Sir John Alexander Cockburn (23 August 185026 November 1929) was

Premier of South Australia The premier of South Australia is the head of government in the state of South Australia, Australia. The Government of South Australia follows the Westminster system, with a Parliament of South Australia acting as the legislature. The premier i ...

from 27 June 1889 to 18 August 1890.

Early life

Cockburn was born in Corsbie,

Berwickshire Berwickshire (; ) is a historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area in south-eastern Scotland, on the English border. The county takes its name from Berwick-upon-Tweed, its original county town, which was part of Scotland at the ...

, Scotland, in 1850 to Thomas Cockburn, farmer, and his wife Isabella, née Wright. His father died in France in 1855, and his mother migrated to

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories by area, which in ...

in 1867 with three of the four children. Cockburn remained in the UK and was educated at

Highgate School Highgate School, formally Sir Roger Cholmeley's School at Highgate, is a co-educational, fee-charging, private day school, founded in 1565 in Highgate, London, England. It educates over 1,400 pupils in three sections – Highgate Pre-Preparato ...

, and

King's College London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public university, public research university in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of George IV of the United Kingdom, King George IV ...

, he obtained the degree of M.D. London, with first class honours and gold medal. In 1875, he married Sarah Holdway (the daughter of Forbes Scott Brown), and they had one son and one daughter. In 1879, he emigrated to South Australia and set up practice at Jamestown in the

mid North The Mid North is a region of South Australia, north of the Adelaide Plains and south of the Far North and the outback. It is generally accepted to extend from Spencer Gulf east to the Barrier Highway, including the coastal plain, the souther ...

Political career

In 1878, Cockburn was elected as the first mayor of the Corporate Town of Jamestown. In that role he lobbied the

Government of South Australia The Government of South Australia, also referred to as the South Australian Government or the SA Government, is the executive branch of the state government, state of South Australia. It is modelled on the Westminster system, meaning that the h ...

to construct a railway line to the

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 ...

border to tap the newly developed silver mining fields of the Barrier Ranges. Between 1884 and 1888, during Cockburn's parliamentary career, the

South Australian Railways South Australian Railways (SAR) was the organisation through which the Government of South Australia built and operated railways in South Australia from 1854 until March 1978, when its non-urban railways were incorporated into Australian Natio ...

line through Jamestown to Petersburg was extended to the border to meet the tramway built by the Silverton Tramway Company, which linked the growing mines of

Broken Hill Broken Hill is a city in the Far West (New South Wales), far west region of outback New South Wales, Australia. An inland mining city, it is near the border with South Australia on the crossing of the Barrier Highway (A32) and the Silver City Hi ...

to the South Australian coast at

Port Pirie Port Pirie is a small city on the east coast of the Spencer Gulf in South Australia, north of the state capital, Adelaide. Port Pirie is the largest city and the main retail centre of the Mid North region of South Australia. The city has an ex ...

, where a smelter was built in 1889, effectively capturing the economic benefits of the Broken Hill mining field for South Australia. The town surveyed at the colonial border in 1886 was named Cockburn in his honour. Cockburn stood for Burra in the

South Australian House of Assembly The House of Assembly (also known as the lower house) is one of two chambers of the Parliament of South Australia, the other being the Legislative Council. It sits in Parliament House in the state capital, Adelaide. Overview The House of Assem ...

in 1884, serving as Minister of Education from 1885 to 1887 (under premier John Downer) before losing that seat and returning as member for Mount Barker, elected in April 1887 and holding that seat for 11 years. In 1884 Cockburn was able to pass progressive legislation including succession duties and land tax, and in 1886 was involved in introducing payment for members of the South Australian parliament. On 27 June 1889, Cockburn became the first doctor to become premier, a role he held for fourteen months before he lost a no-confidence motion and handing back to Thomas Playford. He was Minister for Education again and Minister for Agriculture in the

Kingston Kingston may refer to: Places * List of places called Kingston, including the six most populated: ** Kingston, Jamaica ** Kingston upon Hull, England ** City of Kingston, Victoria, Australia ** Kingston, Ontario, Canada ** Kingston upon Thames, ...

ministry from 1893 until April 1898. He was active in the planning of

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) ...

, including representing South Australia at the Australasian Federal Conference of 1890, the National Australasian Convention of 1891, and, most importantly, the Australasian Federal Convention of 1897–8. At the Convention he had the equal best attendance record of the fifty or so delegates, but almost as often as not was on the losing side in its votes, reflecting in part his independence of faction.

Women's Suffrage

Cockburn supported the Women's Suffrage League throughout their campaign and frequently spoke at its meetings, and that of women's suffrage organisations in the United Kingdom. He chaired the league's final meeting as well as its celebration event when suffrage was granted. Cockburn and

Frederick Holder Sir Frederick William Holder (12 May 185023 July 1909) was an Australian politician who served as the first speaker of the Australian House of Representatives from 1901 to 1909. A member of the Free Trade Party and later an independent, he ser ...

convinced the reluctant Premier

Charles Kingston Charles Cameron Kingston (22 October 1850 – 11 May 1908) was an Australian politician. From 1893 to 1899 he was a radical liberal Premier of South Australia, occupying this office with the support of Labor, which in the House of Assembly ...

that by giving the vote to women they would be so grateful that they would vote for him. He continued to play a part in women's suffrage upon his return to London and, along with his wife, was active in the

suffragette A suffragette was a member of an activist women's organisation in the early 20th century who, under the banner "Votes for Women", fought for the right to vote in public elections in the United Kingdom. The term refers in particular to members ...

movement in England.

Later life

After resigning from parliament, he went to England to serve as

Agent-General An Agent-General ( or , masculine and feminine respectively) is the representative in cities abroad of the government of a Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province or an States and territories of Australia, Australian state and, h ...

for South Australia. He resigned in 1901 when the position was downgraded (due to federation), but remained in London and unofficially represented South Australia and Australia in many things. He had a long career in

Freemasonry Freemasonry (sometimes spelled Free-Masonry) consists of fraternal groups that trace their origins to the medieval guilds of stonemasons. Freemasonry is the oldest secular fraternity in the world and among the oldest still-existing organizati ...

that began with his initiation in 1876. He would go on to help establish the

Grand Lodge A Grand Lodge, also called Grand Orient, Obedience, or by another similar title, is a name for the overarching governing body of a fraternal or other similarly organized group in a given area, usually a city, state, or country. In Freemasonry A ...

of South Australia and to serve in several high offices within it. After his return to England, he founded a new lodge in London and served as president of the International Masonic Club. As a Masonic

Rosicrucian Rosicrucianism () is a spirituality, spiritual and cultural movement that arose in early modern Europe in the early 17th century after the publication of several texts announcing to the world a new Western esotericism, esoteric order. Rosicruc ...

he was attracted to esoteric and philosophical subjects, and published several dozen articles exploring such themes in various Masonic periodicals. He was created Knight Commander of the

Order of St Michael and St George The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is a British order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George, Prince of Wales (the future King George IV), while he was acting as prince regent for his father, King George III ...

(KCMG) in the 1900 New Year Honours list on 1 January 1900, and received the order from

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in January 1901. Her reign of 63 year ...

during an investiture at

Windsor Castle Windsor Castle is a List of British royal residences, royal residence at Windsor, Berkshire, Windsor in the English county of Berkshire, about west of central London. It is strongly associated with the Kingdom of England, English and succee ...

on 1 March 1900. He was appointed a Knight of Grace of the Order of the Hospital of St. John of Jerusalem in England (KGStJ) in August 1901. He died in London in 1929 without ever returning to Australia. His wife, son and daughter survived him.

Works

References

External links

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Electric Scotland
, - , - , - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Cockburn, John Alexander 1850 births 1929 deaths Premiers of South Australia Australian Knights Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George Australian federationists People educated at Highgate School Alumni of King's College London Scottish emigrants to Australia Mayors of places in South Australia

John John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second E ...

Leaders of the opposition in South Australia Australian suffragists Australian Freemasons Male feminists Members of the South Australian House of Assembly