Arthur Male (2 March 1870 – 20 January 1946) was an Australian businessman and politician who was a member of the Legislative Assembly of

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

from 1905 to 1917, representing the seat of Kimberley. He was a minister in the first government of Frank Wilson.

Early life

Male was born in

Bridport Bridport is a market town and civil parish in Dorset, England, inland from the English Channel near the confluence of the River Brit and its tributary the River Asker, Asker. Its origins are Anglo-Saxons, Saxon and it has a long history as a ...

Dorset Dorset ( ; Archaism, archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Somerset to the north-west, Wiltshire to the north and the north-east, Hampshire to the east, t ...

, England, to Martha (née Guppy) and Thomas Male. He emigrated to Australia in 1889, initially working on a farm in

Guildford Guildford () is a town in west Surrey, England, around south-west of central London. As of the 2011 census, the town has a population of about 77,000 and is the seat of the wider Borough of Guildford, which had around inhabitants in . The nam ...

(near

Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...

). In 1894, Male moved to Broome (a town in the

Kimberley Kimberly or Kimberley may refer to: Places and historical events Australia Queensland * Kimberley, Queensland, a coastal locality in the Shire of Douglas South Australia * County of Kimberley, a cadastral unit in South Australia Ta ...

), where he managed a pearling business. He later went into partnership with George Streeter, and their firm, Streeter and Male, had diverse commercial interests in the Kimberley, including in the pearling, fishing, and cattle trades. Male was elected to the Broome Road Board in 1901, and later served as mayor of the Broome Municipality from 1908 to 1909.Arthur Male
– Biographical Register of Members of the Parliament of Western Australia. Retrieved 16 June 2016.

Politics

At the 1905 state election, Male ran against Francis Connor in the seat of Kimberley, and was successful. He was re-elected at the 1908 election. When Frank Wilson replaced

Newton Moore Major general (Australia), Major General Sir Newton James Moore, (17 May 1870 – 28 October 1936) was an Australian politician, businessman and army officer. He served as the eighth Premier of Western Australia from 1906 to 1910 and, following ...

premier Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier. A premier will normally be a head of govern ...

in September 1910, he included Male in his new ministry, as a

minister without portfolio A minister without portfolio is a government minister without specific responsibility as head of a government department. The sinecure is particularly common in countries ruled by coalition governments and a cabinet with decision-making authorit ...

. However, Wilson's government was defeated at the 1911 state election, with

Labor Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

John Scaddan John Scaddan, Order of St Michael and St George, CMG (4 August 1876 – 21 November 1934), popularly known as "Happy Jack", was Premier of Western Australia from 7 October 1911 until 27 July 1916. Early life John Scaddan was born in Moonta ...

succeeding him as premier. Male remained in parliament until the 1917 election, which he did not contest. He ran for re-election as an "independent

Nationalist Nationalism is an idea or movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the State (polity), state. As a movement, it presupposes the existence and tends to promote the interests of a particular nation,Anthony D. Smith, Smith, A ...

" ten years later, at the 1927 election, but was defeated by the sitting member, Aubrey Coverley.

Later life

Male retired to

in 1930, and died there in January 1946, aged 76. He had married Constance Cox in 1900, with whom he had five children.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Male, Arthur 1870 births 1946 deaths English emigrants to colonial Australia Mayors of places in Western Australia Members of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly Pearlers People from Bridport Western Australian local councillors