Agar Wynne

The Honourable
Agar Wynne
Member of the Australian Parliament
for Balaclava
In office
12 December 1906  30 July 1914
Preceded by George Turner
Succeeded by William Watt
Personal details
Born 15 July 1850
London, England
Died 12 May 1934 (aged 83)
Streatham, Victoria
Nationality Australian
Political party Ind Protectionist (1906–09)
Liberal (1909–14)
Spouse(s) 1) Mary Jane Robertson, née Smith
2) Annie Dudgeon, née Samuel
Alma mater University of Melbourne
Occupation Attorney

Agar Wynne (15 July 1850  12 May 1934) was an Australian politician.

Wynne was born in London, but his family emigrated to Australia when he was a child. He educated at Melbourne Church of England Grammar School and enrolled in an articled clerk's course at the University of Melbourne and was admitted as an attorney in July 1874. He married Mary Jane Robertson, née Smith, a widow with two children in November 1886. She died in 1889 and in February 1896 he married Annie Dudgeon, née Samuel, a widow with three children.[1]

Political career

In 1888, Wynne won the seat of Western Province in the Victorian Legislative Council which he held until 1903 and was Postmaster-General and Solicitor-General from 1893 to 1894 in Sir James Patterson's government and Solicitor-General from 1900 to 1902 in Sir George Turner's and Sir Alexander Peacock's governments.[1]

Wynne won the seat of Balaclava at the 1906 elections in the Australian House of Representatives as an Independent Protectionist. He joined the Fusion government and served as Postmaster-General in the Cook Ministry from June 1913 to its fall in September 1914, but he did not contest the 1914 elections, apparently because he could not reorganise his department to run on efficient business principles.[1]

Wynne returned to politics in 1917, winning the state seat of St Kilda and was Attorney-General, Solicitor-General, Minister of Railways and a Vice-President of the Board of Land and Works from November 1917 to March 1918 in Sir John Bowser's government. He did not stand for re-election in 1920.[1]

Wynne acquired Nerrin Nerrin, a 2953 ha property near Streatham, where he died after a series of strokes, survived by the daughter of his first marriage.[1]

Notes

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Bennet, Darryl (1990). "Wynne, Agar (1850–1934)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Canberra: Australian National University. Retrieved 15 November 2007.
Political offices
Preceded by
Josiah Thomas
Postmaster-General
1911–1913
Succeeded by
William Spence
Parliament of Australia
Preceded by
George Turner
Member for Balaclava
1906–1914
Succeeded by
William Watt
Victorian Legislative Assembly
Preceded by
Robert McCutcheon
Member for St Kilda
1917–1920
Succeeded by
Frederic Eggleston