Sir Walter Beresford James Gordon Sparkes (22 April 1889 – 15 June 1974) was a

Member of the Queensland Legislative Assembly This is a list of members of the Legislative Assembly of Queensland, the state parliament of Queensland, sorted by parliament. See also * Queensland Legislative Assembly electoral districts This is a list of current and former Electoral dis ...

Early life

Sparkes was born at

Dubbo Dubbo (; ) is a city in the Orana (New South Wales), Orana Region of New South Wales, Australia. It is the largest population centre in the Orana region, with a population of 43,516 at June 2021. The city is located at the intersection of the ...

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 ...

in 1889 to James Sparkes and his wife Mary Ann (née Yates). He was educated at Croydon Park Public School and

St Joseph's College, Hunters Hill St Joseph's College (abbreviated as SJC and commonly called ''Joeys'') is an independent Catholic secondary day and boarding school for boys, conducted in the Marist Brothers tradition, located in Hunters Hill, a suburb on the Lower North Sh ...

before moving to

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 ...

in 1910. By 1912 he had purchased Lyndley Hereford Stud at

Jandowae Jandowae is a rural town and locality in the Western Downs Region, Queensland, Australia. In the , the locality of Jandowae had a population of 1,004 people. Geography The town is west of the Brisbane. the capital of the state of Queensland ...

, one of the oldest and best known Hereford studs in Australia. Sparkes expanded the stud from its original 3,000 acres to 16,000 acres by acquiring adjoining properties. Over the years he went on to acquire many properties across the southern part of the state.

Politics

Sparkes was elected as a councillor to the

Wambo Shire Council The Shire of Wambo was a local government area in the Darling Downs region of Queensland, Australia. The shire surrounded but did not include the town of Dalby – which had its own municipal government. It covered an area of , and existed as a ...

in 1916 and eventually became its chairman between 1922–31 and 1937–52. He entered the state parliament in 1932, winning Dalby for the

Country and Progressive National Party The Country and Progressive National Party was a short-lived conservative political party in the Australian state of Queensland. Formed in 1925, it combined the state's conservative forces in a single party and held office between 1929 and 1932 u ...

but did not seek re-election in 1935. Representing the Country Party in 1941, Sparkes won the seat of Aubigny, holding it for 19 years until his defeat in 1960 by

Queensland Labor Party The Queensland Labor Party, officially known as the Australian Labor Party (State of Queensland) and commonly referred to as Queensland Labor or simply Labor, is the branch of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) in the state of Queensland. It has ...

candidate,

Les Diplock Leslie Frank Louis "Les" Diplock CMG (16 September 1899 – 6 November 1983) was an Australian politician. Diplock was born in South Brisbane to house-painter Louis Diplock and Louisa May, ''née'' Lucas and attended state and private sch ...

. During this period he was the

Opposition whip A whip is an official of a political party whose task is to ensure party discipline (that members of the party vote according to the party platform rather than their constituents, individual conscience or donors) in a legislature. Whips a ...

from 1950 till 1957.

Personal life

Sparkes was married twice; first, Jessie Elizabeth Lang in 1912 and then Alice Goongarry Scott in 1920. He had six children with his two partners including Sir Robert Sparkes, president of the Queensland branch of the

National Party National Party or Nationalist Party may refer to: Active parties * National Party of Australia, commonly known as ''The Nationals'' * Bangladesh: ** Bangladesh Nationalist Party ** Jatiya Party (Ershad) a.k.a. ''National Party (Ershad)'' * Californ ...

from 1970 till 1990. He was knighted in 1970. Sparkes died at Toowoomba in 1974 and was

cremated Cremation is a method of Disposal of human corpses, final disposition of a corpse through Combustion, burning. Cremation may serve as a funeral or post-funeral rite and as an alternative to burial. In some countries, including India, Nepal, and ...

.Sparkes, Sir Walter Beresford James Gordon (1889–1974)
– ''

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 ...

''. Retrieved 23 February 2015. The Queensland Premier at the time,

Joh Bjelke-Petersen Sir Johannes Bjelke-Petersen (13 January 191123 April 2005) was an Australian politician and farmer who served as premier of Queensland between 1968 and 1987, for almost 20 years, as state leader of the National Party (earlier known as the C ...

told the members of parliament that "Sparkes spoke almost daily in this Chamber on behalf of the working man and the man on the land. He always fought their case, and fought it hard".

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sparkes, Jim Members of the Queensland Legislative Assembly 1889 births 1974 deaths People from Dubbo Australian Knights Bachelor 20th-century Australian politicians People educated at St Joseph's College, Hunters Hill