England. It is governed by Torbay Council and consists of of land, including the resort towns of Torquay, Paignton and Brixham, located on east-facing Tor Bay, part of Lyme ...

, a small locality near Albany. Kitson moved to Fremantle in 1915, where he was a

draper Draper was originally a term for a retailer or wholesaler of cloth that was mainly for clothing. A draper may additionally operate as a cloth merchant or a haberdasher. History Drapers were an important trade guild during the medieval period, ...

. While in Fremantle, he became involved in the union movement, eventually becoming secretary of the

Fremantle Trades Hall The Fremantle Trades Hall is a two-storey former trade union hall in Fremantle that was built during the gold boom period and completed in 1904. The building is located at the corner of Pakenham and Collie Streets in the west end conservatio ...

.William Henry Kitson
– Biographical Register of Members of the Parliament of Western Australia. Retrieved 13 June 2016.

Politics

Kitson was elected to parliament at the 1924 Legislative Council election, succeeding Robert Lynn in West Province. In 1928, he was made a minister without portfolio in the first government of Philip Collier, a position which he held until the government's defeat at the 1930 state election. He returned to the ministry when Labor was re-elected at the 1933 election. Collier resigned as premier in 1936, and Kitson was made Chief Secretary in the new ministry formed by John Willcock. Following a ministerial reshuffle in March 1937, Kitson was also made Minister for Police, replacing Frank Wise. In another reshuffle after the 1939 election, he was made Minister for Education, while the position of Minister for Police was abolished and its responsibilities subsumed into those of the Chief Secretary. Kitson was replaced as education minister after the 1943 election, although the position of Minister for Police was recreated. He remained a minister until the Labor government's defeat at the 1947 election.

Later life

In July 1946, Kitson was named to succeed

Frank Troy Michael Francis "Frank" Troy (13 October 1877 – 7 January 1953) was an Australian politician who served in the Legislative Assembly of Western Australia from 1904 to 1939. A member of the Labor Party, he was the Speaker of the Legislative ...

as Agent-General for Western Australia, representing the state government in London. He did not take up the position until May 1947, when his resignation from parliament was formalised. Kitson died in London in December 1952, aged 66."LATE MR. KITSON'S SERVICE TO STATE"
''The West Australian'', 15 December 1952. He had married Mabel Alport in 1915, with whom he had four children.

References

, - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Kitson, William 1886 births 1952 deaths Agents-General for Western Australia Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Western Australia Australian trade unionists English emigrants to Australia Members of the Western Australian Legislative Council People from Leeds 20th-century Australian politicians