George Casper Adolph Maria Prosper Dankel (6 March 1864 – 31 May 1926) was one of the first members of 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. ...

who was not of ancestral origin to the areas of the United Kingdom in the 19th century. He was born in the

Duchy of Brunswick The Duchy of Brunswick () was a historical German state that ceased to exist in 1918. Its capital city, capital was the city of Braunschweig, Brunswick (). It was established as the successor state of the Principality of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel ...

, which a few years after his birth became part of the German Empire and, given the social tensions generated by

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, it is understandable he chose to retire in the 1917 election. He was a member for the

Division of Boothby The Division of Boothby is an Divisions of the Australian House of Representatives, Australian federal electoral division in South Australia. The division was one of the seven established when the former Division of South Australia was redistrib ...

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories by area, which in ...

from 1913 until 1917. Prior to that, he was a state MP in the seat of

Torrens Torrens may refer to: Places South Australia * Electoral district of Torrens, a state electoral district * Lake Torrens, a salt lake north of Adelaide * River Torrens, which runs through the heart of Adelaide * City of West Torrens, a local go ...

from 1905 to 1912. He 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 ...

, switching to the

Nationalist Party of Australia The Nationalist Party, also known as the National Party, was an Australian political party. It was formed in February 1917 from a merger between the Commonwealth Liberal Party, Liberal Party and the National Labor Party, the latter formed by ...

in 1917. Dankel left the German Empire for Australia at the age of 15, primarily to avoid military service. He worked in the country for several years before settling in

Kensington Kensington is an area of London in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, around west of Central London. The district's commercial heart is Kensington High Street, running on an east–west axis. The north-east is taken up by Kensingt ...

and opening a butcher shop. He served on the district council and was a foundation member of the

. He was elected as a member for

in 1905, 1906 and 1910, but was defeated in 1912. In 1913, he defeated the sitting Liberal member, David Gordon, to be elected as the member for Boothby, and was re-elected in 1914. With

underway, the

All-British League The All-British League was an organisation in South Australia during World War I. Its objectives were to promote British traditions and culture at the expense of others in the state, especially to suppress any social or political influence from Ge ...

secured 17,000 signatures on a petition calling for Dankel's resignation or dismissal from parliament. He continued to attend regularly, but rarely spoke in the chamber. With

Billy Hughes William Morris Hughes (25 September 1862 – 28 October 1952) was an Australian politician who served as the seventh prime minister of Australia from 1915 to 1923. He led the nation during World War I, and his influence on national politics s ...

and 21 others, he left the ALP to form the Nationalist Party, which was in favour of compulsory military service. Both Dankel and

Jacob Stumm Jacob Stumm (26 August 1853 – 23 January 1921) was an Australian politician. He was a Ministerialist member of the Legislative Assembly of Queensland for the seat of Gympie from 1896 to 1899 and a Commonwealth Liberal Party member of the Aus ...

, the only other German-born MP, chose not to stand in the 1917 election.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dankel, George 1864 births 1926 deaths Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Australia Nationalist Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Australia Members of the Australian House of Representatives Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Boothby National Labor Party members of the Parliament of Australia Emigrants from the German Empire Immigrants to Australia Australian MPs 1913–1914 Australian MPs 1914–1917