James MacCallum Smith
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James MacCallum Smith (26 April 1868 – 6 August 1939) was an Australian
politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...
, newspaper proprietor and stock breeder. He lobbied unsuccessfully for many years for the
secession Secession is the formal withdrawal of a group from a Polity, political entity. The process begins once a group proclaims an act of secession (such as a declaration of independence). A secession attempt might be violent or peaceful, but the goal i ...
of
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 the
Federation of Australia The Federation of Australia was the process by which the six separate British self-governing colonies of Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, Tasmania, South Australia (which also governed what is now the Northern Territory), and Wester ...
.


Early life

Smith was born on 26 April 1868 at Drumchardny,
Inverness-shire Inverness-shire () or the County of Inverness, is a Counties of Scotland, historic county in Scotland. It is named after Inverness, its largest settlement, which was also the county town. Covering much of the Scottish Highlands, Highlands and s ...
, Scotland. He was the son of Helen (née McPherson) and James Smith; his father worked as a gamekeeper. He joined the staff of the ''Northern Chronicle'' in 1884.


Journalism career

Some time later he emigrated to Australia, working briefly for a country newspaper in
Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...
, then moving to Sydney to manage the ''Australian Mining Standard''. In 1893 he moved to Coolgardie where he joined a consortium which purchased '' the Argus'' newspaper for £250. He sold his share a year later for £500 on the back of prosperity from recently discovered gold. Five years later the owners had refused an offer of £150,000 for a walk in-walk out sale of the paper. In 1894, Smith partnered with Sidney Hocking in establishing the ''Golden Age'' and the ''West Australian Goldfields Courier''. Two years later the pair established the ''Goldfields Morning Chronicle''. In 1898 he partnered with Arthur Reid in establishing the goldfields' first Sunday newspaper, ''the Sun''. Two years later the two men purchased the
Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...
newspaper ''
The Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British Sunday newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of N ...
'' from the estate of
Frederick Vosper Frederick Charles Burleigh Vosper (23 March 1869 – 6 January 1901) was an Australian newspaper journalist and proprietor, and politician. He was well known for his ardent views and support of Australian republicanism, federalism and trade unio ...
. MacCallum Smith bought out his partner in 1912 and remained as the sole proprietor and managing director until 1935.


Politics

In the election of 5 September 1900, Smith contested a South Province seat in the
Western Australian Legislative Council The Western Australian Legislative Council is the upper house of the Parliament of Western Australia, a state of Australia. It is regarded as a house of review for legislation passed by the Western Australian Legislative Assembly, Legislative A ...
, but was unsuccessful. He contested the
Western Australian Legislative Assembly The Western Australian Legislative Assembly, or lower house, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of Western Australia, an Australian state. The Parliament sits in Parliament House, Perth, Parliament House in the Western Australian capi ...
seat of Coolgardie in the election of 24 April 1901, but was defeated by the incumbent,
Alf Morgans Alfred Edward Morgans (17 February 1850 – 10 August 1933) was the fourth Premier of Western Australia, serving for just over a month, from 21 November to 23 December 1901. Born in Wales, Morgans trained as an engineer, and supervised mining ...
. Thirteen years later, Smith contested the seat of North Perth in the election of 2 October 1914, and won it. He would hold the seat for over twenty years. He became active in the
Dominion League Secessionism has been a recurring feature of Western Australia's political landscape since shortly after Federation in 1901. The idea of self-governance or secession has often been discussed through local newspaper articles and editorials. On a ...
, and in 1934 was part of the delegation that travelled to London to present the 1933 secession petition which had been passed with a two-thirds majority. The British Parliament refused the request however and the delegation returned home empty-handed.


Personal life and other interests

MacCullum Smith was deputy chairman of the
Western Australian Bank The Western Australian Bank was a bank operating in Western Australia from 1841 to 1927. It was formed amidst the aftermath of the sale of the first Bank of Western Australia (1837-1841), Bank of Western Australia (1837–1841), which had sol ...
until its amalgamation with the
Bank of New South Wales The Bank of New South Wales (BNSW), also known as The Wales, was the first bank in Australia. It was established in 1817 in Sydney. During the 19th century, the bank opened branches throughout Australia and New Zealand, expanding into Oceania ...
in 1927, and then became deputy chairman of the WA advisory board for the Bank of NSW. He later held numerous boardroom positions, including directorship of the Swan Portland Cement Company, the Eagle Star Insurance Company, and the Amalgamated Collieries of WA. In his later life Smith became involved in
stock breeding Animal husbandry is the branch of agriculture concerned with animals that are raised for meat, fibre, milk, or other products. It includes day-to-day care, management, production, nutrition, selective breeding, and the raising of livestock ...
. He was owner of the Pindar Merino Stud at Canna and the Homebush Stud Farm at Cookernup, as well as a
wheat Wheat is a group of wild and crop domestication, domesticated Poaceae, grasses of the genus ''Triticum'' (). They are Agriculture, cultivated for their cereal grains, which are staple foods around the world. Well-known Taxonomy of wheat, whe ...
farm at Koorda. He exhibited stud sheep, cattle and horses. In 1899, he married Kate Louise Lawrence. She died on 31 March 1937, and six months later he married Aileen Healey. In the election of 18 March 1939 he lost his seat to
Arthur Abbott Arthur Valentine Rutherford Abbott (14 February 1892 – 10 October 1975) was an Australian lawyer and politician who was a member of the Legislative Assembly of Western Australia from 1939 to 1956. He was a minister in the government of Sir R ...
. Less than five months later he died, on 6 August 1939 at the Hospital of St John of God, Subiaco, Western Australia. He was buried at Dunlichity cemetery in Scotland. His estate included an endowment for the creation of a MacCallum Smith chair of veterinary sciences at the
University of Western Australia University of Western Australia (UWA) is a public research university in the Australian state of Western Australia. The university's main campus is in Crawley, Western Australia, Crawley, a suburb in the City of Perth local government area. UW ...
which was never utilised.


References


Further reading

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, James MacCallum 1868 births 1939 deaths Members of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly Politicians from Inverness Scottish emigrants to Australia Separatism in Australia Nationalist Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Western Australia Australian newspaper publishers (people)