
Ivor MacGillivray (24 May 1840 – 16 January 1939) was an Australian politician who represented the
South Australian House of Assembly
The House of Assembly, or lower house, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of South Australia. The other is the Legislative Council. It sits in Parliament House in the state capital, Adelaide.
Overview
The House of Assembly was crea ...
multi-member
An electoral system or voting system is a set of rules that determine how elections and referendums are conducted and how their results are determined. Electoral systems are used in politics to elect governments, while non-political elections m ...
seat of
Port Adelaide
Port Adelaide is a port-side region of Adelaide, approximately northwest of the Adelaide CBD. It is also the namesake of the City of Port Adelaide Enfield council, a suburb, a federal and state electoral division and is the main port for the ...
from 1893 to 1918. He was a member of the
United Labor Party until the
1917 Labor split, when he joined the splinter
National Party.
MacGillivray was born at
Lossiemouth
Lossiemouth ( gd, Inbhir Losaidh) is a town in Moray, Scotland. Originally the port belonging to Elgin, Moray, Elgin, it became an important fishing town. Although there has been over 1,000 years of settlement in the area, the present day town wa ...
in
Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to th ...
. He worked on a farm as a boy, and later worked as a seaman between China and Australia, in the
Black Sea
The Black Sea is a marginal mediterranean sea of the Atlantic Ocean lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bounded by Bulgaria, Georgia, ...
and Mediterranean. At 19, he left the ship in
Melbourne
Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/ Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a me ...
, spent two years at the
Bendigo
Bendigo ( ) is a city in Victoria, Australia, located in the Bendigo Valley near the geographical centre of the state and approximately north-west of Melbourne, the state capital.
As of 2019, Bendigo had an urban population of 100,991, mak ...
gold rushes, before leaving for the gold rushes in
Otago
Otago (, ; mi, Ōtākou ) is a region of New Zealand located in the southern half of the South Island administered by the Otago Regional Council. It has an area of approximately , making it the country's second largest local government reg ...
, New Zealand, where he spent a further twelve years. He returned to
Melbourne
Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/ Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a me ...
, briefly went to England, and worked as a prospector in
Western Australia
Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to ...
and South Australia before settling in
Adelaide
Adelaide ( ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater A ...
. He worked as a coal lumper at
Port Adelaide
Port Adelaide is a port-side region of Adelaide, approximately northwest of the Adelaide CBD. It is also the namesake of the City of Port Adelaide Enfield council, a suburb, a federal and state electoral division and is the main port for the ...
for 20 years, and was chairman of the Working Men's Association for 16 years.
He was one of the local leaders of the
1890 Australian maritime dispute.
MacGillivray was elected to the House of Assembly at the
1893 state election. He was expelled from the Labor Party in the
1917 Labor split over his support for conscription in World War I; his son had been killed in the
Gallipoli Campaign.
MacGillivray recontested Port Adelaide for the splinter
National Party, but was defeated by
John Stanley Verran.
He retired following the loss of his parliamentary seat in 1918.
MacGillivray died at the Adelaide Hospital in 1939, aged 98, following a fall in his home.
He was buried at
Cheltenham Cemetery.
References
1840 births
1939 deaths
Members of the South Australian House of Assembly
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