James Dickson

Infobox Officeholder
honorific-prefix = Sir
name = James Dickson
honorific-suffix = KCMG

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order = 13th
office = Premier of Queensland
term_start = 1 October 1898
term_end = 1 December 1899
order1 = 1st
office1 = Minister for Defence (Australia)
term_start1 = 1 January 1901
term_end1 = 10 January 1901
successor1 = John Forrest
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predecessor = Thomas Joseph Byrnes
successor = Anderson Dawson
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birth_date = birth date|1832|11|30|df=y
birth_place = Plymouth, Devon, England, UK
death_date = death date and age|1901|1|10|1832|11|30|df=y
death_place = Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
nationality =
party = Protectionist Party
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Sir James Robert Dickson, KCMG (30 November 1832 – 10 January 1901) was an Australian politician and businessman, the 13th Premier of Queensland and a member of the first federal ministry.

Dickson was born in Plymouth, Devon, and migrated initially to Victoria in 1854. He settled in Queensland in 1862, becoming an auctioneer. A wealthy and influential businessman, he was elected as a member of the Queensland Legislative Assembly for Enoggera in 1873. He was made Secretary for Public Works and Mines in 1876 under Arthur Macalister, and was Treasurer 1876-79. In the absence of Sir Samuel Griffith he was briefly Opposition Leader, and was Treasurer again 1883-87 after Griffith became Premier. He lost his seat in 1888 but was again elected for Bulimba in 1892, supporting the importation of labourers from the South Pacific to work on the Queensland canefields.Australian Dictionary of Biography
last=Cuthbert
first=D. D.
authorlink=
year=1981
id=A080327b
title= Dickson, Sir James Robert (1832 - 1901)
accessdate=2007-10-20] cite web
first=Percival
last=Serle
authorlink=Percival Serle
title =Dickson, Sir James Robert (1832 - 1901)
publisher =Project Gutenberg Australia
work=Dictionary of Australian Biography
url =http://gutenberg.net.au/dictbiog/0-dict-biogD.html#dickson1
accessdate = 2007-10-20 ]

In the so-called Continuous Ministry of the late 1890s, Dickson attained the positions of Secretary for Railways in 1897, Postmaster-General and Home Secretary 1898-99. In September 1898, after the death of Thomas Byrnes he was made Premier. The Continuous Ministry by this stage was falling apart, and Dickson had only a brief period in office before Anderson Dawson gained the support of the Legislative Assembly to become the world's first elected Labour Party leader. The Ministerialists regrouped a week later to vote Dawson out of office. Dickson lacked support to become Premier again, and that position instead went to Robert Philp, in whose government Dickson was Chief Secretary.

Dickson was a leading supporter of federation in Queensland and was mainly responsible for winning a "yes" vote in the Queensland referendum on the proposed Constitution of Australia in 1900. As a result, Dickson was appointed Minister for Defence in the first federal ministry under Edmund Barton on 1 January 1901. He was intending to stand for election to the first Federal Parliament, but on 10 January he died suddenly at the Commonwealth's inaugural ceremonies in Sydney. He was the first federal Minister to die in office.

Honours

Dickson was appointed a Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George in January 1901. The federal electoral division of Dickson in Queensland, and the Canberra suburb of Dickson are named after him.

ee also

*Australian Commonwealth ministries 1901-2004

References

Persondata
NAME = Dickson, James
ALTERNATIVE NAMES = Australian businessman, politician and Premier of Queensland
SHORT DESCRIPTION =
DATE OF BIRTH = 30 November 1832
PLACE OF BIRTH = Plymouth, Devon, England
DATE OF DEATH = 10 January 1901
PLACE OF DEATH = Sydney, New South Wales, Australia