George Henry Devries (4 July 1896 – 13 July 1957) was a member of the

Queensland Legislative Assembly The Legislative Assembly of Queensland is the sole chamber of the unicameral Parliament of Queensland established under the Constitution of Queensland. Elections are held every four years and are done by full preferential voting. The Assembly h ...

Biography

Devries was born at

Stretford Stretford is a market town in Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, sited on flat ground between the River Mersey and the Manchester Ship Canal; the Bridgewater Canal bisects the town. The town is located south of Manchester, south of Salfo ...

, England, the son of John Arms Devries and his wife Elizabeth (née Ware). He was apprenticed as a

midshipman A midshipman is an officer of the lowest Military rank#Subordinate/student officer, rank in the Royal Navy, United States Navy, and many Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth navies. Commonwealth countries which use the rank include Royal Cana ...

in 1911 and spent four years at sea before joining his parents at Bushley, near

Rockhampton Rockhampton is a city in the Rockhampton Region of Central Queensland, Australia. In the , the population of Rockhampton was 79,293. A common nickname for Rockhampton is "Rocky", and the demonym of Rockhampton is Rockhamptonite. The Scottish- ...

. In 1916 he joined 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 ...

, serving with the 15th Battalion in France and Belgium. In July 1917 he suffered a self-administered gunshot wound to the knee. He was discharged with the rank of Lance Corporal in 1919. Once back in civilian life he held several jobs as a bushworker in the

Longreach Longreach is a rural town and locality in the Longreach Region, Queensland, Australia. It is the administrative centre of the Longreach Regional Council, which was established in 2008 as a merger of the former Longreach, Ilfracombe, and I ...

area before starting work with the

Australian Workers' Union The Australian Workers' Union (AWU) is one of Australia's largest and oldest trade unions. It traces its origins to unions founded in the pastoralism, pastoral and mining industries in the late 1880s and it currently has approximately 80,000 ...

in 1925, first as a clerk and eventually as the Secretary of the Western District from 1929 until 1941. On 16 December 1920 he married Bridget Ellen Hillery and together had two sons and two daughters. Devries died of a heart attackMotion of Condolence
–

Hansard ''Hansard'' is the transcripts of parliamentary debates in Britain and many Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth countries. It is named after Thomas Curson Hansard (1776–1833), a London printer and publisher, who was the first official printe ...

. Retrieved 15 May 2016. in Winton while campaigning for the

1957 Queensland state election Elections were held in the Australian state of Queensland on 3 August 1957 to elect the 75 members of the state's Legislative Assembly. The major parties contesting the election were the Queensland Labor Party led by Premier Vince Gair, the L ...

Public career

Devries, a member of the Labor Party, won the seat of

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at the

1941 Queensland state election Elections were held in the Australian state of Queensland on 29 March 1941 to elect the 62 members of the state's Legislative Assembly. The Labor government of Premier William Forgan Smith was seeking a fourth term in office. Key dates Resul ...

. He defeated the sitting member Charles Brown. He went on to represent the electorate for the next 16 years before dying in office in 1957. When the Premier,

Vince Gair Vincent Clair Gair (25 February 190111 November 1980) was an Australian politician. He served as Premier of Queensland from 1952 until 1957, when his stormy relations with the trade union movement saw him expelled from the Labor Party. He was e ...

, was expelled from the Labor Party in 1957, he, and most of his ministry (including Devries) formed the

Queensland Labor Party The Queensland Labor Party, officially known as the Australian Labor Party (State of Queensland) and commonly referred to as Queensland Labor or simply Labor, is the branch of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) in the state of Queensland. It has ...

. During his political career, Devries held three ministerial portfolios: * Attorney-General 1949–1950 * Secretary for Public Instruction 1950–1956 * Secretary for Mines 1956–1957 Devries was a champion boxer and had a reputation for his charity and philanthropy, especially during the depression years.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Devries, George Henry Members of the Queensland Legislative Assembly 1896 births 1957 deaths Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Queensland 20th-century Australian politicians