James Crawford (Australian politician)

James Crawford
Member of the Queensland Legislative Assembly
for Fitzroy
In office
2 October 1909 – 27 April 1912
Preceded byHenri Cowap
Succeeded byKenneth Grant
Member of the Queensland Legislative Assembly
for Mount Morgan
In office
27 April 1912 – 22 May 1915
Preceded byNew seat
Succeeded byJames Stopford
Personal details
BornJames Crawford
(1870-03-04)4 March 1870
Died28 December 1916(1916-12-28) (aged 46)
PartyMinisterial
Other political
affiliations
Labour
SpouseMyra Clarke (m.1905)
RelationsThomas Crawford (brother)
Max Crawford (nephew)
John Crawford (nephew)
OccupationBarrister

James Crawford (4 March 1870 – 28 December 1916) was a barrister and member of the Queensland Legislative Assembly.[1]

Early life

Crawford was born in Woonona, New South Wales, to parents James Crawford and his wife Ellen (née Simpson) and attended school while still in Woonona. He was a coalminer in Wollongong in 1883 and by 1888 he was in Narrandera working for the railways. He became a barrister and solicitor working out of Clermont.[1]

When working in the mines he became involved in the labour movement, becoming vice-president of the Australian Workers' Association in Cobar, New South Wales, and secretary of the Fitzroy Miners' Union. He was a member of the Royal Commission into the Mount Morgan disaster in 1908.[1]

Political career

Crawford represented the state seat of Fitzroy from 1909 until 1912. He then represented the new seat of Mount Morgan in 1912 but was defeated by James Stopford in 1915. He started out representing the Labour Party but by the end of his political career he was a member of the Ministerialists.[1]

Personal life

In 1905 Crawford married Myra Clarke but it is not recorded if they had any children.[1] He drowned in the catastrophic floods that hit Clermont in December 1916.[2][1]

Crawford's younger brother Thomas Simpson Crawford was a state MP in New South Wales. His nephews included economist John Crawford and historian Max Crawford.[3]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f "Former Members". Parliament of Queensland. 2015. Retrieved 28 March 2016.
  2. ^ Clermont and Copperfield — Queensland Places. Retrieved 28 March 2016.
  3. ^ Anderson, Fay (2005). An Historian's Life: Max Crawford and the Politics of Academic Freedom. Academic Monographs. p. 17. ISBN 9780522851533.