Sir Cornthwaite Hector William James Rason (18 June 1858 – 15 March 1927), better known as Hector Rason, was the seventh

Premier of Western Australia The premier of Western Australia is the head of government of the state of Western Australia. The role of premier at a state level is similar to the role of the prime minister of Australia at a federal level. The premier leads the executive br ...

Early life

Rason was born in Cleeve,

Somerset Somerset ( , ), Archaism, archaically Somersetshire ( , , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel, Gloucestershire, and Bristol to the north, Wiltshire to the east ...

, in

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on 18 June 1858. He was the son of Cornthwaite Hector Rason (Snr), a

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

surgeon who was the medical officer at

York, Western Australia York is the oldest inland town in Western Australia, situated on the Avon River, east of Perth in the Wheatbelt, on Ballardong Nyoongar land,King, A and Parker, E: York, Western Australia's first inland town, Parker Print, 2003 p.3. and is ...

, in 1866 and 1867. Rason (Jnr) was educated at private schools in

Eastbourne Eastbourne () is a town and seaside resort in East Sussex, on the south coast of England, east of Brighton and south of London. It is also a non-metropolitan district, local government district with Borough status in the United Kingdom, bor ...

Brighton Brighton ( ) is a seaside resort in the city status in the United Kingdom, city of Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England, south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze Age Britain, Bronze Age, R ...

and

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, and worked as a railway clerk.

Business career

In October 1880, Rason emigrated to

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 ...

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, but returned to England after eighteen months. In February 1883, he married Mary E. Terry, and shortly afterwards returned to

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 ...

with his wife and her brother, W. R. Terry. Rason and Terry set up business as storekeepers at Toodyay and

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 ...

, but after a few years Terry returned to England. Rason then went into partnership with a Mr Webster, and attempted to benefit from the gold rushes 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 ...

and Goldfields regions. Rason also spent some time in Coolgardie trading as a mining engineer and auctioneer. In July 1889, while already 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 ...

, he became the inaugural president of the newly-formed

Stock Exchange of Perth The Stock Exchange of Perth or Perth Stock Exchange was a securities exchange in Perth, Western Australia, operating from its establishment in July 1889 until it merged with other five Australian securities exchanges into the Australian Securiti ...

. He retired from business in 1891, but was affected by the firm's

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in 1892. From 1893 to 1895 he was a mining agent and auctioneer in Coolgardie, and in 1896 he moved to

Mount Magnet Mount is often used as part of the name of specific mountains, e.g. Mount Everest. Mount or Mounts may also refer to: Places * Mount, Cornwall, a village in Warleggan parish, England * Mount, Perranzabuloe, a hamlet in Perranzabuloe parish, ...

. From 1897 to 1898, Rason was Mayor of the Municipality of Guildford.

Politics

In January 1889, Rason was elected to the

for the Swan district. He was a strong supporter of responsible government, and left the Council in October 1890 after responsible government had been established. In 1897 he was elected to the

Western Australian Legislative Assembly The Western Australian Legislative Assembly, or lower house, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of Western Australia, an Australian state. The Parliament sits in Parliament House, Perth, Parliament House in the Western Australian capi ...

seat of South Murchison, sitting as a supporter of

Sir John Forrest Sir John Forrest (22 August 1847 – 2 SeptemberSome sources give the date as 3 September 1918 1918) was an Australian explorer and politician. He was the first premier of Western Australia (1890–1901) and a long-serving cabinet minister in ...

's government. In 1898, he was appointed president of the

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mining Mining is the Resource extraction, extraction of valuable geological materials and minerals from the surface of the Earth. Mining is required to obtain most materials that cannot be grown through agriculture, agricultural processes, or feasib ...

. The seat of South Murchison was abolished in 1901, and Rason won the Legislative Assembly seat of Guildford in the general elections of April 1901. When

George Leake George Leake (3 December 1856 – 24 June 1902) was the third Premier of Western Australia, serving from May to November 1901 and then again from December 1901 to his death. Leake was born in Perth, into a prominent local family. Studying la ...

formed his second government in December 1901, Rason was appointed minister for works, holding responsibility for administration of the Coolgardie Water Scheme. Under

Walter James Walter James may also refer to: * Walter James (actor) (1882–1946), American film actor * Walter James (Australian politician) (1863–1943), Australian politician and the fifth Premier of Western Australia * Walter James, 1st Baron Northbourne ...

' premiership from July 1902 until August 1904, he was minister for works and railways, and was also treasurer for a few months from April 1904. After Labor took office in August 1904, he became

Leader of the Opposition The Leader of the Opposition is a title traditionally held by the leader of the Opposition (parliamentary), largest political party not in government, typical in countries utilizing the parliamentary system form of government. The leader of the ...

. Rason became Premier, Treasurer and Minister for Justice on 25 August 1905, after

Henry Daglish Henry Daglish (18 November 1866 – 16 August 1920) was an Australian politician who was the sixth premier of Western Australia and the first from the Labor Party, serving from 10 August 1904 to 25 August 1905. Daglish was born in Ballarat, V ...

's Labor government was defeated. Like Daglish, Rason did not have a majority of support, but he was granted an early dissolution in October, and easily won the subsequent general election. Later that year he headed the royal commission on immigration.

Later life

Rason did not provide firm leadership as premier, and was dogged by family and financial worries. In May 1906 he appointed himself as Agent General for Western Australia in

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before resigning as premier to take up the post, an action which drew strong criticism. He held the post until 1911, after which he pursued a business career in

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. He also became Chairman of the Bode Rubber Estates (1914) Ltd., a company which cultivated natural rubber in

British North Borneo North Borneo (usually known as British North Borneo, also known as the State of North Borneo) was a British protectorate in the northern part of the island of Borneo, (present-day Sabah). The territory of North Borneo was originally establish ...

. He was made

Knight Bachelor The title of Knight Bachelor is the basic rank granted to a man who has been knighted by the monarch but not inducted as a member of one of the organised Order of chivalry, orders of chivalry; it is a part of the Orders, decorations, and medals ...

in 1909. He died at

Beckenham Beckenham () is a town in Greater London, England, within the London Borough of Bromley. Prior to 1965, it was part of Kent. It is situated north of Elmers End and Eden Park, east of Penge, south of Lower Sydenham and Bellingham, and west ...

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

, in

on 15 March 1927.

References

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rason, Hector 1858 births 1927 deaths Agents-General for Western Australia Mayors of places in Western Australia Settlers of Western Australia English emigrants to colonial Australia Members of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly Members of the Western Australian Legislative Council People from North Somerset (district) Premiers of Western Australia Australian Knights Bachelor Treasurers of Western Australia Australian auctioneers