Electoral district of Bowen

Bowen Queensland—Legislative Assembly
State	Queensland
Dates current	1873–1950, 1960–1971, 1986–1992
Namesake	Bowen, Queensland

Bowen was an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of Queensland from 1873 to 1950 and at various times until 1992. ^[1]

History

The electoral district of Bowen was established by the 1872 Electoral Districts Act. ^[1]

During the First McIlwraith Ministry, the seat of Bowen was occupied by three Attorneys-General: Henry Beor, Pope Alexander Cooper and Charles E. Chubb. Upon Beor's death, Cooper, who was not at that time in Parliament, was appointed Attorney-General and contested and won the resulting by-election. When he resigned, Chubb entered parliament in the same manner.

Bowen is the only state or federal electorate in Australia to elect a Communist member, Fred Paterson, who served as member for Bowen from the 1944 election until the 1950 election.

In a 1949 redistribution, Bowen was abolished, being split between the new electoral districts of Burdekin and Whitsunday. ^[1] It has been suggested that the redistribution was done deliberately to split Paterson's electoral support and prevent him from being returned to parliament in the 1950 election. ^[2] Paterson contested Whitsunday but was unsuccessful. ^[3]

From 1963 until 1971, member Peter Delamothe also served as Attorney-General.

Today, the electoral districts of Whitsunday and Burdekin comprise parts of the former Electoral district of Bowen.

Members

First incarnation (1873–1950)
Member		Party	Term
	Thomas Henry FitzGerald		1873–1875
	Francis Amhurst		1875–1877
	Henry Beor	Conservative	1877–1880
	Pope Alexander Cooper	Conservative	1881–1883
	Charles E. Chubb	Conservative	1883–1888
	Robert Smith	Conservative	1888–1890
		Ministerial	1890–1902
	Francis Kenna	Labor	1902–1907
		Kidstonites	1907–1908
		Independent Opposition	1908–1909
	Myles Ferricks	Labor	1909–1912
	Edwin Caine	Liberal	1912–1915
	Charles Collins	Labor	1915–1936
	Ernest Riordan	Labor	1936–1944
	Fred Paterson	Communist	1944–1950
Second incarnation (1960–1971)
	Peter Delamothe	Liberal	1960–1971
Third incarnation (1986–1992)
	Ken Smyth	Labor	1986–1992

Election results

Main article: Electoral results for the district of Bowen

See also

• Electoral districts of Queensland
• Members of the Queensland Legislative Assembly by year
• Category:Members of the Queensland Legislative Assembly by name

References

1. "Representatives of Queensland State Electorates 1860–2017" (PDF). Queensland Parliamentary Record 2012–2017: The 55th Parliament. Queensland Parliament. Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 April 2020. Retrieved 27 April 2020.
2. "The St Patrick's Day bashing of people's champion". Ross Fitzgerald. Archived from the original on 22 February 2014. Retrieved 14 February 2014.
3. "NOMINATIONS RECEIVED FROM 174 CANDIDATES FOR 75 SEATS". Cairns Post (Qld. : 1909 - 1954) . Qld.: National Library of Australia. 4 April 1950. p. 5. Archived from the original on 6 June 2022. Retrieved 14 February 2014.