John Newlands (Australian politician)

Sir John Newlands (4 August 1864 – 20 May 1932), formerly John Newland, was a Scottish-born Australian politician. Born in Nairnshire, he was educated in Scotland before migrating to Australia in 1883, where he became a railway worker. He was secretary of the Railway Officers' Association and sat on Terowie District Council before being elected to the South Australian House of Assembly as the Labor member for Burra in 1906. He left the Assembly in 1912, but was elected to the Australian Senate in 1913 as a Labor Senator for South Australia. He left the Labor Party in the wake of the 1916 split over conscription, joining the Nationalist Party. He was knighted in 1926, and changed his name to Newlands. On 1 July 1926, he was appointed President of the Senate, succeeding Thomas Givens. He held the presidency until 13 August 1929, when he was succeeded by Walter Kingsmill. He retired in 1931, but died in 1932 while his term was still unexpired. No appointment was made.^[1]

References