Charles Horne Wittenoon (6 December 1879 – 18 September 1969) was an Australian

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

. He was a Member of the

Western Australian Legislative Council The Western Australian Legislative Council is the upper house of the Parliament of Western Australia, a state of Australia. It is regarded as a house of review for legislation passed by the Western Australian Legislative Assembly, Legislative A ...

for twelve years. Born in

Geraldton Geraldton (Wajarri language, Wajarri: ''Jambinu'', Wilunyu language, Wilunyu: ''Jambinbirri'') is a coastal city in the Mid West (Western Australia), Mid West region of Western Australia, north of the state capital, Perth. As of the , Geraldt ...

, Western Australia on 6 December 1879, he was the son of

squatter Squatting is the action of occupying an abandoned or unoccupied area of land or a building (usually residential) that the squatter does not Land ownership and tenure, own, rent or otherwise have lawful permission to use. The United Nations estima ...

and station agent Sir

Edward Wittenoom Sir Edward Horne Wittenoom Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George, KCMG (12 February 1854 – 5 March 1936) was an Australian politician who served intermittently in the Western Australian Legislative Council, Legislative Cou ...

, and a nephew of

Frank Wittenoom Francis Frederick Burdett Wittenoom (17 December 185511 September 1939) was an explorer and pastoralist in Western Australia. Biography Early life Frank Wittenoom was born in York, Western Australia in 1855.Wittenoom is named. He was educated at High 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, then went to England to complete his studies at

Malvern College Malvern College is a Private schools in the United Kingdom, fee-charging coeducational boarding school, boarding and day school in Malvern, Worcestershire, Malvern, Worcestershire, England. It is a public school (United Kingdom), public school ...

and the

Royal School of Mines The Royal School of Mines comprises the departments of Earth Science and Engineering, and Materials at Imperial College London. The Centre for Advanced Structural Ceramics and parts of the London Centre for Nanotechnology and Department of Bioe ...

in London. On returning to Western Australia he became manager of Central and West Boulder Mines at

Kalgoorlie Kalgoorlie-Boulder (or just Kalgoorlie) is a city in the Goldfields–Esperance region of Western Australia, located east-northeast of Perth at the end of the Great Eastern Highway. It is referred to as Kalgoorlie–Boulder as the surroundi ...

. By 1909 he was owner of ''Muralgarra Station'' at Yalgoo. On 9 June 1909 he married Bessie Sholl, daughter of Robert Sholl; they had one son and two daughters. Wittenoom was widowed in October 1919. From the early 1920s he lived in

Albany, Western Australia Albany ( ; ) is a port city in the Great Southern region in the Australian state of Western Australia, southeast of Perth, the state capital. The city centre is at the northern edge of Princess Royal Harbour, which is a part of King G ...

, where he invested in property including several hotels, and became director of WA Woollen Mills. On 17 September 1923 he married Constance Patricia Hanrahan, with whom he had two sons and a daughter, Jacqueline (1927–2016), who married the Irish racehorse trainer

Vincent O'Brien Michael Vincent O'Brien (9 April 1917 – 1 June 2009) was an Irish race horse trainer from Churchtown, County Cork, Ireland. In 2003 he was voted the greatest influence in horse racing history in a worldwide poll hosted by the ''Racing Pos ...

. He became active in public affairs, serving as

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...

of Albany Municipal Council from 1923 to 1931 (with a brief break in 1926), and again from 1940 to 1952. On 22 May 1928 he was elected to the

for the

South-East Province The South-East Province was an electoral region of the Western Australian Legislative Council, introduced after the introduction of responsible government in the 1890s. It initially comprised Williams, Plantagenet The House of Plantagenet ( ...

. He held the seat until the election of 11 May 1940, when he was defeated by Hugh Roche. In later life he 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 ...

, where he died on 18 September 1969. He was buried in

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

*
The Malvern Register, 1905 : Charles Horne Wittenoom
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wittenoom, Charles Horne 1879 births 1969 deaths Burials at Karrakatta Cemetery People educated at Hale School Mayors of Albany, Western Australia Members of the Western Australian Legislative Council People educated at Malvern College People from Geraldton