George Cann (30 May 1871 – 18 October 1948) was an Australian politician who served in both the

Parliament of Australia The Parliament of Australia (officially the Parliament of the Commonwealth and also known as the Federal Parliament) is the federal legislature of Australia. It consists of three elements: the Monarchy of Australia, monarch of Australia (repr ...

and the

Parliament of New South Wales The Parliament of New South Wales, formally the Legislature of New South Wales, (definition of "The Legislature") is the bicameral legislative body of the Australian state of New South Wales (NSW). It consists of the Monarch, the New South Wa ...

. At state level he served as a minister in the governments of Jack Lang during the 1920s. He was a miner before entering politics.

Early life

Cann was born at Shankhouse,

Cramlington Cramlington is a town and civil parish in Northumberland. It is north of Newcastle upon Tyne. The name suggests a probable founding by the Danes or Anglo-Saxons. The population was 28,843 as of 2021 census data from Northumberland County Cou ...

Northumberland Northumberland ( ) is a ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North East England, on the Anglo-Scottish border, border with Scotland. It is bordered by the North Sea to the east, Tyne and Wear and County Durham to the south, Cumb ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

, educated at Cramlington National School and became a coalminer at eleven. His elder brother

John Cann John Cann may refer to: * John Cann (politician) (1860–1940), New South Wales politician * John Cann (athlete) (born 1938), Australian athlete * John Du Cann John William Cann (2 June 1946 – 21 September 2011), later known by his stag ...

migrated to

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

in 1887. Cann married Catherine Roberts in 1890 and they had one daughter and one son. They migrated to NSW in 1900 and Cann worked as a miner near Lithgow and became involved in the Western Miners' Association. He served in the 30th Battalion of the

first Australian Imperial Force The First Australian Imperial Force (1st AIF) was the main Expeditionary warfare, expeditionary force of the Australian Army during the First World War. It was formed as the Australian Imperial Force (AIF) following United Kingdom of Great Bri ...

from March 1916 until January 1918.

Political career

George Cann was a member of the

Australian Labor Party The Australian Labor Party (ALP), also known as the Labor Party or simply Labor, is the major Centre-left politics, centre-left List of political parties in Australia, political party in Australia and one of two Major party, major parties in Po ...

, winning the

Australian House of Representatives The House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameralism, bicameral Parliament of Australia, the upper house being the Australian Senate, Senate. Its composition and powers are set out in Chapter I of the Constitution of Australia. ...

seat of Nepean at the 1910 election. He was defeated at the 1913 election. That year he unsuccessfully contested the NSW Legislative Assembly seat of

Upper Hunter The Upper Hunter Shire is a local government area in the Upper Hunter Valley of New South Wales, Australia. The Shire was formed in May 2004 from the Scone Shire and parts of Murrurundi and Merriwa shires. The mayor of the Upper Hunter Shir ...

. In 1914, he won the 1914 Canterbury by-election, joining his brother

John John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second E ...

, then Colonial Secretary, in the Legislative Assembly. Cann held Canterbury at the 1917 election. In 1920 the district was abolished and absorbed into the new multi-member seat of

St George Saint George (;Geʽez: ጊዮርጊስ, , ka, გიორგი, , , died 23 April 303), also George of Lydda, was an early Christian martyr who is venerated as a saint in Christianity. According to holy tradition, he was a soldier in the R ...

; he was one of the members for St George until the abolition 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 ...

in 1927. He was

Secretary for Mines The position of Secretary for Mines was an office in the United Kingdom Government, associated with the Board of Trade The Board of Trade is a British government body concerned with commerce and industry, currently within the Department for ...

and Minister for Labour and Industry from April 1920 to October 1921, when he became Secretary for Mines and Minister for Local Government until the defeat of the James Dooley government in December 1921. He was reappointed when Dooley regained power some hours later. He became Minister for Local Government and Minister for Public Health in Jack Lang's first ministry in June 1925. He held the Local Government portfolio until March 1926 and Public Health until May 1927. He opposed Lang's leadership and as a result lost preselection for the 1927 election where he ran unsuccessfully as an independent for Lakemba.

Later life

In 1930 Cann ran unsuccessfully as a

Nationalist Nationalism is an idea or movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the State (polity), state. As a movement, it presupposes the existence and tends to promote the interests of a particular nation,Anthony D. Smith, Smith, A ...

at the election for Lakemba. He died on in the Sydney suburb of

Strathfield Strathfield is a suburb in the Inner West of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is located 12 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district and is the administrative centre of the Municipality of Strathfield. A sma ...

, survived by his wife.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cann, George 1871 births 1948 deaths Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Australia Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Nepean Members of the Australian House of Representatives Australian coal miners People from Cramlington English emigrants to colonial Australia Members of the New South Wales Legislative Council Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of New South Wales Australian MPs 1910–1913 Ministers for health (New South Wales)