Thomas Waddell (1 January 1854 – 25 October 1940), an

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 ...

n politician, was a member of 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 ...

from 1887 to 1917, was briefly the

premier of New South Wales The premier of New South Wales is the head of government in the state of New South Wales, Australia. The Government of New South Wales follows the Westminster system, Westminster Parliamentary System, with a Parliament of New South Wales actin ...

during 1904, and was a member of the

New South Wales Legislative Council The New South Wales Legislative Council, often referred to as the upper house, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of New South Wales, parliament of the Australian state of New South Wales. Along with the New South Wales Legislative As ...

from 1917 to 1934. His 75 days in office marks the shortest tenure of any New South Wales premier.

Early life

He was born in

County Monaghan County Monaghan ( ; ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Ulster and is part of Border Region, Border strategic planning area of the Northern and Western Region. It is named after the town ...

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

, son of John and Ann Waddell and was brought to Australia when a few months old. He grew up near Lake George,

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 ...

, northeast of

Canberra Canberra ( ; ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the Federation of Australia, federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's list of cities in Australia, largest in ...

and was educated at Collector public school and at George Metcalfe's High School, Goulburn. At 15 he started work as a shop assistant and then became clerk of petty sessions at Collector Court. He began selling cattle and horses in 1876 and spent some time at

Cooper Creek The Cooper Creek (formerly Cooper's Creek) is a river in the Australian states of Queensland and South Australia. It was the site of the death of the explorers Burke and Wills in 1861. It is sometimes known as the Barcoo River from one of its ...

in western

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

. Together with his brother George, he bought three

stations Station may refer to: Agriculture * Station (Australian agriculture), a large Australian landholding used for livestock production * Station (New Zealand agriculture), a large New Zealand farm used for grazing by sheep and cattle ** Cattle stat ...

in far western

and managed them for five years before selling them in the boom of the 1880s.

Parliamentary career

In February 1887 he was elected as member for Bourke in the Legislative Assembly and in May 1887 he married Elizabeth, daughter of John James of

Orange Orange most often refers to: *Orange (fruit), the fruit of the tree species '' Citrus'' × ''sinensis'' ** Orange blossom, its fragrant flower ** Orange juice *Orange (colour), the color of an orange fruit, occurs between red and yellow in the vi ...

. In the July 1891 election he lost his seat to James Peter Howe, but won it back again at a by-election following Howe's resignation in October 1891. He was elected as member for

Cobar Cobar is a town in Outback New South Wales, Australia, whose economy is based mainly upon base metals and gold mining. The town is by road northwest of the state capital, Sydney. It is at the crossroads of the Kidman Way and Barrier Highwa ...

in July 1894 and

Cowra Cowra () is a town in the Central West, New South Wales, Central West region of New South Wales, Australia. It is the largest population centre and the council seat for the Cowra Shire, with a population of 8,254. Cowra is located approximate ...

in July 1898. In April 1901 he became colonial treasurer in the See government and handled the portfolio well in difficult times. When See resigned in June 1904, he recommended to Governor Sir

Harry Rawson Admiral Sir Harry Holdsworth Rawson, (5 November 1843 – 3 November 1910) was a British naval officer in the Royal Navy. He is chiefly remembered for overseeing the Benin Expedition of 1897, a British punitive expedition against the Kingdom of ...

that he appoint

Paddy Crick William Patrick Crick (10 February 1862 – 23 August 1908) was an Australian politician, solicitor and newspaper proprietor. He was described by author Cyril Pearl as an irresistible demagogue, who "looked like a prize fighter, dressed like a ...

, but Rawson did not favour Crick because of his excessive drinking in Executive Council meetings and in due course asked Waddell to be premier. Two months later Waddell's government faced a general election, and he won re-election to the renamed seat of Belubula, but his Progressive Party lost badly to

Joseph Carruthers Sir Joseph Hector McNeil Carruthers (21 December 185710 December 1932) was an Australian people, Australian politician who served as Premier of New South Wales from 1904 to 1907. Carruthers is perhaps best remembered for founding the Liberal ...

' Liberal Reform Party and he ceased to be premier, colonial treasurer and justice minister on 29 August. The Labor Party became the official opposition. He attempted to hold the Progressive Party together, but in May 1907 he accepted an offer to become Colonial Secretary in Carruthers Government. The Progressive Party disintegrated after the September 1907 election. When

Charles Wade Sir Charles Gregory Wade KCMG, KC, JP (26 January 1863 – 26 September 1922) was Premier of New South Wales – 21 October 1910. According to Percival Serle, "Wade was a public-spirited man of high character. His ability, honesty and cour ...

became premier in October 1907, Waddell became colonial treasurer until the Government's defeat by

James McGowen James Sinclair Taylor McGowen (16 August 1855 – 7 April 1922) was an Australian politician. He served as premier of New South Wales from 1910 to 1913, the first member of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) to hold the position, and was a key f ...

's Labor Party in the 1910 election. As treasurer, he reduced income tax and repealed stamp duty. He remained member for Belubula until 1917 and served in the

Legislative Council A legislative council is the legislature, or one of the legislative chambers, of a nation, colony, or subnational division such as a province or state. It was commonly used to label unicameral or upper house legislative bodies in the Brit ...

from 1917 to 1934, when elections to the council were introduced. Waddell died in Ashfield on 25 October 1940. He was survived by his wife and three sons and four daughters. Two of his nephews were also members of parliament, John Waddell was the member for Waverley in the Legislative Assembly from 1932 until 1939, and Sir Graham Waddell was a member of the Legislative Council from 1937 until 1949.

In Media

Thomas Waddell is the target of

Banjo Paterson Andrew Barton "Banjo" Paterson, (17 February 18645 February 1941) was an Australian bush poet, journalist and author, widely considered one of the greatest writers of Australia's colonial period. Born in rural New South Wales, Paterson worke ...

's poem The Premier and the Socialist. https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Premier_and_the_Socialist

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Waddell, Thomas Premiers of New South Wales 1854 births 1940 deaths Colony of New South Wales people Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly Members of the New South Wales Legislative Council Treasurers of New South Wales Ministers for justice (New South Wales)