Hiram Wakefield (7 May 1837 – 25 June 1905) 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

Wakefield was born in

Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, the most populous city in the region. Built around the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by t ...

, England, the son of James Wakefield and his wife Hannah (née Sanigar). He was educated in Bristol and after arriving in Australia in 1855 was running a successful iron importing and plumbing business in

Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

by 1857. In 1877 he invested 2,000 pounds into the Townsville ice works. On 29 March 1861 Wakefield married Margaret Birch (died 1898)Family history research
– Queensland Register of Births Deaths and Marriages. Retrieved 30 July 2016. and together had three sons and four daughters. He died in June 1905 and his funeral proceeded from the

New Farm New Farm is an inner northern riverside suburb in the City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. In the , New Farm had a population of 12,197 people. Geography The suburb is located 2 kilometres east of the Brisbane CBD on a large bend of the ...

residence of his daughter to the

Toowong Cemetery Toowong Cemetery is a heritage-listed cemetery on the corner of Frederick Street and Mt Coot-tha Road, Toowong, City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It was established in 1866 and formally opened in 1875. It is Queensland, Queensland's lar ...

.Toowong Cemetery
– Brisbane City Council Grave Location Search. Retrieved 30 July 2016.

Public career

Wakefield began his political life as an alderman on the Sandgate Town Council in 1881Hiram Wakefield
–

State Library of Queensland State Library of Queensland (State Library) is the state public reference and research library of Queensland, Australia, operated by the Government of Queensland, state government. The Library is governed by the Library Board of Queensland, whi ...

. Retrieved 30 July 2016. becoming the town's mayor in 1887, a role in which he served for two years. In 1885, the member for Moreton in the Queensland Legislative Assembly,

Thomas Macdonald-Paterson Thomas Macdonald-Paterson (9 May 1844 – 21 March 1906) was an Australian politician, a member of the Parliament of Queensland, and later, the Parliament of Australia. Early life Macdonald-Paterson was born in Glasgow, Scotland, he was educate ...

resigned after being appointed to the

Queensland Legislative Council Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, ...

. At the ensuing

by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, or a bypoll in India, is an election used to fill an office that has become vacant between general elections. A vacancy may arise as a result of an incumben ...

, Wakefield easily defeated

George Raff George Raff (15 April 1815—28 August 1889) was a merchant, sugar grower and politician born in Forres, Morayshire, Scotland who spent a substantial part of his life in Australia. Born to James Raff, a farmer and peasant, and Margaret Ra ...

to become the new member. He did not stand for re-election at the

1888 Queensland colonial election The 1888 Queensland colonial election was held between 28 April and 26 May 1988 to elect all members of the Legislative Assembly of Queensland. The election was a decisive defeat for Samuel Griffith's Liberals, with Thomas McIlwraith's Conserv ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wakefield, Hiram Members of the Queensland Legislative Assembly Colony of Queensland people 1837 births 1905 deaths Burials at Toowong Cemetery 19th-century Australian politicians