Sir Walter Hartwell James , (29 March 1863 – 3 January 1943) was the fifth

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 br ...

and an ardent supporter of the

federation A federation (also called a federal state) is an entity characterized by a political union, union of partially federated state, self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a #Federal governments, federal government (federalism) ...

movement.

Background and early career

James was born in

Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...

, in what was then the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

colony of

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

. He was educated at Perth Boys School and later at Perth High School (now Hale School). After his father's death, his mother remarried to

George Randell George Randell (5 October 1830 – 2 June 1915) was an Australian businessman and politician. He served intermittently in the Parliament of Western Australia between 1875 and 1910, including as a minister in the government of Sir John Forrest ...

, a member of the

Legislative Council A legislative council is the legislature, or one of the legislative chambers, of a nation, colony, or subnational division such as a province or state. It was commonly used to label unicameral or upper house legislative bodies in the Brit ...

. James was thus the step-brother of Ernest Randell, who later played

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

for

. In his youth, James worked as a jackaroo at De Grey Station in the

Pilbara The Pilbara () is a large, dry, sparsely populated regions of Western Australia, region in the north of Western Australia. It is known for its Indigenous Australians, Aboriginal people; wealth disparity; its ancient landscapes; the prevailing r ...

, but after being shipwrecked off

Rottnest Island Rottnest Island (), often colloquially referred to as "Rotto", is a Islands of Perth, Western Australia, island off the coast of Western Australia, located west of Fremantle. A sandy, low-lying island formed on a base of aeolianite limestone, ...

in 1883 on his way to the Pilbara, he turned to the legal profession. He was articled to George Leake in 1883, and was admitted to the Western Australian bar in 1888. Shortly afterwards he went into partnership with Leake. James also played

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

for the Rovers Football Club in the West Australian Football Association. He later served as secretary of the Association. On 21 June 1892, he married Eleanora Marie Gwenifryd Hearder.

Political career

From 1890 to 1896, James represented Central Ward on Perth City Council. In 1894 he was elected to the Legislative Assembly seat of East Perth. James sat in the Legislative Assembly as an independent, and was a consistent opponent of

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 in ...

's government. He was a strong advocate for social reform, working for

women's suffrage Women's suffrage is the women's rights, right of women to Suffrage, vote in elections. Several instances occurred in recent centuries where women were selectively given, then stripped of, the right to vote. In Sweden, conditional women's suffra ...

over a long period, and playing an active part in the establishment of a compulsory, free, secular education system. He became an active member of the Western Australian Liberal Association, a reformist organisation that pursued liberal ideals. James was also strongly in favour of

, and campaigned heavily with George Leake and James Gardiner for Western Australia to become an original member of the Federation. He was a member of the Western Australian delegation to the Federal Conventions of 1897 and 1898, but missed three quarters of its votes, the worst absence record of any delegate. In May 1898 he helped found the Federal League, and in the same month

Edmund Barton Sir Edmund "Toby" Barton (18 January 18497 January 1920) was an Australian politician, barrister and jurist who served as the first prime minister of Australia from 1901 to 1903. He held office as the leader of the Protectionist Party, before ...

thanked James for his "generous contributions" to the Yes campaign in the NSW federation referendum. On 28 June 1901, James was appointed minister without portfolio in the first Leake government. In 1902 he was made KC. After Leake died in late June 1902, "Nutty" James, as he was popularly known, was appointed

Premier Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier. A premier will normally be a head of govern ...

and

Attorney-General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general (: attorneys general) or attorney-general (AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have executive responsibility for law enf ...

on 1 July. As premier, James fought for the state's interests against an aggressive Commonwealth executive. He also led a reforming government; its achievements include legalization of the union movement, the first

workers' compensation Workers' compensation or workers' comp is a form of insurance providing wage replacement and medical benefits to employees injured in the course of employment in exchange for mandatory relinquishment of the employee's right to sue his or her emp ...

, a stronger

Arbitration Arbitration is a formal method of dispute resolution involving a third party neutral who makes a binding decision. The third party neutral (the 'arbitrator', 'arbiter' or 'arbitral tribunal') renders the decision in the form of an 'arbitrati ...

Act, and the opening of the current Parliament House. James also tried but failed to reform the franchise; he achieved only the abolition of

plural voting Plural voting is the practice whereby one person might be able to vote multiple times in an election. It is not to be confused with a plurality voting system, which elects winners by relative lead in vote tallies and does not necessarily involve pl ...

, and an increase in Goldfields representation. These changes appear to have been his undoing, as it is likely that they were key factors in Labor's strong support in the election of 28 June 1904, after which James was defeated when Parliament next met on 10 August 1904.

Post-political career

On 22 September 1904, James resigned from parliament to take up an appointment as Agent-General for Western Australia in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. He was appointed

Knight Bachelor The title of Knight Bachelor is the basic rank granted to a man who has been knighted by the monarch but not inducted as a member of one of the organised Order of chivalry, orders of chivalry; it is a part of the Orders, decorations, and medals ...

on 28 June 1907. After returning to Perth from London, he devoted himself to his legal practice and rose to prominence as a leading member of the Bar. In 1910 he contested the Legislative Assembly seat of Beverley at a

by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, or a bypoll in India, is an election used to fill an office that has become vacant between general elections. A vacancy may arise as a result of an incumben ...

, but was unsuccessful. James was involved with the East Perth Cricket Club (now Perth Cricket Club) in the WACA and served a two-season term as President of the club from 1908 to 1910. In 1909, James was appointed to a

Royal Commission A royal commission is a major ad-hoc formal public inquiry into a defined issue in some monarchies. They have been held in the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Norway, Malaysia, Mauritius and Saudi Arabia. In republics an equi ...

to enquire into the establishment of a university in Perth. When the

University of Western Australia University of Western Australia (UWA) is a public research university in the Australian state of Western Australia. The university's main campus is in Crawley, Western Australia, Crawley, a suburb in the City of Perth local government area. UW ...

was established, he became a founding member. He continued to serve the university for many years, and was elected pro-Chancellor on 19 August 1929 and

Chancellor Chancellor () is a title of various official positions in the governments of many countries. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the (lattice work screens) of a basilica (court hall), which separa ...

on 17 March 1930; and retired in 1936.

1915 Misrepresentation of Bishop Hale and the High School

In 1915 James wrote the first known published document falsely claiming a direct link between Bishop Hale's School founded in 1858, and the High School founded in 1876. His two page editorial in the High School magazine Cygnet of 1915, was later fully debunked in 1929 by Edith Cowan during attempts by the High School to rename the School after Bishop Hale. She pointed to a statement by Mr. Alfred Burt, a pupil of Bishop Hale’s School, and Registrar of Titles for many years, sent to the Diocesan Secretary on September 25, 1929, that Bishop Hale's School was a legal entity under the Church of England Collegiate School Act that remained in force for at least 10 years after the High School Act was passed and parts of that Act were still operating in 1929. Cowan noted Burt’s contention that the present High or Hale School had no right to claim that their school was founded in 1858 (vide an advertisement of February 1929) or that the old Hale School boys should be called High School boys. Cowan particularly condemned the High School's new Coat of Arms misleading use of the Hale family crest, the use of a fictitious motto "Duty" falsely ascribed to the Bishop, and the High School's claiming 1858 as their own foundation date. Despite her best efforts, the WA Parliament approved the change of the name in 1929, and did not take seriously the misrepresentations, patently false associations, and false sponsorship claims attempting to connect the secular state High School to Bishop Hale's private religious school, and which were even at that time significant breaches of contract law (fraudulent misrepresentation) and the Federal Trade Marks Act 1905 (False Marking). These continuing historic breaches leave High/Hale School still exposed to actionable complaints under Australian Consumer Law S29(1)(e),(f),(g) and (h)https://classic.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/cth/consol_act/caca2010265/sch2.html. However, instead of a prosecution, James was rewarded with significant honours and lucrative offers from the WA State Government. In 1931, James was elevated to KCMG. In 1932, he declined an offer from Premier James Mitchell to become Lieutenant-Governor of Western Australia. In 1936, he accepted an

honorary degree An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or '' ad hon ...

of Doctor of Laws. He died on 3 January 1943, and was buried at

Karrakatta Cemetery Karrakatta Cemetery is a metropolitan cemetery in the suburb of Karrakatta in Perth, Western Australia. Karrakatta Cemetery first opened for burials in 1899, the first being that of wheelwright Robert Creighton. Managed by the Metropolitan Ce ...

Background and early career

Political career

Post-political career

1915 Misrepresentation of Bishop Hale and the High School

See also

References

Further reading