William James George CMG (26 January 1853 – 10 March 1931) was an Australian engineer and politician who served in 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 1895 to 1902 and from 1909 to 1930. He was a minister in the governments of Frank Wilson,

Henry Lefroy Sir Henry Bruce Lefroy (24 March 1854 – 19 March 1930) was the eleventh Premier of Western Australia. Biography Lefroy was born in Perth, Western Australia on 24 March 1854. His father was Anthony O'Grady Lefroy, Colonial Treasurer of Wes ...

Hal Colebatch Sir Harry Pateshall Colebatch (29 March 1872 – 12 February 1953) was a long-serving figure in Western Australian politics. He was a member of the Western Australian Legislative Council for nearly 20 years, the twelfth Premier of Western Aus ...

, and James Mitchell.

Early life

George was born in

West Bromwich West Bromwich ( ), commonly known as West Brom, is a market town in the borough of Sandwell, in the county of the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. Historic counties of England, Historically part of Staffordshire, it is northwes ...

Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation ''Staffs''.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It borders Cheshire to the north-west, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, ...

, England, to Eleanor (née Sheldon) and Henry Wellington George. He studied mechanical engineering at the

Birmingham and Midland Institute The Birmingham and Midland Institute (popularly known as the Midland Institute) (), is an institution concerned with the promotion of education and learning in Birmingham, England. It is now based on Margaret Street in Birmingham city centr ...

, and emigrated to Australia in 1884, initially settling in Victoria. George moved to Western Australia in 1891, where he initially managed a

timber plantation A tree plantation, forest plantation, plantation forest, timber plantation, or tree farm is a forest planted for high volume production of wood, usually by planting one type of tree as a monoculture forest. The term ''tree farm'' also is used to ...

at Jarrahdale. He later opened a

foundry A foundry is a factory that produces metal castings. Metals are cast into shapes by melting them into a liquid, pouring the metal into a mold, and removing the mold material after the metal has solidified as it cools. The most common metals pr ...

Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...

, and was involved in the construction of the Victoria Dam, as well as the extensions of the Northern Railway to Mullewa and the

South Western Railway South Western Railway Limited, trading as South Western Railway (SWR), is the British state-owned train operating company that took over the services of the South Western Railway (2017–2025), operator of the same name from FirstGroup and MTR ...

to Bunbury. In 1894, George was elected to the Perth City Council, serving as a councillor until 1898.William James George
– Biographical Register of Members of the Parliament of Western Australia. Retrieved 9 June 2016.

Politics and later life

George first stood for parliament at the 1894 general election, contesting the seat of Murray. He lost to William Paterson, but after Paterson's resignation the following year he won the resulting by-election. George was re-elected at the

1897 Events January * January 2 – The International Alpha Omicron Pi sorority is founded, in New York City. * January 4 – A British force is ambushed by Chief Ologbosere, son-in-law of the ruler. This leads to a punitive expedit ...

and 1901 elections, standing as an opponent of the governments of Sir

John Forrest Sir John Forrest (22 August 1847 – 2 SeptemberSome sources give the date as 3 September 1918 1918) was an Australian explorer and politician. He was the first premier of Western Australia (1890–1901) and a long-serving cabinet minister in ...

and George Throssell, respectively. He resigned from parliament in 1902, and was appointed commissioner of railways, serving in that position until 1907, when he was succeeded by John T. Short. At the 1908 general election, George attempted to re-enter parliament in his old seat, but was defeated by the sitting member, John McLarty. However, McLarty died the following year, and George won the by-election occasioned by his death, making him one of the few MPs in Western Australia to win multiple by-elections for the same seat. In 1916, George was appointed Minister for Works in the government of Frank Wilson. He remained Minister for Works when Henry Lefroy replaced Wilson as

premier Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier. A premier will normally be a head of govern ...

in 1917, and was also made Minister for Water Supply. George retained his portfolios during

's brief period as premier in 1919, and then under James Mitchell. In 1920, George was responsible for organising the tour of the Prince of Wales (later

Edward VIII Edward VIII (Edward Albert Christian George Andrew Patrick David; 23 June 1894 – 28 May 1972), later known as the Duke of Windsor, was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Empire, and Emperor of India, from 20 January ...

) to Western Australia, and the following year he was made a Companion of the Order of St George and St Michael (CMG). He remained a minister until the Nationalist Party was defeated at the 1924 state election, and eventually left parliament at the 1930 election. George died in Perth in March 1931, aged 78. He had married Mary Ann Nelson in 1891, with whom he had three sons and a daughter.

References

, - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:George, William 1853 births 1931 deaths Australian Companions of the Order of St Michael and St George Australian engineers Burials at Karrakatta Cemetery English emigrants to colonial Australia Members of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly People from West Bromwich Nationalist Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Western Australia

Early life

Politics and later life

See also

References