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John Verran (9 July 1856 – 7 June 1932) was an Australian politician and trade unionist. He served as
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 1910 to 1912, the second 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. Verran was born in
Cornwall Cornwall (; or ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is also one of the Celtic nations and the homeland of the Cornish people. The county is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, ...
, England and arrived in Australia as a young child. He began working in the copper mines at Moonta as a young boy and eventually became president of the local miners' union. He was elected to 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 1901 as a member of the United Labor Party, the predecessor of the current ALP. Verran was chosen as the party's leader in 1909, following the death of
Thomas Price Thomas Price may refer to: *Thomas Price (South Australian politician) (1852–1909), Premier of South Australia *Thomas Price (bishop) (1599–1685), Church of Ireland archbishop of Cashel *Thomas Price (Carnhuanawc) (1787–1848), Welsh literary ...
, and won a majority at the 1910 state election. His agenda was hampered by the obstructionist
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 ...
and the government was defeated in 1912. He resigned as leader in 1913 and left the party following the split of 1916, losing his seat in 1918. After several unsuccessful candidacies for non-Labor parties he was chosen to fill a
casual vacancy ''The Casual Vacancy'' is a novel written by British author J. K. Rowling, published worldwide by the Little, Brown Book Group on 27 September 2012. It was Rowling's first publication since the ''Harry Potter'' series, her first novel apart fr ...
in the
Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...
from 1927 to 1928, sitting 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 ...
.


Early life

Verran was born at
Gwennap Gwennap () is a village and civil parish in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is about five miles (8 km) southeast of Redruth. Hamlets of Burncoose, Comford, Coombe, Gwennap, Coombe, Crofthandy, Cusgarne, Fernsplatt, Frogpool, Hick's M ...
,
Cornwall Cornwall (; or ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is also one of the Celtic nations and the homeland of the Cornish people. The county is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, ...
in
England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
, on 9 July 1856 and when only three months old was taken by his parents to
Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
. The family lived at
Kapunda, South Australia Kapunda is a town on the Light River near the Barossa Valley in South Australia. It was established after a discovery in 1842 of significant copper deposits. The population was 2,917 at the 2016 Australian census. The southern entrance to th ...
, until he was eight, and then moved to Moonta where copper had been discovered in 1861. Verran received very little education and before he was 10 years old was working at the copper-mines as a ''pickey-boy'', whose job it was to sort the ore above ground. He attended a night school some years later. Verran learned to read with encouragement from the ministers of the
Primitive Methodist The Primitive Methodist Church is a Christian denomination within the holiness movement. Originating in early 19th-century England as a revivalist movement within Methodism, it was heavily influenced by American evangelist Lorenzo Dow (1777–18 ...
church at Moonta. When 18 he went to the
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 ...
gold-mines but soon returned to Moonta, where he worked as a miner for nearly 40 years. He was elected president of the Moonta miners' association (the Amalgamated Miners' Association) and held this office from 1895 to 1913. Verran was an active member and local preacher in the Primitive Methodist church, and later recognised this influence with the comment "I am an M.P., because I am a P.M." Verran married Catherine Trembath in Moonta on 21 February 1880. They had eight children together before she died in 1914.


State parliament

In 1901 he was elected a member of 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 a by-election for
Wallaroo Wallaroo is a common name for several species of moderately large macropods, intermediate in size between the kangaroos and the wallabies, that are native to Australia and Papua New Guinea. The word "wallaroo" is from the Dharug ''walaru'' wi ...
, having been defeated for the seat at the
1896 Events January * January 2 – The Jameson Raid comes to an end as Jameson surrenders to the Boers. * January 4 – Utah is admitted as the 45th U.S. state. * January 5 – An Austrian newspaper reports Wilhelm Röntgen's dis ...
and 1899 elections. On the death of
Premier Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier. A premier will normally be a head of govern ...
Thomas Price Thomas Price may refer to: *Thomas Price (South Australian politician) (1852–1909), Premier of South Australia *Thomas Price (bishop) (1599–1685), Church of Ireland archbishop of Cashel *Thomas Price (Carnhuanawc) (1787–1848), Welsh literary ...
in 1909, Verran became Labor leader. Labor demanded the Premier position for Verran, however LDU leader
Archibald Peake Archibald Henry Peake (15 January 1859 – 6 April 1920) was an Australian politician. He was Premier of South Australia on three occasions: from 1909 to 1910 for the Liberal and Democratic Union, and from 1912 to 1915 and 1917 to 1920 for ...
refused which saw Peake form a one-year government. The following year, Verran led Labor to South Australia's first
majority government A majority government is a government by one or more governing parties that hold an absolute majority of seats in a legislature. Such a government can consist of one party that holds a majority on its own, or be a coalition government of multi ...
in the
House of Assembly House of Assembly is a name given to the legislature or lower house of a bicameral parliament. In some countries this may be at a subnational level. Historically, in British Crown colonies as the colony gained more internal responsible g ...
at the 1910 election, with Labor on a primary vote of 49.1 percent and 22 of 42 seats, less than two weeks before Labor formed Australia's first elected federal majority government and first elected
Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...
majority at the 1910 federal election. On 3 June 1910 Verran became Premier, and was also commissioner of public works and minister of mines and of water-supply. Lasting less than 21 months, the government faced riots due to a drivers' strike in Adelaide streets, and criticism of how Verran handled the problem. Considerable sums were spent on railways and harbours. The Advances for Homes Act of 1911 allowed the State Bank of South Australia to grant loans to poorer people, but the
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 ...
would not support the government attempts to create state brickyards and timber mills. Relations between the assembly and the council were strained, with Verran petitioning the British parliament to veto the council's decision. Verran called a 1912 election over the power of the upper house to veto the lower, however Labor suffered a swing against them, and were left with 16 of 40 seats. Verran introduced the Aborigines Bill in 1910 which revealed the ignorance and racism of white attitudes towards Australia's indigenous people at the time, and was a member of the Royal Commission on Aborigines (1912–1916). As a backbencher during
World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
, Verran was supported by the All-British League in leading a campaign against people of German descent. He sought to close all
Lutheran Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched ...
schools,
disenfranchise Disfranchisement, also disenfranchisement (which has become more common since 1982) or voter disqualification, is the restriction of suffrage (the right to vote) of a person or group of people, or a practice that has the effect of preventing someo ...
(remove the right to vote from) people of German origin or birth and demand that Lutheran children "be taught pure English, and taught by those who are British, and taught what it is to be British". Verran was succeeded as leader of the Labor Party by Crawford Vaughan in 1913, and Verran broke with the party in 1917 over the conscription issue. In
1918 The ceasefire that effectively ended the World War I, First World War took place on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month of this year. Also in this year, the Spanish flu pandemic killed 50–100 million people wor ...
, he stood as a
National Party National Party or Nationalist Party may refer to: Active parties * National Party of Australia, commonly known as ''The Nationals'' * Bangladesh: ** Bangladesh Nationalist Party ** Jatiya Party (Ershad) a.k.a. ''National Party (Ershad)'' * Californ ...
candidate and was defeated. He stood as an independent in
1921 Events January * January 2 ** The Association football club Cruzeiro Esporte Clube, from Belo Horizonte, is founded as the multi-sports club Palestra Italia by Italian expatriates in First Brazilian Republic, Brazil. ** The Spanish lin ...
and a Liberal in
1924 Events January * January 12 – Gopinath Saha shoots Ernest Day, whom he has mistaken for Sir Charles Tegart, the police commissioner of Calcutta, and is arrested soon after. * January 20–January 30, 30 – Kuomintang in Ch ...
, also without success.


Federal parliament

Verran stood unsuccessfully as a Nationalist candidate for the Senate at the 1922 federal election and for 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 ...
seat of Hindmarsh at the 1925 election. On 30 August 1927, aged 71, Verran was elected by state parliament to fill a
casual vacancy ''The Casual Vacancy'' is a novel written by British author J. K. Rowling, published worldwide by the Little, Brown Book Group on 27 September 2012. It was Rowling's first publication since the ''Harry Potter'' series, her first novel apart fr ...
caused by the death of ALP senator Charles McHugh. After taking his seat he spoke frequently on industrial relations and intergovernmental matters. He supported the Bruce–Page government's proposed amendments to the ''
Commonwealth Conciliation and Arbitration Act 1904 The ''Commonwealth Conciliation and Arbitration Act 1904'' (Cth) was an Act of the Parliament of Australia, which established the Commonwealth Court of Conciliation and Arbitration, besides other things, and sought to introduce the rule of law ...
'' and proposed introduction of secret ballots to decide strikes. Despite his background, Verran's rhetoric became increasingly anti-union, describing militant unionists as "responsible for much of our present troubles" and unions in general as "infernal political fighting machines". He also reluctantly supported the 1927 financial agreement between the federal government and the states, although stating "I never have been a federalist ..indeed, I fought against federation, because, in my opinion, federation means the damnation of any country". Verran was defeated at the 1928 election after just over a year in the Senate.


Later life

His wife predeceased him and he was survived by three sons and four daughters. He died at his daughter's home in
Unley Unley is an inner-southern suburb of Adelaide, South Australia, within the City of Unley. The suburb is the home of the Sturt Football Club in the South Australian National Football League (SANFL). Unley neighbours Adelaide Park Lands, Fullar ...
and was given a
state funeral A state funeral is a public funeral ceremony, observing the strict rules of protocol, held to honour people of national significance. State funerals usually include much pomp and ceremony as well as religious overtones and distinctive elements o ...
. He was buried at Moonta. Verran was a man of fine character whose honesty was proverbial. For many years he was a power in the Labor ranks, but his career really ended when he left the party.


See also

* Verran Ministry *
Hundred of Verran The County of Jervois is a cadastral unit in the Australian state of South Australia that covers land on the east coast of the Eyre Peninsula. It was proclaimed on 24 January 1878 and named after William Jervois, the Governor of South Australia ...


References

* Ross McMullin, The Light on the Hill: The Australian Labor Party 1891–1991   , - , - , - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Verran, John 1856 births 1932 deaths People from Gwennap Australian people of Cornish descent British emigrants to the Colony of South Australia Australian trade unionists Members of the South Australian House of Assembly Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of South Australia Premiers of South Australia Members of the Australian Senate for South Australia Leaders of the opposition in South Australia Nationalist Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Australia