James Whyte (Australian politician)

Infobox Officeholder
honorific-prefix =
name = James Whyte
honorific-suffix =

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imagesize =
small

caption =
order = 6th
office = Premier of Tasmania
term_start = 20 January 1863
term_end = 24 November 1866
birth_date = Birth date|1820|3|30
birth_place = Greenlaw, Scotland, UK
death_date = Death date and age|1882|8|20|1820|3|30
death_place = Hobart, Tasmania
nationality = flagicon|UK British
party =
predecessor = Thomas Chapman
successor = Sir Richard Dry
constituency = Pembroke
spouse = Sarah Wilkinson (1852)
Elizabeth Gregson (1856-1865)
Elizabeth Coverdale (1868-1882)
relations =
children = John WIlkinson Whyte
residence =
alma_mater =
occupation =
profession =
religion = Presbyterian


website =
footnotes =

James Whyte (30 March 1820 – 20 August 1882) was a Scottish-born Australian politician who served as the seventh Premier of Tasmania, from 20 January 1863 to 24 November 1866.

Early life

James Whyte was born near Greenlaw, Berwickshire, in the Scottish Borders, the son of George Whyte (died 1836), a captain in the yeomanry, and his wife Jessie (née Walker). The family emigrated to Van Dieman's Land (now Tasmania) in 1832, and as a young man Whyte was a pioneer sheep-farmer in Victoria with his brothers, gaining some wealth from a gold strike at a property at Clunes, Victoria, in which he was a partner, and returning to Tasmania in 1852.

Political career

Having failed to win a seat in 1854, Whyte was elected to the Legislative Council for Pembroke in 1856. After serving briefly as a minister under the premiership of Thomas Gregson and serving as chairman of several council committees, he became premier and colonial secretary on 20 January 1863cite web |url=http://gutenberg.net.au/dictbiog/0-dict-biogWe-Wy.html#whyte1 |title=Whyte, James |accessdate=2007-09-14 |author=Percival Serle |work=Dictionary of Australian Biography |publisher=Angus & Robertson |year=1949] . His government engaged in road and rail development, in public service reform, and in fiscal reform including an unpopular proposal for a property and income tax which was to cause its downfall in November 1866. In 1869-70 he was involved in framing laws to prevent the spread of scab in sheep, and was chief inspector of sheep from 1870 until 1882. He continued as an active member of committees until 1875, retiring from parliament in 1876.

Other works

Whyte was an active and philanthropic Presbyterian Christian, a fellow of the Royal Society of Tasmania, and an original proprietor of the "Tasmanian Daily News" (incorporated with the "Hobart Town Daily Mercury" in 1858). He was married three times:
* (1) in January 1852 to Sarah Wilkinson (died in childbirth, November 1852);
* (2) in May 1857 to Elizabeth Gregson, elder daughter of Thomas Gregson (died 1865);
* (3) in June 1868 to Elizabeth Coverdale, daughter of Dr John Coverdale, superintendent of an orphanage at New Town.

Whyte died in Hobart in 1882, leaving one son, John Wilkinson Whyte.

References

* [http://www.parliament.tas.gov.au/history/tasparl/whyte39.htm Parliamentary Library profile]
*Neil Smith, ' [http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A060427b.htm Whyte, James (1820 - 1882)] ', "Australian Dictionary of Biography", Volume 6, MUP, 1976, pp 395-396.