David Forrest (2 January 1852 – 5 January 1917) was an Australian politician, a member of 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, Perth, Parliament House in the Western Australian capi ...

from 1900 to 1901, holding the seat of Ashburton. He was the younger brother 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 in ...

and

Alexander Forrest Alexander Forrest CMG (22 September 1849 – 20 June 1901) was an explorer and surveyor of Western Australia, and later also a member of parliament. As a government surveyor, Forrest explored many areas of remote Western Australia, particula ...

, and the great-grandfather of

Andrew Forrest John Andrew Henry Forrest (born 18 November 1961), nicknamed Twiggy, is an Australian businessman. He is best known as the former CEO (and current non-executive chairman) of Fortescue Metals Group (FMG), and has other interests in the mining ...

. Forrest was the sixth child of William and Margaret Forrest. He was born at his parents' flour mill on

Preston River The Preston River is a river in the South West region of Western Australia. The river has a total length of and rises near Goonac siding then flows in a north-westerly direction until discharging into the Leschenault Estuary. The headwaters ...

at Picton, near

Bunbury, Western Australia Bunbury () is a coastal city in the Australian state of Western Australia, approximately south of the state capital, Perth. It is the state's third most populous city after Perth and Mandurah, with a population of approximately 75,000. Loca ...

. He initially attended a one-room school that his father had built on his property, then later attended Bishop Hale's school (now

Hale School Hale School is an independent, Anglican day and boarding school for boys, located in Wembley Downs, a western suburb of Perth, Western Australia. Named after the school founded by Bishop Mathew Blagden Hale in 1858, Hale School claims to ...

) in Perth. From 1873 to 1876, Forrest worked with sheep at Cubbine station near Quairading. In 1874, Forrest drove a mob of sheep to a new lease of land (granted to Forrest, his brothers John and Alexander, and

Septimus Burt The Hon Septimus Burt KC (25 October 1847 – 15 May 1919) was a Western Australian lawyer, politician and grazier, the son of Sir Archibald Burt. Burt was born on 25 October 1847 at St Kitts in the West Indies, and educated at a private schoo ...

) known as Minderoo, in the

Ashburton district Ashburton District is a Districts of New Zealand, territorial authority district in the Canterbury Region of the South Island of New Zealand. It encompasses the town of Ashburton, New Zealand, Ashburton, a number of small towns and settlements an ...

, and subsequently became the manager of the new

station Station may refer to: Agriculture * Station (Australian agriculture), a large Australian landholding used for livestock production * Station (New Zealand agriculture), a large New Zealand farm used for grazing by sheep and cattle ** Cattle statio ...

. In 1881, Forrest married Mary Parker at

York York is a cathedral city in North Yorkshire, England, with Roman Britain, Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers River Ouse, Yorkshire, Ouse and River Foss, Foss. It has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a Yor ...

, after a seven-year engagement. They had seven children, three of whom died as infants. One of his sons, Mervyn Forrest, took over the family's pastoral interests, and like his father became a member of parliament. Forrest was the first chairman of the Ashburton Roads Board, a justice of the peace, and

Member of the Legislative Assembly A Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) is a representative elected to sit in a legislative assembly. The term most commonly refers to members of the legislature of a federated state or an autonomous region, but is also used for several nation ...

for the seat of Ashburton from 1900 to 1901. Forrest retired to

Claremont Claremont may refer to: Places Australia *Claremont, Ipswich, a heritage-listed house in Queensland * Claremont, Tasmania, a suburb of Hobart * Claremont, Western Australia, a suburb of Perth * Town of Claremont, Perth * Claremont Airbase, an ...

, and died in 1917 at his residence, "Minderoo". He 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 ...

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Forrest, David 1852 births 1917 deaths People from Bunbury, Western Australia Members of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly Burials at Karrakatta Cemetery Colony of Western Australia people