David McLelland (12 August 1881 – 1 October 1968) was an Australian politician. He was a Labor Party 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 1930 until 1932, representing the electorate of

Drummoyne Drummoyne is a suburb in the Inner West of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Drummoyne is six kilometres west of the Sydney central business district and is the administrative centre for the local government area of the City of ...

. McLelland was born in

Ayrshire Ayrshire (, ) is a Counties of Scotland, historic county and registration county, in south-west Scotland, located on the shores of the Firth of Clyde. The lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area of Ayrshire and Arran covers the entirety ...

in Scotland, where he was educated to primary school level. He migrated to Australia in 1911, settling in Brisbane, where he became a blacksmith at the Ipswich Railway Workshops. He moved to Sydney in 1916, where he worked at the

Cockatoo Island Dockyard The Cockatoo Island Dockyard was a major dockyard in Sydney, Australia, based on Cockatoo Island. The dockyard was established in 1857 to maintain Royal Navy warships. It later built and repaired military and battle ships, and played a key role ...

and

Mort's Dock Mort's Dock is a former dry dock, slipway, and shipyard in Balmain, New South Wales, Australia. It was the first dry dock in Australia, opening for business in 1855 and closing more than a century later in 1959. The site is now parkland. Histor ...

. In 1918, he was elected secretary of the Blacksmith's Society, a position he held until his election to parliament in 1930. McLelland was the Labor candidate for the recreated Legislative Assembly seat of Drummoyne in 1927, losing to sitting Botany MLA

John Lee John Lee may refer to: Academia * John Lee (astronomer) (1783–1866), president of the Royal Astronomical Society * John Lee (university principal) (1779–1859), University of Edinburgh principal * John Lee (pathologist) (born 1961), Engli ...

. He defeated Lee on his second attempt in

1930 Events January * January 15 – The Moon moves into its nearest point to Earth, called perigee, at the same time as its fullest phase of the Lunar Cycle. This is the closest moon distance at in recent history, and the next one will be on J ...

, as Labor won office statewide. His political career was to be short-lived; Labor lost badly in 1932 after the sacking of Jack Lang by the state Governor, and McLelland was defeated by Lee, one of many Labor MLAs to lose their seats. He retired from politics after his 1932 defeat. McLelland undertook a correspondence course in accountancy after his defeat, but continued to be involved in the trade union movement. He was secretary of the Australian Institute of Political Science until 1939, secretary of the Blacksmith's Society from 1939 until 1944 (his role prior to entering politics), and secretary of the Metal Trades Federation from 1945 until his retirement in 1961. He died in Sydney in 1968.

References

1881 births 1968 deaths Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of New South Wales 20th-century Australian politicians {{Australia-Labor-NewSouthWales-MP-stub