Peter Plowman (10 December 1902 – July 1983) was an Australia-born businessman and politician in

Western Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa and known until 1997 as Western Samoa, is an island country in Polynesia, part of Oceania, in the South Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main islands ( Savai'i and Upolu), two smaller, inhabit ...

. He served as a member of the Legislative Assembly between 1954 and 1964, and as Member for Transport and Communications from 1956 to 1957.

Biography

Born in

Hobart Hobart ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the island state of Tasmania, Australia. Located in Tasmania's south-east on the estuary of the River Derwent, it is the southernmost capital city in Australia. Despite containing nearly hal ...

in December 1902, Plowman was educated at Scott's College and Hutchin's College.''Pacific Islands Year Book 1963'', p107 He began working at a cattle station in the

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (abbreviated as NT; known formally as the Northern Territory of Australia and informally as the Territory) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian internal territory in the central and central-northern regi ...

in 1920, before becoming a plantation manager in the

Solomon Islands Solomon Islands, also known simply as the Solomons,John Prados, ''Islands of Destiny'', Dutton Caliber, 2012, p,20 and passim is an island country consisting of six major islands and over 1000 smaller islands in Melanesia, part of Oceania, t ...

in 1923. The following year he relocated to the

New Hebrides New Hebrides, officially the New Hebrides Condominium () and named after the Hebrides in Scotland, was the colonial name for the island group in the South Pacific Ocean that is now Vanuatu. Native people had inhabited the islands for three th ...

where he did the same job until moving to Sydney in 1931 to join Airzone Ltd as a manager and director. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

he served in the

Royal Australian Navy The Royal Australian Navy (RAN) is the navy, naval branch of the Australian Defence Force (ADF). The professional head of the RAN is Chief of Navy (Australia), Chief of Navy (CN) Vice admiral (Australia), Vice Admiral Mark Hammond (admiral), Ma ...

and the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

, becoming an explosives specialist.Peter Plowman
''Pacific Islands Monthly'', September 1983 After his marriage to Elsie Paxton ended,A man on a mission
''Samoa Observer'', 27 July 2018 he moved to

Apia Apia () is the Capital (political), capital and largest city of Samoa. It is located on the central north coast of Upolu, Samoa's second-largest island. Apia falls within the political district (''itūmālō'') of Tuamasaga. The Apia Urban A ...

in Western Samoa in 1947 to work for A.G. Smyth & Co, later setting up his own import-export business. He also became one of the largest poultry farmers in the islands. After settling in Samoa, he married Aggie Mann, with whom he had two children.Peter Plowman
Billion Graves In

1954 Events January * January 3 – The Italian broadcaster RAI officially begins transmitting. * January 7 – Georgetown–IBM experiment: The first public demonstration of a machine translation system is held in New York, at the head ...

he was elected to the Legislative Assembly from the European constituency, also becoming a member of the Executive Council. In 1956 he was appointed Member for Transport and Communications. He was re-elected in

1957 Events January * January 1 – The Saarland joins West Germany. * January 3 – Hamilton Watch Company introduces the first electric watch. * January 5 – South African player Russell Endean becomes the first batsman to be Dismissal (cricke ...

and was a member of the 1960 Constitutional Assembly that produced the independence

constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organization or other type of entity, and commonly determines how that entity is to be governed. When these pri ...

, becoming one of its signatories. He was re-elected again in

1961 Events January * January 1 – Monetary reform in the Soviet Union, 1961, Monetary reform in the Soviet Union. * January 3 ** United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower announces that the United States has severed diplomatic and cons ...

, but did not contest the 1964 elections when the number of European seats was reduced from five to two. He ran unsuccessfully in

1967 Events January * January 1 – Canada begins a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of Canadian Confederation, Confederation, featuring the Expo 67 World's Fair. * January 6 – Vietnam War: United States Marine Corps and Army of ...

, finishing last out of the four candidates.Samoan election results by constituency 1964–2016
Samoa Election Results Database In 1966 he was appointed chairman of the Apia Harbour Board. He died in Apia in July 1983 at the age of 80.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Plowman, Peter 1902 births Politicians from Hobart New Hebrides people Australian emigrants to Samoa 20th-century Samoan businesspeople Samoan farmers Members of the Legislative Assembly of Samoa 1983 deaths