James Donald (1 June 1895 – 4 May 1976) 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 ...

Early years

Donald was born at Redbank,

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 ...

, to parents Andrew Donald and his wife Jessie (née Simpson) and was educated at Redbank State School and Ipswich State School. He then began an apprenticeship as a

cabinetmaker A cabinet is a case or cupboard with shelves or drawers for storing or displaying items. Some cabinets are stand alone while others are built in to a wall or are attached to it like a medicine cabinet. Cabinets are typically made of wood (solid ...

, attending Ipswich Technical College before entering the mining industry as a

winding engine A winding engine is a stationary engine used to control a wire rope, cable, for example to power a hoist (mining), mining hoist at a pit head. Electric hoist controllers have replaced proper winding engines in modern mining, but use electric motor ...

driver. It was this job that led to a long association with Queensland Colliery Employees Union where he started out as a

union organizer A union organizer (or union organiser in Commonwealth spelling) is a specific type of trade union member (often elected) or an appointed union official. In some unions, the organizer's role is to recruit groups of workers under the organizing ...

and was vice president several times in the 1940s.Jim Donald - a short biography
— Ipswich Historical Society. Retrieved 22 April 2015.

Political career

When the member for Bremer, former Premier Frank Cooper, retired from politics in March 1946, Donald was chosen by the Labor Party to be their candidate at the

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 ...

which was held on the 25 May 1946. Donald went on to win the seat over the

Queensland People's Party The Queensland Liberal Party, officially known as the Liberal Party of Australia (Queensland Division), was the Queensland division of the Liberal Party of Australia until 2008. It was initially formed in October 1943 as the Queensland People ...

candidate, Harold Shapcott, by 5643 votes to 3246. Donald held Bremer until the seat was abolished prior to the 1960 state election when he moved to the newly created seat of Ipswich East which he went on to hold from 1960 until his retirement from politics in 1969. Although Donald was in parliament for 23 years, he was never appointed to the ministry, almost certainly due to having refused to support a bill introduced by the Labor Party concerning miners' pensions and entitlements. He was, however, secretary of the State Parliamentary Party for 21 years; and when the leader of the opposition, Les Wood, unexpectedly died in 1958, Donald became the new opposition leader on the 14 April of that year. He stood aside from the position to make way for Jack Duggan on 17 August 1958, after Duggan had won the seat of North Toowoomba in the by-election necessitated by Wood's death. Donald in effect was interim leader between Wood's death and Duggan's return. During his political career, Donald earned a reputation as one of the most modest and unassuming gentlemen ever to serve in the Parliament. He had a very quiet manner of debate, which was always well backed up by a great deal of preparation and research. In addition he was an advocate of temperance, on which his views were rigid and uncompromising.

Personal life

Donald married Mary Jane Dobbie on the 27 September 1916 and together had one son and one daughter. Mary died in 1955,Family history research
— Queensland Government births, deaths, marriages, and divorces. Retrieved 22 April 2015. and on the 11 July 1960 he married Hilda Bell Julho Thomlinson (died 1984). Donald was interested in cricket, football, tennis and bowls, and was a representative on the Ipswich Cricket and Rugby League associations. Donald died in May 1976 and was cremated. His ashes are in the

Columbarium A columbarium (; pl. columbaria), also called a cinerarium, is a structure for the reverential and usually public storage of funerary urns holding cremated remains of the dead. The term comes from the Latin ''columba'' (dove) and originally solel ...

Ipswich General Cemetery The Ipswich General Cemetery is a historic cemetery in Ipswich, Queensland, Ipswich, Queensland, Australia. It is the second oldest cemetery in Queensland. It is owned by Ipswich City Council, but the council have outsourced the day-to-day oper ...

.Columbarium Section A - F
— Australian Cemeteries. Retrieved 22 April 2015.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Donald, James Members of the Queensland Legislative Assembly 1895 births 1976 deaths Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Queensland Burials at Ipswich General Cemetery People from Ipswich, Queensland 20th-century Australian politicians