Claude Hilton Matthews (19 January 1899 – 9 January 1954) was an Australian politician and 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 ...

from 1934 until his death in 1954 . He was variously a member of the Labor Party (ALP) and the

Australian Labor Party (NSW) 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. It controlled the New South Wale ...

. He held a number of ministerial positions including Chief Secretary

Early and personal life

Matthews was born in

Rylstone, New South Wales Rylstone is a small town in New South Wales, Australia, in the Central Tablelands region within the Mid-Western Regional Council local government area. It is located on the Bylong Valley Way road route. At the , Rylstone had a population of 904. ...

He was the son of a foreman and was educated at Petersham High School. He worked with the

New South Wales Government Railways New South Wales Government Railways (NSWGR) was an agency of the Government of New South Wales that administered rail transport in the colony, and then the state, of New South Wales, Australia, between 1855 and 1932. History The NSWGR built ...

as a labourer and became an official of the

Federated Ironworkers' Association The Federated Ironworkers' Association of Australia (FIA) was an Australian trade union which existed between 1911 and 1991. It represented labourers and semi-skilled workers employed in the steel industry and ironworking, and later also the che ...

State Parliament

Matthews was elected as the Labor member for Leichhardt at the 1934 by-election caused by the resignation of the sitting member

Joe Lamaro Joseph Lamaro (27 July 1895 – 22 May 1951) was an Australian politician. Born in Redfern to shopkeeper Deico Lamaro and Maria Giuseppa Taranto, Italian migrants, he attended St Joseph's School in Newtown and St Patrick's College in Goul ...

who unsuccessfully contested the seat of

Watson Scanning Habitable Environments with Raman and Luminescence for Organics and Chemicals (SHERLOC) is an ultraviolet Raman spectrometer that uses fine-scale imaging and an ultraviolet (UV) laser to determine fine-scale mineralogy, and detect orga ...

at the 1934 federal election. He retained the seat for the next 7 elections. He killed himself while still in office in 1954.

Government

Matthews held ministerial positions in the government of

James McGirr James McGirr (6 February 1890 – 27 October 1957) was an Australian politician. He served as premier of New South Wales from 1947 to 1952, holding office as leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP). He led the party to victory at the 1947 an ...

. He held the positions of minister for building materials and minister for tourism and immigration before becoming colonial secretary between 1949 and 1950.

References

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Matthews, Claude 1899 births 1954 deaths Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of New South Wales 20th-century Australian politicians 1954 suicides Suicides in New South Wales Australian politicians who died by suicide