Sir Cornthwaite Hector William James Rason (18 June 1858 – 15 March 1927), better known as Hector Rason, was the seventh

Premier of Western Australia The premier of Western Australia is the head of government of the state of Western Australia. The role of premier at a state level is similar to the role of the prime minister of Australia at a federal level. The premier leads the executive bra ...

Early life

Rason was born in Cleeve,

Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lord_ ...

, in

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on 18 June 1858. He was the son of Cornthwaite Hector Rason (Snr), a

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

surgeon who was the medical officer at

York, Western Australia York is the oldest inland town in Western Australia, situated on the Avon River, east of Perth in the Wheatbelt, on Ballardong Nyoongar land,King, A and Parker, E: York, Western Australia's first inland town, Parker Print, 2003 p.3. and is ...

, in 1866 and 1867. Rason (Jnr) was educated at private schools in

Eastbourne Eastbourne () is a town and seaside resort in East Sussex, on the south coast of England, east of Brighton and south of London. Eastbourne is immediately east of Beachy Head, the highest chalk sea cliff in Great Britain and part of the la ...

Brighton Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...

and

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, and worked as a railway clerk.

Business career

In October 1880, Rason emigrated 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 ...

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, but returned to England after eighteen months. In February 1883, he married Mary E. Terry, and shortly afterwards returned to

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 ...

with his wife and her brother, W. R. Terry. Rason and Terry set up business as storekeepers at Toodyay and

Guildford Guildford () is a town in west Surrey, around southwest of central London. As of the 2011 census, the town has a population of about 77,000 and is the seat of the wider Borough of Guildford, which had around inhabitants in . The name "Guildf ...

, but after a few years Terry returned to England. Rason then went into partnership with a Mr Webster, and attempted to benefit from the gold rushes in the Kimberley and

Goldfields Goldfield or Goldfields may refer to: Places * Goldfield, Arizona, the former name of Youngberg, Arizona, a populated place in the United States * Goldfield, Colorado, a community in the United States * Goldfield, Iowa, a city in the United State ...

regions. Rason also spent some time in Coolgardie trading as a mining engineer and auctioneer. He retired from business in 1891, but was affected by the firm's

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in 1892. From 1893 to 1895 he was a mining agent and auctioneer in Coolgardie, and in 1896 he moved to

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. From 1897 to 1898, Rason was Mayor of the

Municipality of Guildford The Municipality of Guildford was a local government area of Western Australia. It first came into existence in 1838 as the Guildford Town Trust, before ceasing to function several years later. It was reconstituted in 1863, and became a Municipali ...

Politics

In January 1889, Rason was elected to the

Western Australian Legislative Council The Western Australian Legislative Council is the upper house of the Parliament of Western Australia, a state of Australia. It is regarded as a house of review for legislation passed by the Legislative Assembly, the lower house. The two Houses ...

for the Swan district. He was a strong supporter of responsible government, and left the Council in October 1890 after responsible government had been established. In 1897 he was elected to the

Western Australian Legislative Assembly The Western Australian Legislative Assembly, or lower house, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of Western Australia, an Australian state. The Parliament sits in Parliament House in the Western Australian capital, Perth. The Legisla ...

seat of South Murchison, sitting as a supporter of

Sir John Forrest Sir John Forrest (22 August 1847 – 2 SeptemberSome sources give the date as 3 September 1918 1918) was an Australian explorer and politician. He was the first premier of Western Australia (1890–1901) and a long-serving cabinet minister i ...

's government. In 1898, he was appointed president of the royal commission on

mining Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the Earth, usually from an ore body, lode, vein, seam, reef, or placer deposit. The exploitation of these deposits for raw material is based on the economic via ...

. The seat of South Murchison was abolished in 1901, and Rason won the Legislative Assembly seat of Guildford in the general elections of April 1901. When

George Leake George Leake (3 December 1856 – 24 June 1902) was the third Premier of Western Australia, serving from May to November 1901 and then again from December 1901 to his death. Leake was born in Perth, into a prominent local family. Studying l ...

formed his second government in December 1901, Rason was appointed minister for works, holding responsibility for administration of the Coolgardie Water Scheme. Under

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' premiership from July 1902 until August 1904, he was minister for works and railways, and was also treasurer for a few months from April 1904. After Labor took office in August 1904, he became

Leader of the Opposition The Leader of the Opposition is a title traditionally held by the leader of the largest political party not in government, typical in countries utilizing the parliamentary system form of government. The leader of the opposition is typically se ...

. Rason became Premier, Treasurer and Minister for Justice on 25 August 1905, after

Henry Daglish Henry Daglish (18 November 1866 – 16 August 1920) was an Australian politician who was the sixth premier of Western Australia and the first from the Labor Party, serving from 10 August 1904 to 25 August 1905. Daglish was born in Ballarat, V ...

's Labor government was defeated. Like Daglish, Rason did not have a majority of support, but he was granted an early dissolution in October, and easily won the subsequent general election. Later that year he headed the royal commission on immigration.

Later life

Rason did not provide firm leadership as premier, and was dogged by family and financial worries. In May 1906 he appointed himself as Agent General for Western Australia in

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before resigning as premier to take up the post, an action which drew strong criticism. He held the post until 1911, after which he pursued a business career in

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. He was made

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in 1909. He died at

Beckenham Beckenham () is a town in Greater London, England, within the London Borough of Bromley, in Greater London. Until 1965 it was part of the historic county of Kent. It is located south-east of Charing Cross, situated north of Elmers End and E ...

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

, in

on 15 March 1927.

References

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rason, Hector 1858 births 1927 deaths Agents-General for Western Australia Mayors of places in Western Australia Settlers of Western Australia English emigrants to Australia Members of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly Members of the Western Australian Legislative Council People from North Somerset (district) Premiers of Western Australia Australian Knights Bachelor Treasurers of Western Australia Australian auctioneers