John Willcock

Last updated

Sicily Ann Stone
​
(m. 1907)​
John Willcock
John Willcock 1928 (cropped).jpg
Willcock in 1928
15th Premier of Western Australia
In office
20 August 1936 –31 July 1945
ProfessionTrain driver

John Collings Willcock (9 August 1879 – 7 June 1956) was an Australian politician. He was the premier of Western Australia from 1936 to 1945, holding office as state leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP). He was a member of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly from 1917 to 1947, representing the seat of Geraldton. Prior to entering politics he was a railways worker and train driver.

Contents

Early life

Willcock was born on 9 August 1879 in Frogmore, New South Wales. He was the sixth child born to Ellen (née Webb) and Joseph Willcock. His parents were both born in England and his father worked as a miner after moving to Australia. [1]

Willcock attended Sydney Boys High School. [2] After leaving school he worked in a bakery for a period then moved to Western Australia in 1897 where he worked on the expansion of Fremantle Harbour for two years. He later joined Western Australian Government Railways, working his way from engine-cleaner to fireman to engine-driver. He had moved to Geraldton by 1902. [1] [3]

Political career

Willcock became an active and enthusiastic member of the Labor Party (ALP), holding various offices in the Geraldton branch of the Engine Drivers', Firemen's and Cleaners' Union, and representing them at Federal conferences. From 1914 to 1917 he was President of the Geraldton District Council of the ALP, and he was a Justice of the Peace from 1915. On 14 April 1917 he contested the Western Australian Legislative Assembly seat of Geraldton in a by-election occasioned by the resignation of Edward Heitmann, but was defeated by Samuel Elliott. Five months later he won the seat in the general election of 29 September 1917. He was soon made a member of the executive of the Australian Workers' Union, and became secretary of the Parliamentary Labor Party.

On 16 April 1924, Willcock was appointed Minister for Railways and Justice and Minister for Police in the Collier ministry. He held the Police portfolio until 25 June 1928, and the Railways and Justice portfolio until the defeat of the Collier government on 23 April 1930. From 1927 to 1930 he was deputy leader of the Parliamentary Labor Party.

Premier of Western Australia

Willcock c. 1940 John Collings Willcock.jpg
Willcock c. 1940

When the Labor party returned to power under Collier on 24 April 1933, Willcock resumed as Minister for Railways and Justice, and was also given the Education portfolio. He relinquished the Education portfolio on 26 March 1935, when he was reappointed deputy leader. On 19 August the following year, Collier stepped down as premier and leader of the Labor Party, and the following day Willcock was appointed his successor. Relinquishing the Railways and Justice portfolio, he took the offices of Premier, Treasurer and Minister for Forests. He dropped the Forests portfolio on 9 December 1943, but held the other offices for nearly nine years, resigning for reasons of ill health on 31 July 1945. During his time as Premier of Western Australia, Willcock represented Western Australia at the coronation of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth in May 1937. He was known for his "disarming modesty".

Retirement

After resigning as premier, Willcock retired to the backbenches until the general election of 15 March 1947, at which he did not re-contest his seat. He died on 7 June 1956 at St John of God Hospital, Subiaco, Western Australia, and was buried in Karrakatta Cemetery.

John Willcock College (opened as John Willcock Senior High School), established in Geraldton in 1975, was named after Willcock until it was renamed Champion Bay Senior High School. [4]

Personal life

In 1907, Willcock married Sicily Ann Stone, with whom he had six children. He was raised as a Methodist but converted to Catholicism in 1947. [1]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Premier of Western Australia</span> Head of the executive branch of the state government of Western Australia

The premier of Western Australia is the head of government of the state of Western Australia. The role of premier at a state level is similar to the role of the prime minister of Australia at a federal level. The premier leads the executive branch of the Government of Western Australia and is accountable to the Parliament of Western Australia. The premier is appointed by the governor of Western Australia. By convention, the governor appoints as premier whoever has the support of the majority of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly, the lower house of the Parliament of Western Australia. In practice, this means that the premier is the leader of the political party or group of parties with a majority of seats in the Legislative Assembly. Since Western Australia achieved self-governance in 1890, there have been 31 premiers. Roger Cook is the current premier, having been appointed to the position on 8 June 2023.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ben Chifley</span> Prime Minister of Australia from 1945 to 1949

Joseph Benedict Chifley was an Australian politician and train driver who served as the 16th prime minister of Australia from 1945 to 1949. He held office as the leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP), having previously served as the treasurer of Australia under Prime Minister John Curtin and later himself from 1941 to 1949. He was notable for defining Australia's post-war reconstruction efforts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William McKell</span> Australian politician (1891–1985)

Sir William John McKell, was an Australian politician who served as the 12th Governor-General of Australia, in office from 1947 to 1953. He had previously been Premier of New South Wales from 1941 to 1947, as leader of the Labor Party.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">James Mitchell (Australian politician)</span> Western Australian politician and Governor

Sir James Mitchell, was an Australian politician. He served as premier of Western Australia from 1919 to 1924 and from 1930 to 1933, as leader of the Nationalist Party. He then held viceregal office from 1933 to 1951, as acting governor from 1933 to 1948 and governor of Western Australia from 1948 until his death in 1951.

The National Labor Party was formed by Australian Prime Minister Billy Hughes in 1916, following the 1916 Labor split on the issue of World War I conscription in Australia. Hughes had taken over as leader of the Australian Labor Party and Prime Minister of Australia when anti-conscriptionist Andrew Fisher resigned in 1915. He formed the new party for himself and his followers after he was expelled from the ALP a month after the 1916 plebiscite on conscription in Australia. Hughes held a pro-conscription stance in relation to World War I.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Scaddan</span> Australian politician

John Scaddan, CMG, popularly known as "Happy Jack", was Premier of Western Australia from 7 October 1911 until 27 July 1916.

The Electoral district of Brown Hill-Ivanhoe was a Legislative Assembly electorate in the state of Western Australia. It covered part of the Goldfields city of Boulder, near Kalgoorlie, and neighbouring mining areas. It was created at the 1911 redistribution out of the former seats of Brown Hill and Ivanhoe, and was first contested at the 1911 election. It was abolished in the 1948 redistribution, with its area split between the neighbouring electorates of Boulder and Hannans, taking effect from the 1950 election. The seat was a very safe one for the Labor Party.

James Andrew McGinty is an Australian former politician. He was a Labor member of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly from 1990 to 2009, representing the district of Fremantle. He was Labor Party leader and Leader of the Opposition from 1994 to 1996. He served as a minister, most notably as Attorney-General, in the governments of Carmen Lawrence, Geoff Gallop and Alan Carpenter.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Electoral district of Geraldton</span> State electoral district of Western Australia

Geraldton is an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of Western Australia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bert Hawke</span> Australian politician

Albert Redvers George Hawke was an Australian politician who was the premier of Western Australia from 23 February 1953 to 2 April 1959. He represented the Labor Party.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Philip Collier</span> Western Australian politician (1873–1948)

Philip Collier was an Australian politician who served as the 14th Premier of Western Australia from 1924 to 1930 and from 1933 to 1936. He was leader of the Labor Party from 1917 to 1936, and is Western Australia's longest-serving premier from that party.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Patrick Lynch (Australian politician)</span> Australian politician

Patrick Joseph Lynch was an Australian politician who served as a Senator for Western Australia from 1907 to 1938. He was President of the Senate from 1932 to 1938. He began his career in the Australian Labor Party (ALP), but after the party split of 1916 joined the Nationalist Party and later the United Australia Party (UAP).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1943 Western Australian state election</span>

Elections were held in the state of Western Australia on 20 November 1943 to elect all 50 members to the Legislative Assembly. The Labor Party, led by Premier John Willcock, won a fourth term in office against the Country and Nationalist parties, led by Opposition Leader Arthur Watts and Robert Ross McDonald respectively.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Second Collier ministry</span>

The Second Collier Ministry was the 18th Ministry of the Government of Western Australia and was led by Labor Premier Philip Collier. It succeeded the Second Mitchell Ministry on 24 April 1933, following the defeat of the Nationalist government at the 1933 election on 8 April.

James Joseph Kenneally was an Australian politician, railwayman and unionist from Sydney. He served as federal president of the Labor Party in the 1930s.

Ian Frederick Taylor is a former Australian politician and Western Australian Deputy Premier and Opposition Leader.

Harold Millington was an Australian politician. He was a Labor Party member of the Parliament of Western Australia; as a member of the Legislative Council for North-East Province for six years from 1914, and as a member of the Legislative Assembly from 1924 to 1947, representing the electorates of Leederville (1924–1930) and Mount Hawthorn (1930–1947). He was a long-serving state minister in the governments of Philip Collier and John Willcock, and was Deputy Premier under Willcock.

Selby Walter Munsie was an Australian politician who was a Labor Party member of the Legislative Assembly of Western Australia from 1911 until his death, representing the seat of Hannans. He served as a minister in the governments of Philip Collier and John Willcock.

Emil Nulsen was an Australian politician who was a Labor Party member of the Legislative Assembly of Western Australia from 1932 to 1962. He served as a minister in the governments of John Willcock, Frank Wise, and Albert Hawke.

Frederick Charles Lee Smith was an Australian trade unionist, journalist, and politician who was a Labor Party member of the Legislative Assembly of Western Australia from 1932 to 1950, representing the seat of Brown Hill-Ivanhoe. He served as a minister in the government of John Willcock.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Doohan, Noelene (1990). "John Collings Willcock (1879–1956)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Vol. 12. Melbourne University Press.
  2. ↑ "Members of parliament and legislatures" (PDF). Sydney High School Old Boys Union. Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 March 2019. Retrieved 3 September 2019.
  3. ↑ Reid, Gordon; Oliver, Margaret Ruth (1982). The Premiers of Western Australia 1890–1982. Nedlands, Western Australia: University of Western Australia Press. ISBN   0-85564-214-9.
  4. ↑ "John Willcock College". 2011. Archived from the original on 25 April 2012. Retrieved 29 October 2011.
Preceded by Premier of Western Australia
20 August 1936 – 31 July 1945		Succeeded by
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.