James Sinclair Taylor McGowen (16 August 1855 – 7 April 1922) was an Australian politician. He served as

premier of New South Wales The premier of New South Wales is the head of government in the state of New South Wales, Australia. The Government of New South Wales follows the Westminster system, Westminster Parliamentary System, with a Parliament of New South Wales actin ...

from 1910 to 1913, the first member of the

Australian Labor Party The Australian Labor Party (ALP), also known as the Labor Party or simply Labor, is the major Centre-left politics, centre-left List of political parties in Australia, political party in Australia and one of two Major party, major parties in Po ...

(ALP) to hold the position, and was a key figure in the party's early history in New South Wales. McGowen was born at sea to English immigrants. He was a

boilermaker A boilermaker is a Tradesman, tradesperson who Metal fabrication, fabricates steels, iron, or copper into boilers and other large containers intended to hold hot gas or liquid, as well as maintains and repairs boilers and boiler systems.Bure ...

by profession and soon became involved in the

labour movement The labour movement is the collective organisation of working people to further their shared political and economic interests. It consists of the trade union or labour union movement, as well as political parties of labour. It can be considere ...

, becoming president of the Sydney Trades Hall in 1888. McGowen was elected to the

New South Wales Legislative Assembly The New South Wales Legislative Assembly is the lower of the two houses of the Parliament of New South Wales, an Australian state. The upper house is the New South Wales Legislative Council. Both the Assembly and Council sit at Parliament House ...

at the 1891 general election under the auspices of the Labor Electoral League. He succeeded as party leader in 1894 and retained the position following

Federation A federation (also called a federal state) is an entity characterized by a political union, union of partially federated state, self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a #Federal governments, federal government (federalism) ...

in 1901. He became

leader of the opposition The Leader of the Opposition is a title traditionally held by the leader of the Opposition (parliamentary), largest political party not in government, typical in countries utilizing the parliamentary system form of government. The leader of the ...

after the 1904 election and led the ALP to majority government in 1910. As premier, McGowen oversaw progressive reforms. He was succeeded by his deputy William Holman in 1913 and expelled from the ALP following the 1916 split over conscription. He finished his career as a

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 ...

appointee to the

New South Wales Legislative Council The New South Wales Legislative Council, often referred to as the upper house, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of New South Wales, parliament of the Australian state of New South Wales. Along with the New South Wales Legislative As ...

Early life and family

McGowen was the son of James McGowen, a boilermaker, and his wife Eliza Ditchfield, immigrants from

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

and was born at sea, on the "Western Bride", on the way to

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

. His father worked building in bridges, initially in Victoria, and later in

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

. After limited schooling he was apprenticed as a boiler maker in 1870. He became a member of the United Society of Boilermakers and Iron Shipbuilders of New South Wales on its establishment in 1873, he became secretary in 1874. He entered the railways department and in 1888 was elected president of the executive of Trades Hall committee. He worked hard and successfully to raise funds to build the

Trades Hall A trades hall is a building where trade unions meet together, or work from cooperatively, as a local representative organisation, known as a labour council or trades hall council. The term is commonly used in England, New Zealand, Scotland and Aus ...

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

. McGowen married Emily Towner in 1878 in Redfern, Sydney.

Political career

In 1891, the New South Wales Trades and Labour Council established the Labor Electoral League, which developed into Labor Party, and McGowen stood for election to the

seat of Redfern and was one of 35 Labor candidates to win and the most experienced unionist. He held the seat continuously to 1917. The first Labor parliamentarians in New South Wales were almost as fractious as their fellow parliamentarians from the other parties. McGowen was one of three legislators to sign the "pledge" to abide by party discipline. Thanks to his increasing skill as a parliamentarian, his effective public speaking, and his relative seniority, he became Labor's parliamentary leader in 1894.

George Reid Sir George Houston Reid (25 February 1845 – 12 September 1918) was a Scottish-born Australian and British politician, diplomat, and barrister who served as the fourth Prime Minister of Australia, prime minister of Australia from 1904 t ...

Free Trade Free trade is a trade policy that does not restrict imports or exports. In government, free trade is predominantly advocated by political parties that hold Economic liberalism, economically liberal positions, while economic nationalist politica ...

Government was dependent on Labor's support. With their support, Reid reduced tariffs, introduced income tax, and eliminated the property qualification for membership of the Legislative Council. McGowan led Labor in its opposition to the Federation Bill produced by the Australasian Constitutional Convention. The party opposed the proposed Constitution on the grounds it was undemocratic. McGowen strongly favoured retaining appeals to the Privy Council from the High Court, but stressed this was his personal view. Labor reconciled itself to the Constitution once it had been approved in referendums across Australia in 1899. McGowen stood for the Federal seat of South Sydney in 1901, but was narrowly defeated. In December 1907, McGowan and the Labor Party—whose policy preference was

nationalisation Nationalization (nationalisation in British English) is the process of transforming privately owned assets into public assets by bringing them under the public ownership of a national government or state. Nationalization contrasts with priv ...

of the iron and steel industry—moved a last minute amendment that, when carried, led indirectly to the collapse of William Sandford Limited, owners of the Eskbank Ironworks at Lithgow.

Premier

McGowen's honesty and judiciousness were reassuring to the public, and were major factors in Labor's 1910 election win. He remained Premier until 1913, but was not an effective director of the parliamentary party, preferring to leave most issues of party management to his deputy, William Holman. As well as being Premier, he was also

Treasurer A treasurer is a person responsible for the financial operations of a government, business, or other organization. Government The treasury of a country is the department responsible for the country's economy, finance and revenue. The treasure ...

during most of 1911 and Chief Secretary from December 1911. In 1913, while Holman was in England, McGowen attempted to settle a gas workers' strike by threatening to dismiss the strikers and to hire non-union workers in their stead. This threat antagonised most of the state ALP, and when Holman returned to Australia in June 1913, he organised McGowen's overthrow. McGowen became Minister for Labour and Industry in Holman's first cabinet, holding this post until January 1914. The McGowen government carried out an active policy of subsidising hospitals and dispensaries in order to bring about the realisation of

universal health care Universal health care (also called universal health coverage, universal coverage, or universal care) is a health care system in which all residents of a particular country or region are assured access to health care. It is generally organized a ...

system. Nevertheless, opposition by doctors to state control forced the government to concentrate on financing new and existing institutions, such as nursing services for remote bush districts, while Friendly Societies were financially supported and membership encouraged. As a result, improved low-cost medical services were made widely available throughout New South Wales.''Foundations of the Welfare State'' by Pat Thane In addition, public works were expanded, and important educational reforms were enacted, together with reforms in electoral law, income tax, arbitration, and housing for workers. The ''Theatres and Public Halls Act 1912'' implemented censorship of films deemed obscene, implementing the so-called bushranger ban.

Later life

Three of McGowen's sons served in the Great War; one of them was killed at

Gallipoli The Gallipoli Peninsula (; ; ) is located in the southern part of East Thrace, the European part of Turkey, with the Aegean Sea to the west and the Dardanelles strait to the east. Gallipoli is the Italian form of the Greek name (), meaning ' ...

in 1915. McGowen remained a strong supporter of Australia's involvement in the war. The 1916 Labor conference decided to oppose

conscription Conscription, also known as the draft in the United States and Israel, is the practice in which the compulsory enlistment in a national service, mainly a military service, is enforced by law. Conscription dates back to antiquity and it conti ...

. McGowen, who favoured conscription, was expelled from the party along with many other ALP parliamentarians. At the 1917 election McGowen was defeated by the official Labor candidate

William McKell Sir William John McKell, (26 September 1891 – 11 January 1985) was an Australian politician who served as the 12th Governor-General of Australia, in office from 1947 to 1953. He had previously been Premier of New South Wales from 1941 to 19 ...

(himself a future Premier), but his career did not end there. His old rival Holman, now himself an apostate from the ALP and leading a

administration, appointed McGowen to the then unelected

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 ...

in July 1917. McGowen died of heart disease in the Sydney suburb of Petersham and was survived by his wife, five of their seven sons, and two daughters. A large crowd attended his funeral at St Paul's Church,

Redfern, New South Wales Redfern is an Southern Sydney, inner southern suburb of Sydney located south of the Sydney central business district and is part of the Local government in Australia, local government area of the City of Sydney. Strawberry Hills is a locality ...

on 8 April 1922; he was buried at

Rookwood Cemetery Rookwood Cemetery (officially named Rookwood Necropolis) is a heritage-listed cemetery in Rookwood, Sydney, Australia. It is the largest necropolis in the Southern Hemisphere and is the world's largest remaining operating cemetery from the ...

Speeches

* Policy speech 1910.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McGowen, James 1855 births 1922 deaths People born at sea Australian people of Scottish descent Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly Leaders of the opposition in New South Wales Premiers of New South Wales Treasurers of New South Wales Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of New South Wales Members of the New South Wales Legislative Council Australian boilermakers Colony of New South Wales people