William John Vowles (22 April 1876 – 21 August 1943) was a

solicitor A solicitor is a lawyer who traditionally deals with most of the legal matters in some jurisdictions. A person must have legally defined qualifications, which vary from one jurisdiction to another, to be described as a solicitor and enabled to p ...

and member of the

Queensland Legislative Assembly The Legislative Assembly of Queensland is the sole chamber of the unicameral Parliament of Queensland established under the Constitution of Queensland. Elections are held every four years and are done by full preferential voting. The Assembly h ...

Biography

Vowles was born at Enoggera,

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 ...

, to parents George Vowles and his wife Georgina Maria Cecilia (née Kean) and studied at Ipswich Grammar and

Brisbane Grammar School Brisbane Grammar School (BGS) is an Independent school, independent, fee charging, non-denominational, day school, day and boarding school for boys, located in Spring Hill, Queensland, Spring Hill, an inner suburb of Brisbane, Queensland, Austra ...

s. His father, a State School teacher, was the first white child born in

Ipswich Ipswich () is a port town and Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in Suffolk, England. It is the county town, and largest in Suffolk, followed by Lowestoft and Bury St Edmunds, and the third-largest population centre in East Anglia, ...

. He started his legal career as an

articled clerk Articled clerk is a title used in Commonwealth countries for one who is studying to be an accountant or a lawyer. In doing so, they are put under the supervision of someone already in the profession, now usually for two years, but previously three ...

with J.B. McGregor in

Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

and, after being admitted to the bar, he moved to Dalby in 1899, where he set up his own practice. Once he arrived in Dalby he realized he was the only solicitor in the town but soon after his arrival two other solicitors commenced practice there as well. Over time, though, these solicitors left the town and, once again, Vowles was by himself until 1906. He was interested in the public affairs of Dalby and was a member of several clubs and was also on the hospitals' board for forty years. On December 1, 1903 he married Grace Lyndley Black (died 1953) and together had three sons and three daughters. He had been in failing health for the last two years of his life and in 1943, he suffered a severe heart attack the night before he died. He did not attend his office the next day and was resting in bed when he suffered another heart attack, this time fatal. He was buried in the Dalby Monumental Cemetery.

Political career

Vowles first started in politics as an alderman on the Dalby Town Council in 1900, becoming the mayor in 1907 until 1909. He resigned from the council when he became opposition leader in the state parliament, but he resumed as an alderman after he lost his seat after in 1926. Vowles' first attempt at entering the Queensland Parliament came at the 1908 state election when Vowles, representing the Ministerialist Party, stood against

Joshua Thomas Bell Joshua Thomas Bell (13 March 1863 – 10 March 1911) was an Australian barrister and politician. Bell was the son of Sir Joshua Peter Bell, and his wife Margaret Miller, née Dorsey and was born in Ipswich, Queensland. Bell was educated at Br ...

for the seat of Dalby. He was well beaten, but in 1911 Bell died and this time Vowles won the resulting by-election. Vowles held the seat of Dalby for the next fifteen years. In that time he was opposition leader from January 1920 until July 1923. At the 1926 state election, he lost his seat to Wilfred Russell, the Primary Producers Candidate. On 28 June 1920, following a meeting of the fourteen members of Parliament representing the country constituencies of Queensland, Vowles announced that a majority had voted to form a Country Party in the State House. It was later revealed that Vowles was in the minority that voted against the measure.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vowles, William John Members of the Queensland Legislative Assembly 1876 births 1943 deaths People from Dalby, Queensland People educated at Ipswich Grammar School People educated at Brisbane Grammar School