Western Australia was a crown colony from its establishment in 1829 as the Swan River Colony until the advent of representative government in 1870. During this time executive and legislative power was vested in the Governor of Western Australia, but from 1832 he had Executive and Legislative Councils to assist and advise him. The Western Australian Legislative Council met for the first time on 7 February 1832. This is a list of members of the Western Australian Legislative Council between 1832 and 1870.
Official members, 1832–1870 The Western Australian Legislative Council was initially composed of five ex officio members; that is, members by virtue of their official government positions. These official positions were: the Governor, the Commandant, the Colonial Secretary, the Surveyor-General and the Advocate-General. The Collector of Revenue was added in 1847, and the Comptroller-General in June 1852.
This is a list of official members of the Western Australian Legislative Council between 1832 and 1870. Due to gaps in official records, some dates are approximate and the list may omit some members who were acting in official positions.
Period Official members Governor Commandant Colonial Secretary Surveyor General Advocate General Collector of Revenue Comptroller General7 February 1832 – 1834James StirlingFrederick IrwinPeter BrounJohn Septimus RoeWilliam MackieNot a member until 1847Not a member until 18521834–3 January 1839George Fletcher Moore3 January 1839 – 27 January 1846John Hutt27 January 1846–November 1846Andrew ClarkeNovember 1846–May 1847George Fletcher Moore (acting)Richard West Nash (acting)May–June 1847Dr Richard Robert Madden Richard Robert MaddenGeorge Fletcher MooreJune 1847–12 August 1848Henry Sutherland12 August 1848–January 1849Charles FitzgeraldJanuary 1849–March 1850Revett Henry Bland (acting)March–October 1850Thomas Yule (acting)October 1850–March 1851Charles PiesseMarch 1851 – 1852Thomas Yule (acting)1852Bartholemew Vigors (acting)Edmund HendersonJanuary 1852 – 1854William Sanford1854–1855G. M. ReevesRichard Birnie1855John BruceRichard Broun1855–July 1855Anthony O'Grady LefroyJuly–23 July 1855Frederick Barlee23 July 1855 – 1857Arthur Edward Kennedy1857–1859George Stone (acting)1859–28 February 1862George Stone28 February 1862 – 31 January 1863John Hampton31 January 1863–May 1866William NewlandMay 1866–1 November 1868George Hampton (acting)2 November 1868–30 September 1869 John Bruce (acting)Henry Wakeford30 September 1869 – 1870Frederick Weld
Unofficial nominee members, 1839–1867 In 1839 provision was made for the addition of four non-official nominee positions on the Legislative Council. The first four nominee members were sworn in on 4 March 1839. This is a list of non-official nominee members of the Legislative Council between 1839 and 1867.
Period Nominee members 4 March 1839 – 1840 William Locke Brockman George Leake Thomas Peel William Tanner 1840-May 1840 vacant May 1840-31 March 1841 Edward Barrett-Lennard 31 March–April 1841 vacant April–July 1841 Thomas Yule July 1841 – 1842 William Mackie (acting) 1842–June 1842 vacant June–July 1842 Thomas Yule July 1842 – 1843 William Mackie 1843–March 1844 vacant March 1844 – 1846 Francis Singleton 1846–1847 vacant 1847–June 1847 vacant June–September 1847 Walter Andrews September 1847 – 1848 vacant 1848–October 1848 Richard Nash October 1848–31 May 1849 Samuel Moore 31 May–July 1849 vacant July–December 1849 vacant December 1849 – 1850 Lionel Samson 1850–December 1850 Marshall Waller Clifton December 1850–May 1851 Thomas Brown (acting) May 1851–May 1852 Thomas Brown May 1852–March 1855 William Clifton March 1855–October 1856 John Wall Hardey October 1856–March 1857 vacant March–June 1857 Samuel Pole Phillips (acting) Edward Hamersley June 1857–April 1859 Samuel Pole Phillips April–October 1859 vacant October 1859 – 1867 Lionel Samson
Unofficial nominee members, 1868–1870 During the 1860s there was much public debate about the possibility of instituting representative government. This culminated in June 1865 with the submission of a petition to the Legislative Council asking for a larger and partially elected Legislative Council. As a compromise, the Legislative Council sought permission to add two more nominee members. This permission was received in September 1867, but the Governor then went further by allowing the colony to informally elect six persons whom he would then nominate to the Legislative Council. The colony was divided into six districts: Perth, Fremantle, Guildford, Eastern Districts, Murray and Champion Bay. The first five of these district elected representatives who were then nominated to the Legislative Council as promised. The Champion Bay district, which had led the push for representative government, refused to participate in what it saw as a sham election, so the Governor nominated to the final seat his ally John Wall Hardey, who had polled only four votes in the Guildford district election. This arrangement prevailed until July 1870, when the Legislative Council was reconstituted under a system of representative government.
Period Unofficially elected Nominated Perth Fremantle Guildford Eastern Districts Murray July 1868–May 1870 Julian Carr Walter Bateman William Locke Brockman Samuel Pole Phillips James Lee Steere John Wall Hardey May–August 1870 Edward Newman
References Except where otherwise indicated, all list data was obtained from The Western Australian Parliamentary Handbook