Donald Campbell Urquhart (c. 1848 – 6 August 1911) was an Australian politician.

Early life

He was born in London.

Political career

In 1893, Urquhart was elected to the

Tasmanian House of Assembly The House of Assembly, or Lower House, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of Tasmania in Australia. The other is the Tasmanian Legislative Council, Legislative Council or Upper House. It sits in Parliament House, Hobart, Parliament Hou ...

as the

Free Trade Free trade is a trade policy that does not restrict imports or exports. In government, free trade is predominantly advocated by political parties that hold Economic liberalism, economically liberal positions, while economic nationalist politica ...

member for

Cumberland Cumberland ( ) is an area of North West England which was historically a county. The county was bordered by Northumberland to the north-east, County Durham to the east, Westmorland to the south-east, Lancashire to the south, and the Scottish ...

. His election was declared void in December 1893, but in 1894 he won election to the seat of Montagu. Following a redistribution in 1900 he became the member for

Zeehan Zeehan is a town on the west coast of Tasmania, Australia south-west of Burnie. It is part of the West Coast Council, along with the seaport Strahan and neighbouring mining towns of Rosebery and Queenstown. History The greater Zeehan a ...

, holding it until he was defeated in 1903. At the 1901 federal election, Urquhart narrowly failed to win election to the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

, losing the last seat to James Macfarlane by 43 votes (0.2%). He served a final term as the member for Devonport from 1906 until 1909, when he contested Darwin unsuccessfully after the introduction of

proportional representation Proportional representation (PR) refers to any electoral system under which subgroups of an electorate are reflected proportionately in the elected body. The concept applies mainly to political divisions (Political party, political parties) amon ...

. Urquhart was a minister from 1897 to 1899 and served as

Treasurer A treasurer is a person responsible for the financial operations of a government, business, or other organization. Government The treasury of a country is the department responsible for the country's economy, finance and revenue. The treasure ...

from 1906 to 1909.

References

1840s births 1911 deaths Free Trade Party politicians Colony of Tasmania people Members of the Tasmanian House of Assembly English emigrants to colonial Australia Politicians from London {{Australia-FreeTrade-politician-stub