William Irvine (Australian politician)
Sir William Irvine | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Chief Justice of Victoria | |
| In office 9 April 1918 – 30 September 1935 | |
| Preceded by | John Madden |
| Succeeded by | Frederick Mann |
| Attorney-General of Australia | |
| In office 24 June 1913 – 17 September 1914 | |
| Prime Minister | Joseph Cook |
| Preceded by | Billy Hughes |
| Succeeded by | Billy Hughes |
| Premier of Victoria | |
| In office 10 June 1902 – 16 February 1904 | |
| Governor | George Clarke Reginald Talbot |
| Preceded by | Alexander Peacock |
| Succeeded by | Thomas Bent |
| Member of the Australian Parliament for Division of Flinders | |
| In office 12 December 1906 – 5 April 1918 | |
| Preceded by | James Gibb |
| Succeeded by | Stanley Bruce |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 6 July 1858 Newry, County Down, Ireland |
| Died | 20 August 1943 (aged 85) Toorak, Victoria, Australia |
| Political party | Liberal (federal) |
| Spouse(s) | Agnes Somerville |
Sir William Hill Irvine GCMG (6 July 1858 – 20 August 1943) was an Australian politician and judge. He served as Premier of Victoria (1902–1904), Attorney-General of Australia (1913–1914), and Chief Justice of Victoria (1918–1935).
Early life[]
Irvine was born in Newry in County Down, Ireland, into a Scottish-Presbyterian family; he was the nephew of Irish revolutionary John Mitchel. He was educated at the Royal School, Armagh and Trinity College, Dublin, graduating in law in 1879 before migrating to Melbourne, where he taught in Presbyterian schools and read law at Melbourne University, gaining a master's degree in arts and law. He soon became a leading Melbourne barrister.[1]
Victorian politics[]
In 1894, Irvine was elected to the Victorian Legislative Assembly as a Liberal. He was Attorney-General 1899–1900 and 1902–03, and Solicitor-General in 1903. He succeeded George Turner as leader of the Victorian Liberals, but was much more conservative than either Turner or the federal Protectionist Party leader, Alfred Deakin. In 1902, he displaced the more liberal Alexander Peacock and became Premier and Treasurer, holding office until 1904, when he was succeeded by Thomas Bent.
Irvine's ministry was appointed on 10 June 1902:[2]
- Premier and Attorney-General : William Irvine
- Treasurer : William Shiels
- Solicitor-General : John Mark Davies
- Minister of Railways : Thomas Bent
- Minister of Education and Health : Robert Reid
- Minister of Public Works and Agriculture : John Taverner
- President of Board of Lands : Malcolm McKenzie
- Minister of Mines : Ewen Cameron
- Chief Secretary and Minister of Labour : John Murray
Federal politics[]
In 1906, Irvine was elected to the Australian House of Representatives for the seat of Flinders. First elected as an independent Protectionist, he became a member of Deakin's Commonwealth Liberal Party in 1908. He was Attorney-General in Joseph Cook's Liberal government of 1913–14. He was considered a potential Prime Minister of Australia, but his abrupt manner and hard-line conservatism made him unacceptable to many Liberals; in Parliament he was known as "Iceberg Irvine."
Judicial career[]
Recognising that he was unlikely to progress further in politics, Irvine accepted appointment as the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Victoria, the highest-ranking court in that state. He held the position from 1918 until 1935.
Other activities[]
He was knighted KCMG in 1914 and made GCMG in 1936. A keen motorist, he was a founding member of the Royal Automobile Club of Victoria (RACV) and was its patron from 1938 through 1943. In 1932 a painting of Irvine by Ernest Buckmaster won the Archibald Prize, Australia's best-known portrait prize.
See also[]
- List of Judges of the Supreme Court of Victoria
References[]
- ^ Biography – Sir William Hill Irvine – Australian Dictionary of Biography
- ^ "Latest intelligence - The new Victorian Cabinet". The Times. No. 36790. London. 10 June 1902. p. 7.
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
External links[]
- Supreme Court of Victoria Website
- . . Dublin: Alexander Thom and Son Ltd. 1923. p. – via Wikisource.
- 1858 births
- 1943 deaths
- Premiers of Victoria
- Attorneys-General of Australia
- Members of the Cabinet of Australia
- Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Flinders
- Chief Justices of Victoria
- Australian Knights Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George
- Australian politicians awarded knighthoods
- People from Newry
- Australian people of Scottish descent
- Ulster Scots people
- Members of the Victorian Legislative Assembly
- Melbourne Law School alumni
- Attorneys-General of the Colony of Victoria
- Solicitors-General of Victoria
- Free Trade Party members of the Parliament of Australia
- Commonwealth Liberal Party members of the Parliament of Australia
- Nationalist Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Australia
- 20th-century Australian politicians
- Lieutenant-Governors of Victoria
- Irish emigrants to colonial Australia