Sir Thomas Cockburn-Campbell, 4th Baronet (18 April 1845 – 27 September 1892) was an

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-born journalist and politician in

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. __NOTOC__

Early life

Cockburn-Campbell was born in

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, the second son of Sir Alexander Thomas Cockburn-Campbell, second Baronet, and his wife, Grace, daughter of Joseph Spence. He was educated in England and at

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and travelled in Europe. Cockburn-Campbell left England for

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, Australia in 1864 where he worked with

Augustus Gregory Sir Augustus Charles Gregory (1 August 1819 – 25 June 1905) was an English-born Australian explorer and surveyor. Between 1846 and 1858 he undertook four major expeditions. He was the first Surveyor-General of Queensland. He was appointed a ...

as a

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and later with other surveyors. In the late 1860s he went to

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and took up farming; his father was resident magistrate at

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. In 1871 he succeeded to the baronetcy on the death of his elder brother Alexander Cockburn-Campbell.

Political career

In 1873 Cockburn-Campbell was nominated a member of the old

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and became chairman of committees. He was for some time editor of the ''West Australian'' but retired in 1887 due to ill health and was succeeded by

John Winthrop Hackett Sir John Winthrop Hackett Sr. (4 February 184819 February 1916), generally known as "Winthrop Hackett", was a proprietor and editor of several newspapers in Western Australia, a politician and a university chancellor. Early life Hackett was ...

. In 1890 he was appointed one of the delegates sent to London to give information and assistance in connexion with the passing of the Western Australian constitution bill. He also gave evidence before the Colonization Committee of the

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. In December 1890 Campbell became a member of the new Legislative Council and was elected its first president. He died at

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, Western Australia within the

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chamber on 27 September 1892 due to a

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overdose. He had married in 1870 Lucy Anne, daughter of Arthur Trimmer, who survived him with two sons and four daughters. In 1882,

Ferdinand von Mueller Baron Sir Ferdinand Jacob Heinrich von Mueller, (; 30 June 1825 – 10 October 1896) was a German-Australian physician, geographer, and most notably, a botanist. He was appointed government botanist for the then colony of Victoria, Australia ...

named ''

Prostanthera campbellii ''Prostanthera campbellii'' is a species of flowering plant in the family Lamiaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is an erect shrub with linear leaves and white to cream-coloured flowers with purple striations. Descri ...

'' in his honour.

Music

Sir Thomas composed a waltz "The Fair Maid of Perth" (1890) dedicated to Miss Margaret Brockman (Mrs P.A.Hope), published in London.

Family

Cockburn-Campbell is the great-great-grandfather of

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Merome Beard Merome Beard is an Australian politician who represented the electoral district of North West Central in the Western Australian Legislative Assembly from 17 September 2022 to 8 March 2025. She was elected as a member of the National Party, but ...

References

* *O. K. Battye,
Cockburn-Campbell, Sir Thomas (1845 - 1892)
, ''

Australian Dictionary of Biography The ''Australian Dictionary of Biography'' (ADB or AuDB) is a national co-operative enterprise founded and maintained by the Australian National University (ANU) to produce authoritative biographical articles on eminent people in Australia's ...

'', Volume 3, MUP, 1969, pp 434–435 {{DEFAULTSORT:Cockburn-Campbell, Thomas 1845 births 1892 deaths Politicians from the Colony of Western Australia Members of the Western Australian Legislative Council Presidents of the Western Australian Legislative Council Burials at East Perth Cemeteries Australian newspaper editors 19th-century journalists English male journalists 19th-century English male writers The West Australian 19th-century Australian politicians 4 British emigrants to Australia