Sydney Smith (Australian politician)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Sydney Smith | |
|---|---|
.jpg) | |
| Postmaster-General of Australia | |
| In office 17 August 1904 – 5 July 1905 | |
| Prime Minister | George Reid |
| Preceded by | Hugh Mahon |
| Succeeded by | Austin Chapman |
| Member of the Australian Parliament for Macquarie | |
| In office 29 March 1901 – 12 December 1906 | |
| Preceded by | New seat |
| Succeeded by | Ernest Carr |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 11 April 1856 Colyton, New South Wales, Australia |
| Died | 21 February 1934 (aged 77) Croydon, New South Wales, Australia |
| Party | Free Trade Party |
| Spouse(s) |
Sarah Hockey
(m. 1879; died 1907)Annie Shand (m. 1930) |
| Occupation | Public servant Businessman |
Sydney Smith (11 April 1856 – 21 February 1934) was an Australian politician. He began his parliamentary career in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly (1882–1898, 1900) and served as a government minister under Henry Parkes. He transferred to the new House of Representatives after Federation, representing the Division of Macquarie from 1901 to 1906. He served as Postmaster-General in the Reid government from 1904 to 1905.
Smith was born on 11 April 1856 in Colyton, New South Wales. He was the seventh child born to Jane (née Laimbeer) and Thomas Smith; his father was a publican and orchardist.[1]
Smith was educated in Sydney and joined the railways section of the colonial Department of Public Works in 1870. He was stationed at Penrith and initially worked as a porter, later training in telegraphy. He was appointed as a stationmaster in 1877 and was later promoted to chief clerk and assistant traffic manager.[1]
In 1880, Smith resigned from the public service and went into business as an auctioneer and land agent with his older brother Thomas Richard Smith, who had been elected to the New South Wales Legislative Assembly a few years earlier. He established his own firm, Sydney Smith & Co., in 1888 and also acquired interests in grazing properties.[1]
State politics
Smith was first elected to the New South Wales Legislative Assembly in 1882, representing East Macquarie until its abolition in 1894 and then ran for nearby Bathurst. Described as "tall, spare and bearded" but "not renowned for his oratory skills", the non-smoking teetotaller was made Secretary for Mines by Henry Parkes in 1889 and the inaugural Secretary for Agriculture in 1890, in which position he founded Hawkesbury Agricultural College. He also found the time to serve as Mayor of Leichhardt Municipal Council from 1888–89.[2]
Smith lost his seat by 103 votes at the 1898 New South Wales election when he ran on what many considered to be an anti-federalist stance and ran unsuccessfully against Edmund Barton for Hastings and Macleay in the by-election later that same year,[3] before returning to the New South Wales Legislative Assembly in a by-election for Canterbury on 9 June 1900.[4] However, his victory (by five votes) was declared void,[5] and Smith was defeated at the subsequently reheld by-election on 28 July 1900.[2][6]
