Samuel Matthew Rocke (7 September 1874 – 3 June 1963) was an Australian politician who served as an

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States * Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...

member of the Legislative Assembly of

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 ...

from 1917 to 1921, representing the seat of South Fremantle. Rocke was born on

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...

Mornington Peninsula The Mornington Peninsula is a peninsula located in the south of Greater Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia. It is surrounded by Port Phillip to the west, Western Port to the east and Bass Strait to the south, and is connected to ...

to Sarah (née Jennings) and Andrew Rocke. He arrived in Western Australia in 1895 and settled in

Fremantle Fremantle () () is a port city in Western Australia located at the mouth of the Swan River (Western Australia), Swan River in the metropolitan area of Perth, the state capital. Fremantle Harbour serves as the port of Perth. The Western Australi ...

, where he initially worked as a produce merchant before joining the public service. He became the assistant storekeeper at

Fremantle Prison Fremantle Prison, sometimes referred to as Fremantle Gaol or Fremantle Jail, is a former Australian prison and World Heritage Site in Fremantle, Western Australia. The site includes the prison cellblocks, gatehouse, perimeter walls, cottages, ...

in 1910.Samuel Matthew Rocke
– Biographical Register of Members of the Parliament of Western Australia. Retrieved 5 January 2017. Rocke entered parliament at the 1917 state election, winning South Fremantle as an "Independent

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 ...

" candidate by just six votes over Harry Bolton, the sitting

National Labor Party The National Labor Party (NLP) was an Australian political party formed by Prime Minister Billy Hughes in November 1916, following the 1916 Labor split on the issue of World War I conscription in Australia. Hughes had taken over as leader of ...

member. He served a single term in parliament before suffering a heavy defeat at the 1921 election, where he polled just 9.2 percent on

first preferences A first-preference is a voter's most-preferred candidate. In certain ranked systems such as first preference plurality, ranked-choice voting (RCV), and the single transferable vote, first preferences for a candidate are considered most important ...

. After leaving politics, Rocke eventually moved to

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 ...

, where he worked for Sanitarium Australia. He died in

Kurri Kurri Kurri Kurri is a small town in the Hunter Region of New South Wales, Australia, in the Cessnock LGA. At the , its population was 6,174. Kurri Kurri is the largest town in a group of towns and hamlets, including Stanford Merthyr, Pelaw Main, We ...

in June 1963, aged 88.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rocke, Samuel 1874 births 1963 deaths Independent members of the Parliament of Western Australia Members of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly People from Victoria (state) 20th-century Australian politicians