Nathaniel White Harper (18 March 1865 – 3 January 1954) was an

Australian Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal Aus ...

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

and

businessman A businessperson, also referred to as a businessman or businesswoman, is an individual who has founded, owns, or holds shares in (including as an angel investor) a private-sector company. A businessperson undertakes activities (commercial ...

. He was a member of the

Western Australian Legislative Assembly The Western Australian Legislative Assembly, or lower house, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of Western Australia, an Australian state. The Parliament sits in Parliament House, Perth, Parliament House in the Western Australian capi ...

from 1910 until 1914, representing the seats of

Beverley Beverley is a market town and civil parish in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It is located north-west of Hull city centre. At the 2021 census the built-up area of the town had a population of 30,930, and the smaller civil parish had ...

and

Pingelly Pingelly is a town and shire located in the Wheatbelt region of Western Australia, from Perth via the Brookton Highway and Great Southern Highway. The town is also located on the Great Southern railway line. The surrounding areas produce w ...

. He was the grandfather of politicians

David Grayden David Grayden ( Ives; 25 May 1924 – 9 June 2003) was an Australian politician who was a member of the Legislative Assembly of Western Australia from 1950 to 1953, representing the seat of Nedlands. Grayden was born in Perth to Ethel May (n� ...

and

Bill Grayden William Leonard Grayden (born Wilbur Ives; 5 August 1920) is an Australian former politician. He was a member of parliament across six decades, serving in the Western Australian Legislative Assembly (1947–1949, 1956–1993) and the Australian ...

Early life

Nathaniel White Harper was born on 18 March 1865 in

Ballymena Ballymena ( ; from , meaning 'the middle townland') is a town in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It had a population of 31,205 people at the 2021 United Kingdom census, making it the List of localities in Northern Ireland by population, seven ...

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

to John Harper, a farmer, and Margaret Harper (née White).

Mining career

Harper emigrated to

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

in 1883 where he worked in a gold mine in

Otago Otago (, ; ) is a regions of New Zealand, region of New Zealand located in the southern half of the South Island and administered by the Otago Regional Council. It has an area of approximately , making it the country's second largest local go ...

. In 1987 he moved 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 ...

, working mines in

Broken Hill, New South Wales 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 ...

and earning the position of mine foreman. From there, he went on to manage a mine in

Zeehan, Tasmania Zeehan is a town on the West Coast, Tasmania, west coast of Tasmania, Australia south-west of Burnie, Tasmania, Burnie. It is part of the West Coast Council, along with the seaport Strahan, Tasmania, Strahan and neighbouring mining towns of Ros ...

. Harper arrived 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 ...

in 1892, managing mines first at Fraser's mine in

Southern Cross CRUX is a lightweight x86-64 Linux distribution targeted at experienced Linux users and delivered by a tar.gz-based package system with BSD-style initscripts. It is not based on any other Linux distribution. It also utilizes a ports system to ...

and later at the White Feather Main Reef in Kanowna.

Political career

Harper was mayor of Kanowna three times between 1897 and 1901. In 1897, he stood for election in the seat of North-East Coolgardie, losing to

Frederick Vosper Frederick Charles Burleigh Vosper (23 March 1869 – 6 January 1901) was an Australian newspaper journalist and proprietor, and politician. He was well known for his ardent views and support of Australian republicanism, federalism and trade unio ...

by 53 votes. His next foray into politics was more successful, with Harper winning the seat of

in the Legislative Assembly in a 1910 by-election. He defeated opponent

Walter James Walter James may also refer to: * Walter James (actor) (1882–1946), American film actor * Walter James (Australian politician) (1863–1943), Australian politician and the fifth Premier of Western Australia * Walter James, 1st Baron Northbourne ...

by 92 votes. The by-election was called following the imprisonment of the incumbent, John Hopkins, which rendered the seat vacant. Harper was again elected to the Legislative Assembly at the 1911 election, this time for the

seat. He served a full term and stood again at the 1914 election this time being defeated by Henry Hickmott of the Country Party, 889 votes to 657.

Personal life

Harper married Margaret Jane Thomas on 19 September 1891 at her family home in

Naseby Naseby is a village and civil parish in the West Northamptonshire unitary authority area of Northamptonshire, England. The population of the civil parish at the 2011 United Kingdom census, 2011 Census was 687. The village is north of Northa ...

. The couple has two sons and a daughter. Margaret died on 15 September 1921. On 5 September 1924 Harper married his second wife, Olive Estelle Story at Scots Church in

Melbourne, Victoria 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 ...

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Harper, Nathaniel White 1865 births 1954 deaths Members of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly Burials at Karrakatta Cemetery People from Ballymena Australian mining engineers