Thomas Ewing (Australian politician)
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Sir Thomas Thomson Ewing KCMG (9 October 1856 – 15 September 1920) was an Australian politician, born at Pitt Town, New South Wales to clergyman Thomas Campbell Ewing and Elizabeth, nee Thomson. Despite an intention to study for the Bar, he joined a surveyor's party at the age of 17, and became a licensed surveyor with the New South Wales Department of Lands in 1877. He married Margaret Russell MacCabe on 1 October 1879 at Wollongong, with whom he had three sons and two daughters.
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[edit] State politics
In 1885 Ewing left the Lands Department to stand, successfully, for the New South Wales Legislative Assembly, representing the seat of Richmond. Although he was a "theoretical" supporter of free trade, he became a supporter of moderate protectionism, and, while a supporter of female suffrage, was an opponent of non-European immigration. In 1894 he transferred to the seat of Lismore, and became known as an independently-minded member. A popular member, he became involved in Sydney's hydro-electricity scheme, fiscal policy and Federation, where he was a supporter of Sir Henry Parkes, Sir George Dibbs and Sir Patrick Jennings.
[edit] Federal politics
Ewing moved to federal politics in 1901, entering the Australian House of Representatives as the Protectionist member for Richmond. In the second administration of Alfred Deakin he was Vice-President of the Executive Council (1905-06), Minister for Home Affairs (1906-07), and Minister for Defence (1907-08). A strong supporter of the White Australia Policy and of compulsory military training, Ewing organised a scheme for such compulsory training, which was the basis of the 1909 Defence Act. Ewing retired from politics in 1910 due to ill health, and began farming on the Tweed River.
Ewing was an amiable and well-liked politician who had a gift for telling stories, of which he wrote many. He also wrote scholarly works and published Progress of Australasia During the Nineteenth Century with Sir Timothy Coghlan in 1903, and Review of the Rival Railway Schemes for the Connection of the Tableland of New England with a Deep Sea Port on the North Coast in 1913. Often scornful of the "titled mediocrities" of parliament, Deakin knighted him as a Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George as a joke in 1908, and according to colleague Richard Crouch, Ewing took it as such.
[edit] Later life
Ewing had little part in public life after his 1910 retirement. He died of heart and kidney disease in a Darlinghurst hospital on 15 September 1920. His younger brothers John and Norman also had distinguished political careers.
[edit] References
- Walsh, G. P. (1981). Ewing, Sir Thomas Thomson (1856-1920). Australian Dictionary of Biography. Australian National University. Retrieved on 2007-08-25.
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by James Drake |
Vice-President of the Executive Council 1905 – 1906 |
Succeeded by John Keating |
| Preceded by Littleton Groom |
Minister for Home Affairs 1906 – 1907 |
|
| Preceded by Thomas Playford II |
Minister for Defence 1907 – 1908 |
Succeeded by George Pearce |
| Parliament of Australia | ||
| New title | Member for Richmond 1901 – 1910 |
Succeeded by Walter Massy-Greene |
| Persondata | |
|---|---|
| NAME | Ewing, Thomas Thomson |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | |
| SHORT DESCRIPTION | Australian politician |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 9 October 1856 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Pitt Town, New South Wales |
| DATE OF DEATH | 15 September 1920 |
| PLACE OF DEATH | Darlinghurst, New South Wales |
