George Mure Black (15 February 1854 – 18 July 1936) was a Scottish-born Australian politician. He was born in

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian on the southern shore of t ...

to messenger-at-arms George Stevenson Black and Isabella Muir. He was educated at

Leith Leith (; gd, Lìte) is a port area in the north of the city of Edinburgh, Scotland, founded at the mouth of the Water of Leith. In 2021, it was ranked by '' Time Out'' as one of the top five neighbourhoods to live in the world. The earliest ...

and attended the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 158 ...

, studying arts and medicine but never graduating. He emigrated to

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seyche ...

in 1877, moving to

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , e ...

in 1878. From 1877 he lived with Georgina Duggan; they were never married but had twelve children. Black undertook a variety of jobs, eventually becoming a journalist with the ''

Bulletin Bulletin or The Bulletin may refer to: Periodicals (newspapers, magazines, journals) * Bulletin (online newspaper), a Swedish online newspaper * ''The Bulletin'' (Australian periodical), an Australian magazine (1880–2008) ** Bulletin Debate, ...

'' from 1889 to 1891 and editor of the ''Australian Workman'' from 1891 to 1892. In 1891 he was elected to the

New South Wales Legislative Assembly The New South Wales Legislative Assembly is the lower of the two houses of the Parliament of New South Wales, an Australian state. The upper house is the New South Wales Legislative Council. Both the Assembly and Council sit at Parliament Hou ...

for West Sydney, one of the first group of Labour MLAs. In 1894 he was elected to Sydney-Gipps as an independent Labour member, having fallen out with the party over the introduction of the pledge, but he had rejoined by 1895 after changes were made to the pledge. On 21 June 1894 he had married Rosielinn Clarkson. He was defeated in 1898 and returned to journalism, editing the ''Sydney Worker'', the ''Radical'' and the ''Bathurst National Advocate''. He returned to parliament in 1910 as the member for Namoi and was promoted to the front bench as Minister for Agriculture (February to March 1915), Colonial Secretary (1915–1916) and Minister for Public Health (1915–1916). Expelled from the Labor Party over conscription in 1916, he was defeated as an Independent Labor candidate in 1917. He was then appointed by the Nationalist Party to the

New South Wales Legislative Council The New South Wales Legislative Council, often referred to as the upper house, is one of the two chambers of the parliament of the Australian state of New South Wales. The other is the Legislative Assembly. Both sit at Parliament House in th ...

, where he served from 1917 to 1934. His first wife was Georgina Johnstone. This marriage produced several children. He married Rosalind Clarkson (nee Singleton) in 1894 at St Pauls Anglican Church in Hornsby. Rosalind passed in 1917 He married Priscilla Verne (nee, Jones, Kelly), a former actress on the Tivoli circuit in Australia, at Randwick on 11 April 1928. He had met Priscilla while shopping at David Jones in Sydney. A news article stated that the pair become grandparents several weeks later. Black died at

Lidcombe Lidcombe is a suburb in western Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Lidcombe is located west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of Cumberland Council, with a small industrial part in the north ...

in 1936.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Black, George Mure 1854 births 1936 deaths Independent members of the Parliament of New South Wales Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly Members of the New South Wales Legislative Council Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of New South Wales Nationalist Party of Australia members of the Parliament of New South Wales United Australia Party members of the Parliament of New South Wales Alumni of the University of Edinburgh