Carl Adrian Akhurst (14 June 1886 – 8 September 1953) was an Australian accountant, secretary and politician who served as a Member of the
Legislative Council of New South Wales
The New South Wales Legislative Council, often referred to as the upper house, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of New South Wales, parliament of the Australian state of New South Wales. The other is the New South Wales Legislative ...
from 1925 to 1934. Initially appointed by the
Governor of New South Wales
The governor of New South Wales is the viceregal representative of the Australian monarch, King Charles III, in the state of New South Wales. In an analogous way to the governor-general of Australia at the national level, the governors of the ...
as one of 25 Labor Party appointees, Akhurst was expelled from the party after failing to vote for the Council's abolition in 1926. Readmitted to the Federal Labor Party in 1931, Akhurst unsuccessfully sought re-election as the ALP candidate to the council in 1940.
Early life and background
Akhurst was born on 14 June 1886 at
Darlinghurst
Darlinghurst is an inner-city, eastern suburb 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 City of Syd ...
, New South Wales, to printer and accountant Thomas Carlyle Akhurst and Emily Kate Naphthali. His paternal grandfather was prominent actor, playwright and journalist,
William Mower Akhurst (1822–1878). Akhurst spent his early years at
Annandale
Annandale is a name for several places around the world:
United Kingdom
*Annandale, Dumfries and Galloway, a strath in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland Australia
*Annandale, New South Wales, a suburb of Sydney
*Annandale, Queensland, a suburb of ...
, with the family residence at 51 Annandale Street, and received education at Annandale Public School, Blennerhassett's Institute of Accountancy and the
Ballarat School of Mines
The University of Ballarat, Australia was a dual-sector university with multiple campuses in Victoria, Australia, including its main Ballarat campus, Melbourne, Sydney, and Adelaide that were authorized by the university to provide diploma, un ...
.
Akhurst first gained employment as a clerk on the staff of the newspaper ''
The Australian Worker
''The Australian Worker'' was a newspaper produced in Sydney, New South Wales for the Australian Workers' Union. It was published from 1890 to 1950.
History
The newspaper had its origin in ''The Hummer'', "Official organ of the Associated Ri ...
'', published by the
Australian Workers' Union
The Australian Workers' Union (AWU) is one of Australia's largest and oldest trade unions. It traces its origins to unions founded in the pastoral and mining industries in the 1880s and currently has approximately 80,000 members. It has exerci ...
.
In 1905 he joined the
Labor Party, was secretary of the Darlinghurst ALP branch, and was private secretary to
Donald Macdonell and
Edward Grayndler
Edward Grayndler (12 October 1867 – 12 March 1943) was an Australian trade unionist and politician. He served as general secretary of the Australian Workers' Union (AWU) from 1912 to 1941, the longest term in the union's history.
Grayndler w ...
in their capacity as general secretaries of the Australian Workers' Union. After moving from Darlinghurst to a residence at 5 Bray Street,
North Sydney and later
Naremburn
Naremburn is a suburb on the lower North Shore of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Naremburn is located 6 kilometres north of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the City of Willoughby.
History
The subu ...
, Akhurst became secretary of the St Leonards and Willoughby ALP Branches.
In the period 1921–1922, he was private secretary to the Minister for Public Instruction in the
Dooley
Dooley is an Irish surname. Notable people with the surname include:
* Bill Dooley (born 1934), American football coach and brother of Vince Dooley
* Billy Dooley, Irish hurling player
* Brian Dooley (writer), British television writer
* Bri ...
Labor Government,
Thomas Mutch
Thomas Davies Mutch (17 October 1885 – 4 June 1958) was an Australian politician.
Early life
Born in London to busdriver William Murdoch Mutch and Sarah Davies, he arrived in New South Wales in 1887 and was educated at Double Bay Public ...
.
[ Akhurst then joined wine and spirit merchants Westphal and Clarke, was a tally clerk on the Sydney wharves, became share registrar of the ]Primary Producers Bank of Australia
Primary or primaries may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Music Groups and labels
* Primary (band), from Australia
* Primary (musician), hip hop musician and record producer from South Korea
* Primary Music, Israeli record label
Works
...
, and was appointed a Fellow of the Institute of Incorporated Secretaries (FIIS). In September 1924, Akhurst received appointment as a Justice of the Peace (JP).
Member of the Legislative Council
When the conservative Nationalist
Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the State (polity), state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a in-group and out-group, group of peo ...
/Progressive
Progressive may refer to:
Politics
* Progressivism, a political philosophy in support of social reform
** Progressivism in the United States, the political philosophy in the American context
* Progressive realism, an American foreign policy pa ...
coalition government of Sir George Fuller, was defeated at the May 1925 NSW state election by the Labor Party under Jack Lang, the new Labor Government only held a single seat majority in the Legislative Assembly and only a handful of members in the upper Legislative Council. With the Legislative Council comprising members appointed by the Governor for life terms, it had long been seen by Lang and the Labor Party as an outdated bastion of conservative privilege holding back their reform agenda. Although Lang denied that his intention was full abolition, in September 1925 Lang requested Governor Sir Dudley de Chair
Admiral Sir Dudley Rawson Stratford de Chair (30 August 1864 – 17 August 1958) was a senior Royal Navy officer and later Governor of New South Wales.
Early life and career
De Chair was born on 30 August 1864 in Lennoxville, Province of ...
to appoint 25 new members to the Council, including Akhurst. De Chair, concerned that Lang's government intended to abolish the upper house, initially agreed to fifteen, but by December 1925 agreed to the full list of 25 nominees, on condition that the appointments should not be used to abolish the council.
On 21 December 1925 Akhurst took up his life appointment to the Legislative Council as a Labor member. By January 1926, Lang had reneged on his promise to the Governor, and his government's representative, Albert Willis
Albert Shelby Willis (January 22, 1843 – January 6, 1897) was a United States Representative from Kentucky and a Minister to Hawaii.
Life
Born in Shelbyville, Kentucky, Willis attended the common schools and graduated from the Louisvill ...
, presented a bill in the Legislative Council for abolition, which took even some of the recent 25 appointees by surprise, although Akhurst voted yes at the bill's first reading. When the bill came up for a final reading on 23 February 1925, Akhurst was absent from the chamber when the division was called which, when combined with five other Labor appointees also being absent and two Labor members voting against, resulted in the abolition proposal's defeat 47 votes to 41.
Akhurst later explained that his absence was an unfortunate accident, having been called away on business at dinner, and arrived back at Parliament too late, after the doors had closed to the chamber for the division vote. Nevertheless, consequences were swift and on 5 March the ALP Executive expelled the two ALP MLCs that had voted against the bill, and requested the five MLCs (including Akhurst) who had been absent without cause to justify why they should not be expelled. At the party conference held on 10 April 1926, a motion was passed confirming the expulsion of Akhurst and the other four members who had been absent. In response to his expulsion from the Labor Party, Akhurst complained that he had not been given a proper opportunity to speak against his expulsion at the conference and declared: "To be a Laborite one must not necessarily be a Langite. Despite anything the Lang faction may do, I will stand firm in my loyalty to Labor principles. My association with the Labor movement extends over a period of 21 years, and I challenge Mr. Lang to point to one instance where I have violated my pledge or broken my word".
Having been employed with the Primary Producers Bank of Australia since the 1920s, Akhurst undertook several tours of rural New South Wales to inspect agricultural conditions, including Bourke, Moree, Gilgandra
Gilgandra is a country town in the Orana region of New South Wales, Australia, and services the surrounding agricultural area where wheat is grown extensively together with other cereal crops, and sheep and beef cattle are raised. Sitting at ...
, Collie
Collies form a distinctive type of herding dogs, including many related landraces and standardized breeds. The type originated in Scotland and Northern England. Collies are medium-sized, fairly lightly-built dogs, with pointed snouts. Man ...
, Warren
A warren is a network of wild rodent or lagomorph, typically rabbit burrows. Domestic warrens are artificial, enclosed establishment of animal husbandry dedicated to the raising of rabbits for meat and fur. The term evolved from the medieval Angl ...
, Nevertire
Nevertire is a rural village in New South Wales, Australia. It is located at the junction of the Mitchell Highway and the Oxley Highway, in Warren Shire. Nevertire is about 496 kilometres northwest of Sydney, 78 km north-west of Narromin ...
, Trangie
Trangie is a town in the Orana region of New South Wales, Australia. The town is on the Mitchell Highway north west of the state capital Sydney. It is part of Narromine Shire local government area. At the , Trangie had a population of 1,188 ...
and Narromine
Narromine ( /næroʊmaɪn/) is a rural Australian town located approximately 40 kilometres (25 mi) west of Dubbo in the Orana region of New South Wales. The town is at the centre of Narromine Shire. The 2016 census recorded a population o ...
. He left the bank in February 1931, prior to the bank's collapse into liquidation.
With the expulsion of the NSW Branch of the Australian Labor Party
The Australian Labor Party (ALP), also simply known as Labor, is the major centre-left political party in Australia, one of two major parties in Australian politics, along with the centre-right Liberal Party of Australia. The party forms ...
in November 1931, Akhurst rejoined the ALP to sit in the council as one of 15 representatives of the Federal Labor Party. Akhurst continued to serve on the council for Federal Labor until its reconstitution as an indirectly elected chamber from 22 April 1934. Akhurst had sought election to the new council but failed to secure a seat amongst a crowded field of 90 candidates for 65 positions and which only five Federal Labor candidates were successful.
Later life
In August 1934, Akhurst travelled to Dubbo
Dubbo () is a city in the Orana Region of New South Wales, Australia. It is the largest population centre in the Orana region, with a population of 43,516 at June 2021.
The city is located at the intersection of the Newell, Mitchell, and G ...
to be campaign secretary for the local ALP federal Member of Parliament for Darling
Darling is a term of endearment of Old English origin.
Darling or Darlin' or Darlings may also refer to:
People
* Darling (surname)
* Darling Jimenez (born 1980), American boxer
* Darling Légitimus (1907–1999), French actress
Places Austral ...
, Arthur Blakeley
Arthur Blakeley (3 July 1886 – 27 June 1972) was an Australian politician who served in the House of Representatives from 1917 to 1934, representing the Labor Party. He was the party's deputy leader from 1928 to 1929 and served as Ministe ...
, to support his ultimately unsuccessful campaign in the 1934 federal election against Lang Labor
Lang Labor was a faction of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) consisting of the supporters of Jack Lang, who served two terms as Premier of New South Wales and was the party's state leader from 1923 to 1939.
Following the expulsion of the N ...
.
With the reunification of the NSW and Federal branches of the ALP in 1936 and the deposition in 1939 of Lang as the NSW party leader by William McKell
Sir William John McKell (26 September 1891 – 11 January 1985) was an Australian politician who served as the 12th Governor-General of Australia, in office from 1947 to 1953. He had previously been Premier of New South Wales from 1941 to 1947 ...
, Akhurst was again a member of the united Labor Party and in late 1940, when the sitting Legislative Council member for 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 pri ...
, James Ryan, died in office, Akhurst was nominated by the ALP to be the party's candidate in the Council by-election to fill the vacancy. Despite receiving 28 votes from the Labor bloc on the Council, Akhurst did not receive any other support and the United Australia Party candidate, William Bradley, was ultimately successful at the election held on 22 October 1940.
In the early 1940s, Akhurst moved to the New England
New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian province ...
region town of Barraba
Barraba is a town in the New England region of northern New South Wales, Australia. It was formerly the centre of Barraba Shire local government area, but most of this, including Barraba, was absorbed into Tamworth Regional Council in 2004. O ...
to manage a scheelite
Scheelite is a calcium tungstate mineral with the chemical formula Ca W O4. It is an important ore of tungsten (wolfram). Scheelite is originally named after Swedish chemist K. Scheele (1742-1786). Well-formed crystals are sought by collec ...
and tungsten
Tungsten, or wolfram, is a chemical element with the symbol W and atomic number 74. Tungsten is a rare metal found naturally on Earth almost exclusively as compounds with other elements. It was identified as a new element in 1781 and first isol ...
mine, being granted a mining lease by the NSW Government on 21 July 1941. While in Barraba he lived at the Victoria Hotel on Queen Street. In 1942 and 1943 he was elected as President of the Barraba Branch of the ALP, and later became vice-president of the New England
New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian province ...
Federal Electorate Council in 1945.
Personal life
On 15 February 1910 at the Congregational Church, Collins Street, Melbourne
Collins Street is a major street in the central business district of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It was laid out in the first survey of Melbourne, the original 1837 Hoddle Grid, and soon became the most desired address in the city. Collins ...
, he married Laura Ellen Thomas of Ballarat. After moving to North Sydney in 1912 and later Naremburn, the marriage produced a daughter, Olwyn Ellen Akhurst (born 5 March 1912; Renfree from 1937), and a son, Thomas Adrian Akhurst (born 18 June 1916).[ His first wife died of pneumonic influenza at Brighton Emergency Hospital on 1 May 1919.
Akhurst soon remarried in 1920 to Marian Lucardou-Wells, which produced a daughter, Peggy Akhurst (Langemyr from 1944). His second wife died in 1942, and Akhurst remarried a third time on 13 January 1943 to Ethel May Smith.] Akhurst was a member of the Commercial Travellers' Club (1925–1953) and the NSW Masonic Club
)
, 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
, es ...
, a Freemason (Leinster Marine Lodge, Sedgwick Sovereign Chapter), and a scribe and esteemed brother of the Royal Antediluvian Order of Buffaloes
The Royal Antediluvian Order of Buffaloes (RAOB) is one of the largest fraternal movements in the United Kingdom, The order started in 1822 and has since spread throughout the former British Empire and elsewhere in the world. It is known as the ...
(Grand Australian Banner).
In retirement, Akhurst lived in Rockdale, at 317 Princes Highway
Princes Highway is a major road in Australia, extending from Sydney via Melbourne to Adelaide through the states of New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia. It has a length of (along Highway 1) or via the former alignments of the hig ...
, where he died at the age of 67 in September 1953, survived by his third wife and three children. His funeral was held at St John's Anglican Church, Rockdale, and was buried at Woronora Crematorium.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Akhurst, Carl
1886 births
1953 deaths
Australian people of English descent
Australian people of New Zealand descent
Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of New South Wales
Independent members of the Parliament of New South Wales
Members of the New South Wales Legislative Council
20th-century Australian politicians
Australian Freemasons
Australian accountants
Burials at Woronora Memorial Park