Sir Thomas Thomson Ewing KCMG (9 October 1856 – 15 September 1920) was an Australian politician. He began his career in the

New South Wales Legislative Assembly The New South Wales Legislative Assembly is the lower of the two houses of the Parliament of New South Wales, an Australian state. The upper house is the New South Wales Legislative Council. Both the Assembly and Council sit at Parliament House ...

(1885–1901) before winning election to the

Division of Richmond The Division of Richmond is an Electorates of the Australian House of Representatives, Australian electoral division in the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales. It is the northeasternmost division in New South Wales, c ...

at the inaugural 1901 federal election. He held ministerial office in the second Deakin government as Vice-President of the Executive Council (1905–1906),

Minister for Home Affairs An interior minister (sometimes called a minister of internal affairs or minister of home affairs) is a cabinet official position that is responsible for internal affairs, such as public security, civil registration and identification, emergency ...

(1906–1907), and Minister for Defence (1907–1908).

Early life

Ewing was born at

Pitt Town, New South Wales Pitt Town is a historic town and suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Pitt Town is 59 kilometres north-west of the Sydney central business district in the local government area of the City of Hawkesbury. It is bound ...

to clergyman Thomas Campbell Ewing and Elizabeth, née Thomson. Despite an intention to study for the Bar, he joined a surveyor's party at the age of 17, and became a licensed surveyor with the

New South Wales Department of Lands The New South Wales Land and Property Information (NSW LPI), a division of the Department of Finance, Services and Innovation (New South Wales), Department of Finance, Services and Innovation in the government of New South Wales, was the division ...

in 1877. He married Margaret Russell MacCabe on 1 October 1879 at

Wollongong Wollongong ( ; Dharawal: ''Woolyungah'') is a city located in the Illawarra region of New South Wales, Australia. The name is believed to originate from the Dharawal language, meaning either 'five islands/clouds', 'ground near water' or 'sound ...

, with whom he had three sons and two daughters, known as, Francis Peter Ewing born 1880, olive Margaret Ewing born in 1882, Thomas Campbell Ewing born in 1884, Helen M Ewing born in 1892, Colin Ewing born in 1894.

State politics

In 1885 Ewing left the Lands Department to stand, successfully, for the

, representing the seat of

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, a city in the United States * Richmond, London, a town in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, England * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town ...

. Although he was a "theoretical" supporter of

free trade Free trade is a trade policy that does not restrict imports or exports. In government, free trade is predominantly advocated by political parties that hold Economic liberalism, economically liberal positions, while economic nationalist politica ...

, he became a supporter of moderate

protectionism Protectionism, sometimes referred to as trade protectionism, is the economic policy of restricting imports from other countries through methods such as tariffs on imported goods, import quotas, and a variety of other government regulations ...

, and, while a supporter of

female suffrage Women's suffrage is the right of women to vote in elections. Several instances occurred in recent centuries where women were selectively given, then stripped of, the right to vote. In Sweden, conditional women's suffrage was in effect during ...

, was an opponent of non-European immigration. In 1894 he transferred to the seat of Lismore, and became known as an independently minded member. A popular member, he became involved in Sydney's

hydro-electricity Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies 15% of the world's electricity, almost 4,210 TWh in 2023, which is more than all other renewable sources combined and also mo ...

scheme,

fiscal policy In economics and political science, fiscal policy is the use of government revenue collection ( taxes or tax cuts) and expenditure to influence a country's economy. The use of government revenue expenditures to influence macroeconomic variab ...

and

Federation A federation (also called a federal state) is an entity characterized by a political union, union of partially federated state, self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a #Federal governments, federal government (federalism) ...

, where he was a supporter of

Sir Henry Parkes Sir Henry Parkes, (27 May 1815 – 27 April 1896) was a colonial Australian politician and the longest-serving non-consecutive premier of the Colony of New South Wales, the present-day state of New South Wales in the Commonwealth of Australi ...

, Sir George Dibbs and Sir Patrick Jennings.

Federal politics

Ewing moved to federal politics in 1901, entering the

Australian House of Representatives The House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameralism, bicameral Parliament of Australia, the upper house being the Australian Senate, Senate. Its composition and powers are set out in Chapter I of the Constitution of Australia. ...

as the

Protectionist Protectionism, sometimes referred to as trade protectionism, is the economic policy of restricting imports from other countries through methods such as tariffs on imported goods, import quotas, and a variety of other government regulations. ...

member for

. In the second administration of

Alfred Deakin Alfred Deakin (3 August 1856 – 7 October 1919) was an Australian politician who served as the second Prime Minister of Australia, prime minister of Australia from 1903 to 1904, 1905 to 1908, and 1909 to 1910. He held office as the leader of th ...

he was Vice-President of the Executive Council (1905–06),

(1906–07), and Minister for Defence (1907–08). A strong supporter of the White Australia Policy and of

compulsory military training Conscription, also known as the draft in the United States and Israel, is the practice in which the compulsory enlistment in a national service, mainly a military service, is enforced by law. Conscription dates back to antiquity and it conti ...

, Ewing organised a scheme for such compulsory training, which was the basis of the 1909 Defence Act. Ewing retired from politics in 1910 due to ill health, and began farming on the Tweed River. Ewing was an amiable and well-liked politician who had a gift for telling stories, of which he wrote many. He also wrote scholarly works and published ''Progress of Australasia During the Nineteenth Century'' with Sir Timothy Coghlan in 1903, and ''Review of the Rival Railway Schemes for the Connection of the Tableland of New England with a Deep Sea Port on the North Coast'' in 1913. Often scornful of the "titled mediocrities" of parliament, he was nonetheless knighted as a Knight Commander of the

Order of St Michael and St George The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is a British order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George, Prince of Wales (the future King George IV), while he was acting as prince regent for his father, King George III ...

in 1908; this was said to have been recommended by Alfred Deakin as a joke, and, according to colleague Richard Crouch, Ewing took it as such.

Later life

Ewing had little part in public life after his 1910 retirement. He died of heart and kidney disease in a

Darlinghurst Darlinghurst is an inner-city suburb in the eastern suburbs of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Darlinghurst is located immediately east of the Sydney central business district (CBD) and Hyde Park, within the local government area of the Ci ...

hospital on 15 September 1920. His younger brothers

John John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second E ...

and Norman also had distinguished political careers.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ewing, Thomas Thomson 1856 births 1920 deaths Australian Knights Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George Members of the Australian House of Representatives Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Richmond Members of the Cabinet of Australia Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly Protectionist Party members of the Parliament of Australia Commonwealth Liberal Party members of the Parliament of Australia Ministers for defence of Australia Colony of New South Wales people Australian MPs 1901–1903 Australian MPs 1903–1906 Australian MPs 1906–1910