John Henry Prowse (16 June 1871 – 20 May 1944) was an Australian politician. Born in

Adelong, New South Wales Adelong is a small town in the Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia, on the banks of the Adelong Creek. Adelong sits on the Snowy Mountains Highway and is a part of the Snowy Valleys Council. At the , Adelong had an urban population ...

, he was educated at public schools and then at Kings College,

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 ...

. He became an insurance agent and then a station owner in

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 ...

, where he eventually became a

Perth City Perth () is the capital city of Western Australia. It is the fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The world's most isolated major city by certain criteria, Perth is part of the ...

Councillor, serving as

Mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...

1913–1914. In 1919, Prowse was elected to the

Australian House of Representatives The House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameralism, bicameral Parliament of Australia, the upper house being the Australian Senate, Senate. Its composition and powers are set out in Chapter I of the Constitution of Australia. ...

as the member for

Swan Swans are birds of the genus ''Cygnus'' within the family Anatidae. The swans' closest relatives include the goose, geese and ducks. Swans are grouped with the closely related geese in the subfamily Anserinae where they form the tribe (biology) ...

, representing the Farmers' and Settlers' Association, which in 1920 solidified to become the

Australian Country Party The National Party of Australia, commonly known as the Nationals or simply the Nats, is a Centre-right politics, centre-right and Agrarianism, agrarian List of political parties in Australia, political party in Australia. Traditionally represe ...

. Prowse transferred to the new seat of

Forrest Forrest may refer to: Places Australia *Forrest, Australian Capital Territory *Forrest, Victoria, a small rural township *Division of Forrest, a federal division of the Australian House of Representatives, in Western Australia *Electoral distric ...

in 1922, allowing party colleague Henry Gregory (member for the abolished Dampier) to contest Swan. He served as chairman of committees from 1934 to 1943, the first member of his party to hold the position. Prowse held Forrest until his defeat in 1943 by future

Labor Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

minister

Nelson Lemmon Nelson Lemmon (22 March 1908 – 20 March 1989) was an Australian politician. He was a member of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) and served as Minister for Works and Housing (1946–1949) in the Chifley government. He played a key role in esta ...

. He died at his home in

Donnybrook, Western Australia Donnybrook is a town situated between Boyanup and Kirup on the South Western Highway, south of Perth, Western Australia. The town is the centre of apple cultivation in Western Australia. The town is also known for its picturesque abundance o ...

the following year.

Early life

Prowse was born on 16 June 1871 in

. He was the son of Mary Ann (née Wylie) and James Prowse. His mother was born in Ireland, while his father, born in England, was a miner and farmer. Prowse was educated at Adelong Public School and King's College in

. After leaving school he began working for the United Insurance Company. In 1889 was appointed manager of its branch in

Townsville, Queensland The City of Townsville is a city on the north-eastern coast of Queensland, Australia. With a population of 201,313 as of 2024, it is the largest settlement in North Queensland and Northern Australia (specifically, the parts of Australia north of ...

. He relocated to

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 ...

in 1903 after being appointed state manager for

. In 1914 he became one of the inaugural directors of the cooperative Westralian Farmers Ltd (now

Wesfarmers Wesfarmers Limited is an Australian conglomerate, headquartered in Perth, Western Australia. It has interests predominantly in Australia and New Zealand, operating in retail, chemical, fertiliser, industrial and safety products. With revenue o ...

Community work

Prowse was a

lay preacher A lay preacher is a preacher who is not ordained (i.e. a layperson) and who may not hold a formal university degree in theology. Lay preaching varies in importance between religions and their sects. Overview Some denominations specifically disco ...

in the

Methodist Church Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a Protestant Christianity, Christian Christian tradition, tradition whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's brother ...

and was active in the

temperance movement The temperance movement is a social movement promoting Temperance (virtue), temperance or total abstinence from consumption of alcoholic beverages. Participants in the movement typically criticize alcohol intoxication or promote teetotalism, and ...

, serving as president of the West Australian Temperance Alliance from 1905 to 1911. He was also a grandmaster in the

Orange Order The Loyal Orange Institution, commonly known as the Orange Order, is an international Protestant fraternal order based in Northern Ireland and primarily associated with Ulster Protestants. It also has lodges in England, Grand Orange Lodge of ...

and "busy in the early organisation of philanthropic causes in Perth, including the Blind and Deaf and Dumb Institutions, and the Children’s Protection Society". In 1919, Prowse was appointed by the state government to the board of the newly created Discharged Soldiers' Land Settlement Board, overseeing the

soldier settlement Soldier settlement was the settlement of land throughout parts of Australia by returning discharged soldiers under soldier settlement schemes administered by state governments after World War I and World War II. The post-World War II settlement ...

scheme for World War I veterans. He was subsequently elected as its inaugural chair.

Politics

Local government

Prowse served as mayor of the Municipality of Subiaco from 1904 to 1905. He was a supporter of the

Greater Perth Movement The Greater Perth Movement describes a movement in the first three decades of the twentieth century to consolidate the town planning and urban administration of the Perth metropolitan region of Western Australia under a single municipal governme ...

and was elected to a one-year term as mayor of Perth in 1913. During his tenure the

Municipality of Leederville The Municipality of Leederville was a local government area in inner suburban Perth, Western Australia, based around the suburb of Leederville. It was established as the Leederville Road District on 3 May 1895. It was renamed the Municipality of ...

and

Municipality of North Perth The Municipality of North Perth was a local government area in inner suburban Perth, Western Australia, centred on the suburb of North Perth. It was established as the North Perth Road District on 10 March 1899. It was made a municipality on 25 ...

were merged into the

City of Perth The City of Perth is a local government areas of Western Australia, local government area and body, within the Perth metropolitan area, which is the capital of Western Australia. The local government is commonly known as Perth City Council. T ...

Federal politics

In 1913, Prowse was elected to the executive of the newly created Farmers' and Settlers' Association of Western Australia (FSA). He was elected to the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entities. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often ...

at the 1919 federal election, standing as an FSA candidate and defeating the incumbent

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) member

Edwin Corboy Edwin Wilkie "Ted" Corboy (24 August 1896 – 6 August 1950) was an Australian politician and public servant. He was a member of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) and served in the House of Representatives from 1918 to 1919, representing the West ...

in the seat of

. He joined the new federal Country Party when parliament sat after the election. Prowse transferred to the new seat of

at the 1922 election. He was an opponent of Prime Minister

Billy Hughes William Morris Hughes (25 September 1862 – 28 October 1952) was an Australian politician who served as the seventh prime minister of Australia from 1915 to 1923. He led the nation during World War I, and his influence on national politics s ...

and after the election supported making Hughes' removal as prime minister a condition of the Country Party entering into a coalition with Hughes' Nationalist Party. He was subsequently appointed as a

government whip A whip is an official of a political party whose task is to ensure party discipline (that members of the party vote according to the party platform rather than their constituents, individual conscience or donors) in a legislature. Whips a ...

in the Bruce–Page government, but resigned in August 1924 in opposition to the electoral pact between the two parties. Following the 1934 election, Prowse was elected chairman of committees in the House of Representatives. He was re-elected after the 1937 election and, along with UAP speaker

Walter Nairn Walter Maxwell Nairn (17 March 1879 12 December 1958) was an Australian politician. He was a member of the Australian House of Representatives from 1929 to 1943, representing the electorate of Perth for the Nationalist Party of Australia and i ...

, continued in the post after the Fadden government was defeated in 1941 and replaced by an ALP minority government led by

John Curtin John Curtin (8 January 1885 – 5 July 1945) was an Australian politician who served as the 14th prime minister of Australia from 1941 until his death in 1945. He held office as the leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP), having been most ...

. Both Prowse and Nairn resigned in June 1943 to support a motion of no confidence in the

Curtin government The Curtin government was the federal executive government of Australia led by Prime Minister John Curtin. It was made up of members of the Australian Labor Party in the Australian Parliament from 1941 to 1945. Background John Curtin was firs ...

, but were themselves defeated in the ALP landslide victory at the 1943 election.

Personal life

Prowse married Edith McNeilance in 1896, with whom he had six children. He was widowed in 1939 and remarried in 1941 to Jean Murdoch, with his parliamentary colleague

Harold Holt Harold Edward Holt (5 August 190817 December 1967) was an Australian politician and lawyer who served as the 17th prime minister of Australia from 1966 until Disappearance of Harold Holt, his disappearance and presumed death in 1967. He held o ...

serving as best man. In 1910, Prowse went into partnership with his brother Albert and purchased Wallatin station, situated in the Wheatbelt north of Doodlakine. Albert's son

Edgar Prowse Edgar Wylie Prowse (22 March 1905 – 2 June 1977) was an Australian politician who served as a Senator for Western Australia from 1962 to 1973, representing the Country Party. He was a farmer before entering politics. Early life Prowse was bo ...

was elected to federal parliament in the 1960s. Prowse retired to his farming property Bangadang near

Donnybrook Donnybrook may refer to: Places Australia * Donnybrook, Queensland, Australia * Donnybrook, Western Australia * Donnybrook, Victoria, Australia ** Donnybrook railway station, Victoria, Australia Canada * Donnybrook, Ontario, a former village in ...

, which he had purchased in 1929. He died suddenly at Bangadang on 20 May 1944, aged 72.

References

1871 births 1944 deaths National Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Australia Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Swan Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Forrest Members of the Australian House of Representatives Mayors and lord mayors of Perth, Western Australia People from Adelong, New South Wales Australian MPs 1919–1922 Australian MPs 1922–1925 Australian MPs 1925–1928 Australian MPs 1928–1929 Australian MPs 1929–1931 Australian MPs 1931–1934 Australian MPs 1934–1937 Australian MPs 1937–1940 Australian MPs 1940–1943 {{Australia-mayor-stub