Alexander Poynton

Alexander Poynton, OBE, (8 August 1853 - 9 January 1935), was an inaugural member of the Australian House of Representatives.

Born in Castlemaine, Victoria to Alexander, who took part in the Eureka Stockade rebellion, and Rosanna Poynton, Poynton left school at 14 to work as a shearer, station-hand and miner, and marry Harriet Brown on 15 July 1880 in Ballarat before moving to South Australia in 1887 and settling in Port Augusta, where he founded the South Australian Shearers Union in 1888.

With his support in the labour movement, Poynton unsuccessfully stood for the South Australian House of Assembly Electoral district of Newcastle before his election to the South Australian House of Assembly Electoral district of Flinders in 1893. in parliament Poynton served as Commissioner for Crown Lands in the Vaiben Solomon ministry in 1899.

In 1901 Poynton successfully stood for the Australian House of Representatives in the inaugural federal election as a Free Trade Party member for South Australia (which was not divided into electorates at the 1901 ballot). In 1903 he was elected as the Labor Party member for Grey, an electorate he represented until 1922.

During his time in parliament Poynton served variously as a member of the royal commission on stripper harvesters, chairman of committees, Treasurer, Minister for Home and Territories and Postmaster-General. Among his political achievements was the establishment of a railway between Port Augusta and Western Australia, for which he lobbied nearly 18 years.

During World War I Poynton was a strong supporter of conscription and, following fiery internal party debates on the issue, Poynton left the ALP in November 1916 in support of Labor leader and Prime Minister Billy Hughes to help found first the National Labor Party and later the Nationalist Party. Appointed OBE in 1920 for his work on repatriation issues, Poynton was defeated at the 1922 election.

He died in Toorak Gardens and was buried in North Road cemetery. His wife, a son and four daughters survived him.

References

* ___ [http://www.itsanhonour.gov.au/honours/honour_roll/search.cfm?aus_award_id=1108985&search_type=quick&showInd=true Details of Poynton's OBE]
* van den Hoorn, R. (1988) ' [http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A110280b.htm Poynton, Alexander (1853 - 1935)] ', "Australian Dictionary of Biography", Volume 11, Melbourne University Press, Carlton.

Persondata
NAME = Poynton, Alexander
ALTERNATIVE NAMES =
SHORT DESCRIPTION = Australian politician
DATE OF BIRTH = 8 August 1853
PLACE OF BIRTH = Castlemaine, Victoria
DATE OF DEATH = 9 January 1935
PLACE OF DEATH = Toorak Gardens, South Australia