David Bowman (24 August 1860 – 25 February 1916) was a

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 ...

politician in the

Legislative Assembly of Queensland The Legislative Assembly of Queensland is the sole chamber of the unicameral Parliament of Queensland established under the Constitution of Queensland. Elections are held every four years and are done by full preferential voting. The Assembl ...

and Queensland Leader of the Opposition from 1908 to 1912.

Early life

Bowman was born in

Bendigo Bendigo ( ) is a city in Victoria, Australia, located in the Bendigo Valley near the geographical centre of the state and approximately north-west of Melbourne, the state capital. As of 2019, Bendigo had an urban population of 100,991, makin ...

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 ...

on 4 August 1860. He was son of Archibald Bowman, a miner and Isabella Bowman (née Spence) both of whom were born in

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

. Trained as a bootmaker in Victoria, Bowman moved north to

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

in 1888. The following year, Bowman became the president of the

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...

District Council of the Australian Labour Federation (ALF). In 1891, as an employee of the ALF, Bowman was responsible for organizing shearers and bushworkers during the pastoral strike. In 1892, he was elected as vice-president and the following year he became the president of the ALF.

Politics

Bowman's first attempt at entering politics was at the 1893 colonial election in the seat

South Brisbane South Brisbane is an inner southern suburb in the City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. In the , South Brisbane had a population of 7,196 people. Geography The suburb is on the southern bank of the Brisbane River, bounded to the north-west, ...

, losing out to

Harry Turley Joseph Henry Lewis "Harry" Turley (24 April 1859 – 5 June 1929) was an English-born Australian politician. He was a Member of the Queensland Legislative Assembly and an Australian Senator. Early life Harry Turley was born in Gloucesters ...

and Charles Midson in the two member electorate. At the 1899 election, Bowman ran again, this time in the rural south western seat of Warrego. Ministerialist William Hood had been returned by a one-vote majority. Bowman, the sole opponent, filed a petition against Hood's return and on 21 November 1899, the election was declared void. Bowman won the resulting

by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election (Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election used to f ...

on 16 December 1899 with a majority of 44 votes. At the following election in 1902, Bowman lost in his seat to Ministerialist,

Patrick Leahy Patrick Joseph Leahy (; born March 31, 1940) is an American politician and attorney who is the senior United States senator from Vermont and serves as the president pro tempore of the United States Senate. A member of the Democratic Party, ...

. After the defeat, he returned to Brisbane where he opened a newsagency at

New Farm New Farm is an inner northern riverside suburb in the City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. In the , New Farm had a population of 12,542 people. Geography The suburb is located 2 kilometres east of the Brisbane CBD on a large bend of the ...

. Bowman stood again at the 1904 election in the north eastern Brisbane seat of

Fortitude Valley Fortitude Valley (often called "The Valley" by local residents) is an inner suburb of the City of Brisbane, the state capital of Queensland, Australia. In the , Fortitude Valley had a population of 9,708 people. The suburb features two pedestr ...

where he was victorious. He was returned as the Member for Fortitude Valley in the next six elections, holding the seat until his death. Though accepting his party's decision to join the Morgan-Browne coalition in September 1903, Bowman believed that Labor should not ally itself with other parties but should aim to govern in its own right. By 1905, he had joined

Albert Hinchcliffe Albert Hinchcliffe (14 February 1860 – 4 January 1935) was a trade union organizer and member of the Queensland Legislative Council. Early life Hinchcliffe was born at Ashton-under-Lyne, Lancashire to Ezra Hinchcliffe, a cotton warehouse work ...

and Mat Reid, secretary and president of the Central Political Executive, and Henry Boote, editor of '' The Worker'', in opposing the continuation of the Liberal-Labor coalition, now dominated by

William Kidston William Kidston (17 August 1849 – 25 October 1919) was an Australian bookseller, politician and Premier of Queensland, from January 1906 to November 1907 and again from February 1908 to February 1911. Early life William Kidston was born in Fa ...

. Bowman became vice-president of the Central Political Executive in 1904 and at the 1905 and 1907 Labor in Politics conventions led a parliamentary faction opposed to Kidston, which succeeded in committing the party to fighting future elections alone. George Kerr, Labor leader from 1904 to 1907 supported the continuation of the coalition but was decisively defeated when the convention resolved that Labor should stand alone. Following the 1907 convention, Bowman was elected as the parliamentary Labor leader. He was not an outstanding parliamentarian and was disabled as a leader by poor health. He was, however, liked and respected for his personality and integrity by colleagues and opponents alike. Bowman lead Labor into the 1907, 1908,

1909 Events January–February * January 4 – Explorer Aeneas Mackintosh of the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition escaped death by fleeing across ice floes. * January 7 – Colombia recognizes the independence of Panama. * Januar ...

and 1912 state elections failing to win a majority every time. After the 1912 election, Bowman resigned as leader and

T. J. Ryan Thomas Joseph Ryan (1 July 1876 – 1 August 1921) was an Australian politician who served as Premier of Queensland from 1915 to 1919, as leader of the state Labor Party. He resigned to enter federal politics, sitting in the House of Represe ...

was elected in his place. Ryan led Labor to their first majority government in Queensland at the 1915 election, winning 45 of the 72 seats. On 1 June, Bowman was sworn in as the

Home Secretary The secretary of state for the Home Department, otherwise known as the home secretary, is a senior minister of the Crown in the Government of the United Kingdom. The home secretary leads the Home Office, and is responsible for all national ...

as part the

Ryan Ministry The Ryan Ministry was the 27th ministry of the Government of Queensland and was led by Premier T. J. Ryan of the Labor Party. It was the first majority Labor government in Queensland's history. It succeeded the Denham Ministry on 1 June 1915, ...

. However, his health was so poor that

John Huxham John Huxham (1692–1768) was an English physician, a provincial doctor notable for his study of fevers. In 1750 Huxham published his ''Essay on Fevers'' and in 1755 received the Copley Medal for his contribution to medicine. Biography Huxham ...

became his assistant minister.

Personal life

Bowman married Elizabeth Jane Fisher on 20 May 1885 in Ballarat. Together they had two daughters and two sons.

Death

Bowman died in

on 25 February 1916. He was buried in

Toowong Cemetery Toowong Cemetery is a heritage-listed cemetery on the corner of Frederick Street and Mt Coot-tha Road, Toowong, City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It was established in 1866 and formally opened in 1875. It is Queensland's largest cemet ...

with Presbyterian rites.

Legacy

In 1948, the newly proclaimed Queensland federal electoral division of Bowman was named in honour. Bowman Park at Simpsons Road Bardon (at that time known as 'Upper Paddington') was also named in his honour, shortly after his death in 1916.Streets of Brisbane - The Suburb of Bardon. Retrieved 1 April 2013
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bowan, David 1860 births 1916 deaths Members of the Queensland Legislative Assembly Leaders of the Opposition in Queensland People from Bendigo Australian people of Scottish descent Australian Presbyterians Burials at Toowong Cemetery Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Queensland