William Clark Haines (10 January 1810 – 3 February 1866), Australian colonial politician, was the first

Premier of Victoria The premier of Victoria is the head of government in the Australian state of Victoria. The premier is appointed by the governor of Victoria, and is the leader of the political party able to secure a majority in the Victorian Legislative Assembly ...

. Haines was born in London, the son of John Haines, a physician. He was educated at Charterhouse School and

Caius College, Cambridge Gonville and Caius College, often referred to simply as Caius ( ), is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1348, it is the fourth-oldest of the University of Cambridge's 31 colleges and one of th ...

, where he graduated in medicine; he later practiced surgery for several years. In 1835 he married Mary Dugard, with whom he had nine children. Haines migrated to the

Port Phillip District The Port Phillip District was an administrative division of the Colony of New South Wales from 9 September 1836 until 1 July 1851, when it was separated from New South Wales and became the Colony of Victoria. In September 1836, NSW Colonial Sec ...

(later

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

) in 1841 and settled in the

Geelong Geelong ( ) (Wathawurrung: ''Djilang''/''Djalang'') is a port city in the southeastern Australian state of Victoria, located at the eastern end of Corio Bay (the smaller western portion of Port Phillip Bay) and the left bank of Barwon River, ...

area. He farmed in the area as well as practising as a surgeon. He was appointed a member of the

Victorian Legislative Council The Victorian Legislative Council (VLC) is the upper house of the bicameral Parliament of Victoria, Australia, the lower house being the Legislative Assembly. Both houses sit at Parliament House in Spring Street, Melbourne. The Legislative Co ...

(then a partly elected, partly appointive body) in 1851, and in 1853 he was elected for district of Grant. He served as colonial secretary 1854–55. Politically, he represented the small farmers against the

squatter Squatting is the action of occupying an abandoned or unoccupied area of land or a building, usually residential, that the squatter does not own, rent or otherwise have lawful permission to use. The United Nations estimated in 2003 that there ...

s who owned most of Victoria's land. When Victoria gained full

responsible government Responsible government is a conception of a system of government that embodies the principle of parliamentary accountability, the foundation of the Westminster system of parliamentary democracy. Governments (the equivalent of the executive bran ...

in 1855, Haines was leader of the Government. He was commissioned as Victoria's first premier and chief secretary on 28 November 1855 and served until 11 March 1857. Haines was elected to the Legislative Assembly for South Grant in November 1856. Haines was again premier from April 1857 to March 1858. Haines then visited Europe for three years. In 1860 he moved to the seat of

Portland Portland most commonly refers to: * Portland, Oregon, the largest city in the state of Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States * Portland, Maine, the largest city in the state of Maine, in the New England region of the northeas ...

which he represented until 1864. Haines served as treasurer from 14 November 1861 to 27 June 1863, in the third O'Shanassy government. He served again in the legislative council, representing Eastern Province, from August 1865 until his death in February 1866. The historian Raymond Wright describes Haines as a bluff, plain "honest farmer" type, who was "much enjoyed for his appalling public speaking." His main concern as premier was to democratise the Constitution which had been drawn up for Victoria by colonial officials before self-government, mainly to protect the interests of the squatter class. A bill was introduced to enlarge the Assembly, redraw electoral boundaries and abolish the property qualification for both votes and candidates. But the unstable situation in the Assembly brought his ministry to an early end.

References

Further sources

*Geoff Browne, ''A Biographical Register of the Victorian Parliament, 1900-84'', Government Printer, Melbourne, 1985 *Don Garden, ''Victoria: A History'', Thomas Nelson, Melbourne, 1984 *Kathleen Thompson and Geoffrey Serle, ''A Biographical Register of the Victorian Parliament, 1856-1900'', Australian National University Press, Canberra, 1972 * Raymond Wright, ''A People's Counsel. A History of the Parliament of Victoria, 1856-1990'', Oxford University Press, Melbourne, 1992 {{DEFAULTSORT:Haines, William Premiers of Victoria 1810 births 1866 deaths Politicians from Geelong People educated at Charterhouse School Alumni of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge English emigrants to colonial Australia Victoria (Australia) state politicians Members of the Victorian Legislative Council Members of the Victorian Legislative Assembly 19th-century Australian politicians Australian surgeons