- George Randell
Infobox MLA | name =George Randell
nationality =English
predecessor =
successor =
birth_date =5 October 1830
birth_place =New Milton ,Hampshire ,England
death_date =2 June 1915
death_place =West Perth,Western Australia
constituency =Moore, Perth, Metropolitan Province
party =
spouse = Lucy James
profession =Steamboat service owner
religion = Congregational
footnotes =|George Randell (
5 October 1830 —2 June 1915 ) was an Australian politician. He was a member of theWestern Australian Legislative Council from 1873–1875 and 1880–1890, then when representative self-government was achieved in 1890, won the seat of Moore in the new Legislative Assembly. He was also Leader of the Opposition for ten months in 1894–95, and Mayor of Perth in 1874–75 and again in 1884.Biography
Randell was born in
New Milton ,Hampshire ,England , to James Randell, acordwainer and trader, and Jane Randell. He was educated in New Milton, learningblacksmith ing and engineering, and by 1850 was a blacksmith in the town. He married Jane Hyde on8 April 1850 , and 19 days later, they sailed toWestern Australia aboard the "Sophia", arriving on27 July 1850 . [cite web|url=http://members.iinet.net.au/~perthdps/shipping/sophia.htm|title=Passenger Ships Arriving in Western Australia - Sophia|author=Perth Dead Persons' Society|date=9 April 2001 |accessdate=2008-01-26] Initially working as a carpenter, engineer and produce merchant, Randell founded the Perth to Fremantlepaddle steamer service in 1860. From his arrival in Western Australia, he also became a mainstay of the Congregational church in Western Australia, holding every lay office over his more than sixty years of involvement.Australian Dictionary of Biography|last=Bolton |first= Geoffrey |authorlink= Geoffrey Bolton |year= 1976 |id= A060007b |title= Randell, George (1830-1915) |accessdate= 2008-01-26] On17 March 1868 , his wife Jane, with whom he had fathered six sons (one of whom had died in infancy in 1861), died ofconcussion . He married Mary Louise Smith at Trinity Church, Perth, on14 October 1869 . They had one son and two daughters before she too died on24 August 1874 . On26 January 1881 , Randell married Lucy James (nèe Francisco), the widow of Edward James who had died the previous year—Randell thus became thestepfather toWalter James , a future premier under responsible government in 1902–1904. In 1887, he resumed his old steamer business, but sold it in 1894 to the Swan River Shipping Company.Black and Bolton 2001]Entrance into politics
Randell became a significant political figure in Western Australia, serving in various capacities for almost 40 years. During this time he earned a reputation as a supporter of
economic liberalism ,separation of church and state andsecular education , among other causes. He was known for his attention to detail and his cautious and conciliatory nature, and served on many select committees andRoyal Commission s.His first involvement with politics was the Perth Municipal Council, where he became a councillor in 1870 and chairman for a term in 1874–75. He subsequently won a
by-election for theWestern Australian Legislative Council seat of Perth on25 January 1875 . In 1876, he campaigned successfully for the establishment of a state high school in Perth, but failed to prevent the construction of the Perth-Fremantle railway which created competition for his paddle steamer service. He sold the service, resigned his seat on the Legislative Council on1 May 1878 , and returned to England.He returned to Perth two years later, and on
5 July 1880 was appointed to a nominative seat on the Legislative Council by the Governor, and also became a member of the Central Board of Education. Despite leading the opposition to the introduction of responsible government in 1887, [cite book|title=The Western Australian Legislature, 1870-1930|last=Bolton|first=Geoffrey|authorlink=Geoffrey Bolton|coauthor=Mozley, Ann|year=1961|publisher=Australian National University |page=154] Randell resigned his seat on21 October 1890 to contest the seat of Moore in the newWestern Australian Legislative Assembly —which, in the event, he won without an opponent. [cite book|last=Black|first=David|coauthors=Prescott, Valerie|title=Election statistics, Legislative Assembly of Western Australia, 1890-1996|year=1997|publisher=Parliamentary History Project and Western Australian Electoral Commission|location=Perth|id=ISBN 0-7309-8409-5|page=200] He served as Chairman of Committees in the Legislative Assembly from20 January 1891 until4 July 1892 , when he resigned his seat. During this time, he also unsuccessfully contested the mayoralty in Perth. On17 July 1893 , he was once again appointed to a nominative Legislative Council seat, which he held until nominative seats were abolished ahead of the 1894 elections.The state aid issue and Opposition leadership
With the economy benefitting from the gold rush in the Coolgardie-Goldfields region, public attention turned to education. In 1892, the
John Forrest government had overseen the creation of a Department of Education under ministerial control, while maintaining state aid to private schools—a concession to the Catholic Church, who had set up schools to provide education to their own generally working-class children. Randell was not happy with the compromise, and set up a National Education League to oppose state aid, arguing that supporting both systems with government funds was an obstacle to the creation of an efficient education system in Western Australia. In this he was supported by other abolitionists such as his stepsonWalter James , by now a prominent lawyer, and former Fremantle mayorBarrington Wood , and opposed by Catholic MLAsThomas Molloy ,Timothy Quinlan andMarinus Canning . However, Randell and his supporters won at the June 1894 elections against all three, and the previously disorganised opposition to Premier Forrest rallied around him. He became Leader of the Opposition at the first parliamentary sitting on31 July 1894 .cite book |title = A New History of Western Australia |last=de Garis |first=Brian |editor = Stannage, C.T. |year= 1981 |publisher= University of Western Australia Press |location=Nedlands |isbn=0-85564-170-3 |chapter = Self-government and the evolution of party politics |pages= 342-343] cite book |title = The house on the hill: A history of the Parliament of Western Australia 1832-1990 |last=de Garis |first=Brian |editor = Black, David |year= 1991 |publisher= Parliament of Western Australia |location=West Perth |isbn=0-7309398-3-9 |chapter = Self-Government and Political Parties |pages= 72-73]The choice of Randell as opposition leader reflected the opposition's priorities as much as it did his own qualities—he was a conservative businessman thoroughly identified with the existing social and economic order, and welcomed by Forrest himself who believed Randell would "deal with all matters in a moderate way". [cite hansard|house=
Western Australian Legislative Assembly |date=31 July 1894 |page=72] In September, however, the Forrest government attempted to raise the grant to private schools.de Garis, in Black, p.75-76.] This failed when the Chairman of Committees,William Traylen , used his casting vote to break the tie and the status quo was maintained, but the secularists then moved their own motion in October calling for an end to the grant. Randell himself described state aid in the debate as "an indignity cast upon religion, and upon those who believe in religion, to have to come as paupers to this House for a grand of money for the upkeep of that with which the State has nothing whatever to do." The motion was carried, but nothing further was done until the following year. [Aveling, Marion (1981). "Western Australian Society - The Religious Aspect", in Stannage, C.T.: A New History of Western Australia. p.596-597.]At this time, considerable changes were going on within the opposition group. Members such as
George Leake andFrederick Illingworth had moved away fromHenry Lefroy 's view that the opposition should not "thwart the Government, but rather unitedly assist" towards one of ultimately overthrowing the Forrest government. At the start of the next session in July 1895, Leake moved amotion of no confidence in the government's education policy. Randell believed the Government had taken the hint and would gradually move in the right direction. Forrest and his attorney-general,Septimus Burt , gave an undertaking in the debate that state aid would be terminated, and Leake dropped the motion. However, Randell was unhappy with the tactics used, and resigned the leadership to Leake, and ultimately joined the Forrest party along with other erstwhile opponents.Later political life
Randell did not contest Perth at the 1897 elections, but on
28 May 1897 he won a Metropolitan Province seat in the Legislative Council at a by-election, which he was to hold for 13 years. From28 April 1898 until27 May 1901 , he served as Colonial Secretary and Minister for Education in the Forrest government. During this time he initiated the Claremont Teachers' College, the first in Western Australia, which opened in 1902 with Oxford graduate Cecil Andrews as principal. In 1901, the opposition to the Forrest government won office in the Legislative Assembly, and Randell's ministerial role ceased—however, he was appointed as chairman of the Perth Hospital Board, and later became a trustee under the 1904 Act which ultimately established theUniversity of Western Australia in 1911. During this time, he also served as the Western Australian chairman of the Australian Mutual Provident Society, director of the Western Australian Bank and president of the Perth Working Men's Association.On
27 May 1910 , aged nearly 80 and thrice widowed after the death of his wife Lucy in 1897, he retired from public life, but continued his involvement with the Congregational church. He died in Havelock Street, West Perth, on2 June 1915 , and was buried in the Congregational section ofKarrakatta Cemetery .References
Persondata
NAME=Randell, George
ALTERNATIVE NAMES=
SHORT DESCRIPTION=
DATE OF BIRTH=5 October 1830
PLACE OF BIRTH=New Milton ,Hampshire ,England
DATE OF DEATH=2 June 1915
PLACE OF DEATH=West Perth, Western Australia
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