Ambrose Campbell Carmichael, MC (19 September 1871 – 15 January 1953) was an Australian politician, soldier and accountant, a member of 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 House ...

for 12 years and a minister in the McGowen and Holman

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 ...

governments.

Early life

Carmichael was born in

Hobart Hobart ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the island state of Tasmania, Australia. Located in Tasmania's south-east on the estuary of the River Derwent, it is the southernmost capital city in Australia. Despite containing nearly hal ...

, Tasmania, to shipping agent William Carmichael and Emma Willson, both Scottish-born. He was educated at Hobart and then held a variety of occupations, including coaching in

Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

and farming on the

Lachlan River The Lachlan River (Wiradjuri: ''Kalari'', ''Galiyarr'') is an intermittent river that is part of the Murrumbidgee catchment within the Murray–Darling basin, located in the Southern Tablelands, Central West, and Riverina regions of New Sou ...

, where he became involved in the Farmers' and Settlers' Association of New South Wales. Around 1893 he married Mabel Pillinger at

Lake Cargelligo Lake Cargelligo () is a town in the Central West region of New South Wales, Australia, on Lake Cargelligo. It is in Lachlan Shire. Its name is said to be a corruption of the Aboriginal word ''kartjellakoo'' meaning 'he had a coolamon'. Alterna ...

. In around 1900 he established a business in

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

Political career

In 1904 Carmichael joined

and worked on

George Beeby Sir George Stephenson Beeby KBE (23 May 1869 – 18 July 1942) was an Australian politician, judge and author. He was one of the founders of the Labor Party in New South Wales, and represented the party in state parliament from 1907 to 1912. H ...

's unsuccessful campaign for Leichhardt at the 1904 election. He was the Labor candidate for Leichhardt in 1907 and he was successful, defeating the sitting

Liberal Reform Liberal Reform is an internal political group of members of the British Liberal Democrats (UK), Liberal Democrats. Membership of the group is open to any Liberal Democrat member, and is free of charge. It was launched on 13 February 2012, and de ...

member Robert Booth, with a margin of 485 votes (6.1%). He was appointed an honorary minister in 1910 in the McGowen ministry, assuming the Public Instruction and Labour and Industry portfolios in 1911. He was dropped from the ministry in November 1911, but was returned as Minister of Public Instruction from March 1912, briefly also serving as

Treasurer A treasurer is a person responsible for the financial operations of a government, business, or other organization. Government The treasury of a country is the department responsible for the country's economy, finance and revenue. The treasure ...

from April to May 1912 and adding Labour and Industry from December 1912 until June 1913. He retained the portfolio of Public Instruction in the first Holman ministry, until March 1915, when he resigned over a dispute concerning seniority in the cabinet. In November 1915 he started a successful recruiting campaign for 1,000 recruits to join him in the Australian Imperial Force for the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, referred to as "Carmichael's thousand". He enlisted as a private in January 1916, serving in the 36th Battalion. He was awarded the

Military Cross The Military Cross (MC) is the third-level (second-level until 1993) military decoration awarded to officers and (since 1993) Other ranks (UK), other ranks of the British Armed Forces, and formerly awarded to officers of other Commonwealth of ...

for action at Houplines in 1917, returning to the frontline, attaining the rank of

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

. He returned to Sydney in February 1918 and spoke to the Labor executive, explaining that while he was in favour of

conscription Conscription, also known as the draft in the United States and Israel, is the practice in which the compulsory enlistment in a national service, mainly a military service, is enforced by law. Conscription dates back to antiquity and it conti ...

it had been defeated in two referendums and was a dead issue. He ran another recruitment campaign to raise a second "Carmichael's thousand", which left Sydney in June 1918, arriving in France in late September when the war was ending. He drifted from Labor and "machine politics" and in March 1919 formed the People's Party of Soldiers and Citizens. The party fielded 30 candidates in 10 districts at the 1920 election, with Carmichael standing as a candidate for the five-member seat of Balmain. None of the party's candidates were elected with Carmichael coming closest, missing out by a margin of 426 votes (1.4%).

Later life

Carmichael retired from public life and became a public accountant. He wrote to his former colleague William Ashford in 1921 stating that the prosecution of Ashford in a

Royal Commission A royal commission is a major ad-hoc formal public inquiry into a defined issue in some monarchies. They have been held in the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Norway, Malaysia, Mauritius and Saudi Arabia. In republics an equi ...

was in his opinion, a "damned dirty piece of political malice" that sickened him of present-day politics. After the failure of his party he joined the Nationalist Party in 1922 but did not stand for election again. His wife Mabel died in 1931, and his second marriage, which took place in 1934 in Sydney, was to Olive Thorngate Weston. He died at

Darlinghurst Darlinghurst is an inner-city suburb in the eastern suburbs of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Darlinghurst is located immediately east of the Sydney central business district (CBD) and Hyde Park, within the local government area of the Ci ...

on . He had no children from either marriage and his second wife, Olive, died 5 days after him.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Carmichael, Campbell 1871 births 1953 deaths Australian Army officers Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of New South Wales Australian military personnel of World War I Australian recipients of the Military Cross Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly Treasurers of New South Wales Ministers for education (New South Wales)