Randolph Bedford
Australian politician
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Randolph Bedford (born George Randolph Bedford 27 June 1868 – 7 July 1941) was an Australian poet, novelist, short story writer and Queensland state politician.[1]
Randolph Bedford | |
|---|---|
| |
| Member of the Queensland Legislative Council | |
| In office 12 October 1917 – 21 February 1918 | |
| In office 27 May 1918 – 23 March 1922 | |
| Member of the Queensland Legislative Assembly for Warrego | |
| In office 13 October 1923 – 8 September 1937 | |
| Preceded by | Harry Coyne |
| Succeeded by | Himself |
| In office 4 December 1937 – 7 July 1941 | |
| Preceded by | Himself |
| Succeeded by | Harry O'Shea |
| Personal details | |
| Born | George Randolph Bedford 27 June 1868 Camperdown, New South Wales, Australia |
| Died | 7 July 1941 (aged 73) Brisbane, Queensland, Australia |
| Party | Labor |
| Spouse(s) | Mary Henrietta Arrowsmith (m. 1889; separated 1912), Ada Billings (partner 1915–41) |
| Occupation | Autobiographer, hospital owner, journalist and politician |
Early life
Bedford was born in Camperdown, Sydney, the son of Alfred Bedford, who migrated from Yorkshire, England in 1859 and obtained work as a house painter.
He was educated at the Newtown state school. At the age of 14, he worked with a Sydney solicitors firm as an office-boy.[1] At 16 years of age he worked in the western district of New South Wales, shooting rabbits. He carried copies of Carlyle's French Revolution, Shakespeare and the Bible. He worked for a year as a clerk in Hay and joined up with a repertory company run by Edmund Duggan, in Wagga Wagga.[1]
Literary career
A comprehensive bibliography of Bedford's work was published in 1982.[2]
With Australian authors Henry Lawson and Victor Daley et al., he was a member of the elite Dawn and Dusk Club.
Political career
In 1917, Bedford entered the Queensland Legislative Council, on a platform to secure its abolition (which occurred in 1922).[3] In 1923, he was elected as Labor candidate to the Queensland Legislative Assembly for Warrego. In 1937, he unsuccessfully ran to represent the Division of Maranoa in the Australian House of Representatives.[3]
He was an ardent Protectionist, and decried the way the wealth of Australia was exported to pay for shoddy goods which could have been produced locally.[4]
Bedford died on 7 July 1941 and was cremated at Mount Thompson crematorium.[5]
Bibliography
Plays
- White Australia (1909)[6]
- Lady of the Pluck-Up (1911)
- The Boss Cockie (1920)
Novels
- True Eyes and the Whirlwind (1903)
- The Snare of Strength (1905)
- Sops of Wine (1909)
- Billy Pagan Mining Engineer (1911)
- The Mates of Torres (1911)
- The Lady of the Pickup (1911)
- The Silver Star (1917)
- Aladdin and the Boss Cockie (1919)
Short Story A Samaritan of the Riverine, in [Adventure Magazine, vol 1 No 4, 1911)
Non-fiction
- Explorations in Civilization (1914)
Autobiography
- Naught to Thirty-Three (1944)