James Cornell (23 December 1874 – 25 November 1946) was an Australian politician who served as a member of the

Legislative Council A legislative council is the legislature, or one of the legislative chambers, of a nation, colony, or subnational division such as a province or state. It was commonly used to label unicameral or upper house legislative bodies in the Brit ...

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

from 1912 until his death. He was elected President of the Legislative Council in July 1946, but served just four months before dying in office.

Early life

Cornell was born in Merrijig,

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...

, to Barbara Jane (née Brown) and Henry Cornell. He came to Western Australia in 1897, initially working as a station hand at a

lease A lease is a contractual arrangement calling for the user (referred to as the ''lessee'') to pay the owner (referred to as the ''lessor'') for the use of an asset. Property, buildings and vehicles are common assets that are leased. Industrial ...

on the Ashburton River. In 1900, Cornell moved to the

Eastern Goldfields The Eastern Goldfields is part of the Western Australian Goldfields in the Goldfields-Esperance region of Western Australia, covering the present and former gold-mining area east of Perth. Extent and name origin The region encompasses the to ...

, working as a miner, labourer, and iron worker's assistant in

Boulder In geology, a boulder (or rarely bowlder) is a rock fragment with size greater than in diameter. Smaller pieces are called cobbles and pebbles. While a boulder may be small enough to move or roll manually, others are extremely massive. In ...

. He became involved with the trade union movement, and eventually became an official of the regional trades and labour council.James Cornell
– Biographical Register of Members of the Parliament of Western Australia. Retrieved 13 June 2016.

Politics

Cornell was elected to the Legislative Council in 1912, representing South Province. He stood as a candidate of the Labor Party, but left the party in early 1917 over the conscription issue. Cornell played a key role in the formation of the state branch of the

National Labor Party The National Labor Party (NLP) was an Australian political party formed by Prime Minister Billy Hughes in November 1916, following the 1916 Labor split on the issue of World War I conscription in Australia. Hughes had taken over as leader of ...

, which subsequently supported the

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 ...

government of

Henry Lefroy Sir Henry Bruce Lefroy (24 March 1854 – 19 March 1930) was the eleventh Premier of Western Australia. Biography Lefroy was born in Perth, Western Australia on 24 March 1854. His father was Anthony O'Grady Lefroy, Colonial Treasurer of Wes ...

. In March 1917, he enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force. He was stationed in France, and by the end of the war held the rank of

sergeant Sergeant (Sgt) is a Military rank, rank in use by the armed forces of many countries. It is also a police rank in some police services. The alternative spelling, ''serjeant'', is used in The Rifles and in other units that draw their heritage f ...

. In May 1918, while on active duty, Cornell won re-election to the Legislative Council standing as a National Labor candidate against an endorsed Labor candidate. He was elected president of the National Labor state branch in 1921, and was re-elected to parliament under that banner in 1924, although the final margin was only 18 votes. The party was merged into the Nationalist Party in late 1924, with the new entity initially known as the United Party, although it later returned to the Nationalist name. In September 1926, Cornell was appointed chairman of the committees in the Legislative Council. He held the position until July 1946, when he was elevated to the presidency of the council in place of Sir John Kirwan. In the meantime, he had been re-elected to parliament three times as a Nationalist, in 1930, 1936, and 1942, and joined the new

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. For example, while the political systems ...

in 1945. Cornell died in office in November 1946, aged 71, and was granted a state funeral."MR. J. CORNELL DEAD."
''The West Australian'', 26 November 1946. He had married twice, to Mary Ann Daws in 1909 and to Florence Evelyn Bruce in 1940. His only child was

George Cornell George Cornell ( Myers; 13 November 1927 – 10 March 1966) was an English criminal and member of The Richardsons, who were scrap metal dealers and criminals from South London. Cornell was shot and killed by Ronnie Kray at The Blind Beggar pu ...

, who was also a member of parliament.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cornell, James 1874 births 1946 deaths Australian Army soldiers Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Western Australia Australian military personnel of World War I Chairpersons of Committees of the Western Australian Legislative Council Liberal Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Western Australia Members of the Western Australian Legislative Council National Labor Party members of the Parliament of Western Australia Nationalist Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Western Australia People from Victoria (state) Presidents of the Western Australian Legislative Council Trade unionists from Western Australia

Early life

Politics

See also

References