Charles Allan Seymour Hawker (16 May 1894 – 25 October 1938) was an Australian politician. He was a member of the

Australian House of Representatives The House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameral Parliament of Australia, the upper house being the Senate. Its composition and powers are established in Chapter I of the Constitution of Australia. The term of members of ...

for

Wakefield Wakefield is a cathedral city in West Yorkshire, England located on the River Calder. The city had a population of 99,251 in the 2011 census.https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/census/2011/ks101ew Census 2011 table KS101EW Usual resident population, ...

from 1929 until his accidental death in 1938, representing the Nationalist Party (1929–1931) and its successor the

United Australia Party The United Australia Party (UAP) was an Australian political party that was founded in 1931 and dissolved in 1945. The party won four federal elections in that time, usually governing in coalition with the Country Party. It provided two prim ...

(1931–1938). He was Minister for Repatriation and Minister for Markets (later Commerce) in the

Lyons Lyon,, ; Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the third-largest city and second-largest metropolitan area of France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of t ...

government from 1931 to 1932.

Early life and war service

Hawker was born at

Bungaree Bungaree, or Boongaree ( – 24 November 1830), was an Aboriginal Australian from the Guringai people of the Broken Bay north of Sydney, who was known as an explorer, entertainer, and Aboriginal community leader.Barani (2013)Significant Aborig ...

homestead, near

Clare, South Australia The town of Clare is located in South Australia in the Mid North region, 136 km north of Adelaide. It gives its name to the Clare Valley wine and tourist region. At the , Clare itself had a population of 3160 as part of an urban area wit ...

. He was the second son of Michael Seymour Hawker, manager of the Hawker family stations, and his wife Elizabeth Begg, née McFarlane, and grandson of

George Charles Hawker Sir George Charles Hawker (21 September 1818 – 21 May 1895) was a South Australian settler and politician. Early life Hawker was born in London, the second son of Admiral Edward Hawker and his first wife, Joanna Naomi, ''née'' Poore. He was ...

. Hawker was educated at

Geelong Grammar School , motto_translation = 1 Corinthians 1:30: "For us, Christ was made wisdom"( 1 Corinthians 1:30: Christ, who has been made for us in wisdom) , city = Corio, Victoria , country = Australia , coordinates = , ...

, and

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any college at either Cambridge or Oxford. ...

, earning Bachelor and Master of Arts degrees in 1919 and 1922, respectively. While studying at Cambridge, he enlisted for service in

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

on 11 August 1914, and was commissioned as a temporary lieutenant in the 6th (Service) Battalion of the

Somerset Light Infantry The Somerset Light Infantry (Prince Albert's) was a light infantry regiment of the British Army, which served under various titles from 1685 to 1959. In 1959, the regiment was amalgamated with the Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry to form the Som ...

on 1 August 1915. He saw action on the

Western Front Western Front or West Front may refer to: Military frontiers * Western Front (World War I), a military frontier to the west of Germany *Western Front (World War II), a military frontier to the west of Germany *Western Front (Russian Empire), a maj ...

in the

Ypres Ypres ( , ; nl, Ieper ; vls, Yper; german: Ypern ) is a Belgian city and municipality in the province of West Flanders. Though the Dutch name is the official one, the city's French name is most commonly used in English. The municipality ...

salient, and was injured on 11 August and again in the

Battle of Loos The Battle of Loos took place from 1915 in France on the Western Front, during the First World War. It was the biggest British attack of 1915, the first time that the British used poison gas and the first mass engagement of New Army units. Th ...

on 25 September, resulting in the loss of his eye. Despite his injuries, Hawker returned to the front with the rank of captain in May 1917. Hawker was severely wounded again on 4 October 1917 in the

Battle of Broodseinde The Battle of Broodseinde was fought on 4 October 1917 near Ypres in Belgium, at the east end of the Gheluvelt plateau, by the British Second and Fifth armies against the German 4th Army. The battle was the most successful Allied attack of t ...

, and was paralysed from the waist down. However, after a series of operations and rehabilitation, he was able to walk with two sticks, although his legs remained in surgical irons for the rest of his life. Hawker returned to South Australia in 1920, resumed his studies and became involved in family agricultural holdings. He became increasingly interested in trade as well as in political movements. Hawker joined the state council of the Returned Sailors' and Soldiers' Imperial League of Australia in 1921 and served as its vice-president. He was president of the

Liberal Federation The Liberal Federation was a South Australian political party from 16 October 1923 to 1932. It came into existence as a merger between the rival Liberal Union and National Party, to oppose Labor. Encouraged by the overwhelming success of the ...

from 1927 to 1930, and was the South Australian member of the Commonwealth Board of Trade from 1928.

Political career

In 1929 was elected as a member of the

, representing the electorate of

for the

. He was appointed Minister for Markets and Minister for Repatriation in first ministry of Prime Minister

Joseph Lyons Joseph Aloysius Lyons (15 September 1879 – 7 April 1939) was an Australian politician who served as the 10th Prime Minister of Australia, in office from 1932 until his death in 1939. He began his career in the Australian Labor Party (ALP), ...

and was the youngest member of the ministry. On 12 April 1932 he was replaced as Minister for Repatriation by

Charles Marr Sir Charles William Clanan Marr (23 March 1880 – 20 October 1960) was an Australian politician, engineer and soldier. He was a member of cabinet under prime ministers Stanley Bruce and Joseph Lyons, serving as Minister for Home and Territori ...

and the Markets portfolio was renamed Commerce. On 23 September 1932, he resigned from the ministry in protest at its refusal to reduce parliamentary salaries in response to the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

, having crossed the floor to vote as a minority in a controversial day in Parliament, and did not serve as a minister again, although he continued to represent the people of Wakefield as their elected representative. Hawker travelled extensively, researching issues of trade and farming, and he published his research in pamphlets and treatises and gave lectures on issues of agriculture and pastoral work. He was an enthusiastic book collector and added to a library of volumes inherited from his father.

Death and legacy

Hawker died in the ''Kyeema'' airplane disaster near

Mount Dandenong, Victoria Mount Dandenong is a small township/suburb of Greater Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, east from Melbourne's central business district, located within the Shire of Yarra Ranges local government area. Mount Dandenong recorded a population of 1 ...

in 1938. A memorial was established at St Michael's Anglican Church at Bungaree. The Australian Electoral Division of Hawker and the

Canberra Canberra ( ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The ci ...

suburb of

Hawker, Australian Capital Territory Hawker () (postcode: 2614) is a suburb of the Belconnen district of Canberra, located within the Australian Capital Territory, Australia. The suburb of Hawker is named after Charles Hawker (1894–1938), Member of the House of Representative ...

are named in his honour, and the Charles Allan Seymour Hawker Scholarship was established by his sister Kathleen Lilias Needham in 1991 to fund Australian university education. His cousin, David Hawker, was Speaker of the Australian House of Representatives from 2004 to 2007.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hawker, Charles 1894 births 1938 deaths Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Wakefield Members of the Australian House of Representatives Members of the Cabinet of Australia Australian people of English descent Australian pastoralists People educated at Geelong Grammar School United Australia Party members of the Parliament of Australia Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge British Army personnel of World War I Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in Australia Accidental deaths in Victoria (Australia) Nationalist Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Australia 20th-century Australian politicians Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 1938 Somerset Light Infantry officers Australian book and manuscript collectors