Charles Kingston
PC | |
---|---|
20th Premier of South Australia | |
In office 16 June 1893 – 1 December 1899 | |
Monarch | Victoria |
Governor | Earl of Kintore Sir Thomas Buxton |
Preceded by | John Downer |
Succeeded by | Vaiben Louis Solomon |
Personal details | |
Born | Charles Cameron Kingston 22 October 1850[1] Adelaide, South Australia |
Died | 11 May 1908[1] Adelaide, South Australia | (aged 57)
Political party | Liberal Protectionist |
Spouse | Lucy May McCarthy |
Parent(s) | George Strickland Kingston and Ludovina Catherina De Silva Kingston (née Cameron) |
Charles Cameron Kingston upon McPherson's death in 1897.
Kingston won the 1893, 1896 and 1899 colonial elections against the conservatives. During his time as Premier, Kingston was responsible for such measures as electoral reform including the first law to give votes to women in Australia (and second in the world only to New Zealand), a legitimation Act, the first conciliation and arbitration act in Australia, establishment of a state bank, a high protective tariff, regulation of factories, a progressive system of land, and income taxation,[1] a public works program, and more extensive workers' compensation.[2]
A leading advocate of federation, Kingston contributed extensively at a practical level to bringing it about. Elected to the House of Representatives with the most votes amongst the seven candidates in the single statewide Division of South Australia at the 1901 national election, he aligned himself with the Protectionist Party, going on to represent the Division of Adelaide at the election two years later.
He was also one of the main proponents of what was later termed the White Australia policy, arguing strongly against Chinese immigration. In his capacity as representative of South Australia — in 1888 he attended a conference in Sydney that proposed changes in the migration laws of the time.[1]
Early life
Kingston was born in
Kingston's mother died in 1851 at the age of 27, after which he and his siblings were probably raised by servants as their father was heavily involved in business and political activities. In 1856 he married Emma Berry, the widowed daughter of harbourmaster
Kingston was called to the bar in 1873,
In 1873 Kingston married Lucy McCarthy, who was disabled for much of her life. They had no children, but in a remarkable gesture, Lucy took in a child, Kevin Kingston, whom Kingston had fathered with another woman, Elizabeth Watson, in 1883. As a result of the scandal, Kingston was ostracised by Adelaide "society", his contempt for whom he never troubled to conceal. Kevin died in 1902.[12]
Kingston and his older brother Strickland Gough "Pat" Kingston (1848 – 3 October 1897) formed a business partnership Kingston & Kingston in 1879 which they dissolved in July 1884. S. G. Kingston was a brilliant lawyer but unstable. He was jailed for the gunshot wounding of a cabdriver in June 1884[13] and killed himself after losing an important case in Port Augusta.[14]
Kingston had a passion for Australian rules football in South Australia and helped formulate its code and was president of the South Adelaide Football Club[15] and chief patron of both South Adelaide football and cricket clubs.[16]
Colonial politics
In April 1881, Kingston was elected to the
Kingston was
A big, imposing man with a full beard, a booming voice and a violent, cutting debating style, Kingston dominated the small world of South Australian colonial politics in the 1890s. He was a great hero to liberals and working-class voters and much hated by conservatives. In 1892, Richard Baker called him a "coward, a bully and a disgrace to the legal profession" in the Legislative Council and Kingston replied by calling Baker "false as a friend, treacherous as a colleague, mendacious as a man, and utterly untrustworthy in every relationship of public life". Kingston arranged for a duel but Baker had him arrested. Kingston was thus bound over to keep the peace for a year.[1]
Kingston did not support votes for women at the 1893 elections but was subsequently persuaded by his ministerial colleagues, John Cockburn and Frederick Holder of its political advantages, and was lobbied by the Woman's Christian Temperance Union. Women's suffrage in Australia took a leap forward, with the Constitutional Amendment (Adult Suffrage) Act 1894 enacted in 1894 and taking effect from following year's election.[17]
Kingston's government also established the State Bank of South Australia, regulated factories, imposed death duties, and increased land tax and progressive income taxes.[1][11]
When Tom Buxton was appointed Governor of South Australia, Kingston was angry that the government had not been involved in the decision and so made life as hard as possible for Buxton and his family. The governor's allowance was reduced, and customs duty was charged on its household items (including his wife's invalid carriage).[citation needed]
A leading supporter of
In 1899, Kingston's government was defeated in the House on a bill sponsored by an anti-Federationist, but relating to the reform of the Legislative Council, and Kingston resigned as Premier. By then, however, he was more interested in federal politics, as the six Australian colonies moved towards federation. He was a leading figure in the popular movement for federation, and in 1900, he travelled to London with Edmund Barton and Alfred Deakin to oversee the passage of the federation bill through the Parliament of the United Kingdom.[1] While in London he won only 28 percent of votes in a contest to represent the Southern District in the Legislative Council of South Australia, but in September 1900 won 52 percent of votes for the Council's Central district.[18] The establishment of the new Commonwealth of Australia, however, now loomed over events.
The Liberal and Democratic Union was not formed until the 1906 election.[citation needed]
Federal politics
When the Constitution came into effect on 1 January 1901, Barton formed the first federal ministry, and Kingston was appointed
Kingston was a "high
In July 1903, Kingston resigned suddenly in a fit of anger from the opposition of John Forrest and Edmund Barton to his attempt to impose conciliation and arbitration on British and foreign seamen engaged in the Australian coastal trade.[1][11]
Final years
By the time of his resignation from cabinet, Kingston's health was poor and he was struggling to carry out his departmental duties.[19] Due to financial difficulties he soon returned to his legal practice. He was re-elected unopposed at the 1903 federal election and made his final parliamentary speech in March 1904, which left him exhausted; a month later he was admitted to a private hospital in Melbourne.[20] Following the collapse of Deakin's government, Kingston was offered a place in the new ministry formed by ALP leader Chris Watson. He reluctantly declined on medical advice.[21]
From 1904, Kingston was frequently absent from the House for medical reasons, but was nonetheless re-elected unopposed at the 1906 election.[22] He was nursed by his wife Lucy at their home south of Adelaide, with visitors including John Langdon Bonython noting his obvious mental decline. Lucy was also in poor health and became the subject of derision in society circles following an incident with Jenkin Coles, where she reportedly "set the dogs on him and chased him away, menacing him with a broomstick".[21]
Kingston died in Adelaide on 11 May 1908 following a stroke the previous day, less than a week after the death of his older sister Ludovina.[23] Federal parliament was sitting at the time and adjourned for the day in his honour. A state funeral was held on 13 May and was "one of the largest ever seen in South Australia", with Deakin in attendance.[24] He was buried at the local West Terrace Cemetery, survived by his wife who died in 1919.[1] He left an estate valued at £50 following the payment of debts, excluding two properties held in his wife's name.[25]
Exhumation
Kingston's body was
Statue
A statue of Kingston stands in
References
- ^ ISSN 1833-7538. Retrieved 22 November 2007.
- ^ Ross McMullin, The Light on the Hill: The Australian Labor Party 1891–1991.
- ^ Glass 1997, p. 4.
- ^ Glass 1997, p. 1.
- ^ "George Kingston". Kingston House. Communitywebs. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 22 November 2007.
- ^ Glass 1997, p. 3.
- ^ Glass 1997, pp. 4–5.
- ^ Glass 1997, p. 7.
- ^ Glass 1997, pp. 9–10.
- Evening Journal (Adelaide). Vol. V, no. 1285. South Australia. 22 March 1873. p. 2. Retrieved 29 March 2018 – via Trove.
- ^ a b c Serle, Percival. "Kingston, Charles Cameron (1850–1908)". Dictionary of Australian Biography. Project Gutenberg Australia. Retrieved 22 November 2007.
- ^ Kingston fathers more than Federation Sydney Morning Herald 11 May 2010 accessed 15 April 2011
- ^ Adelaide, Wednesday Sydney Morning Herald 7 August 1884 p. 8
- ^ Breaking the News The Advertiser 5 October 1897 p.5 accessed 21 May 2011
- ^ "South Adelaide Football Club". South Australian Register. Vol. XLVII, no. 11, 217. South Australia. 26 October 1882. p. 6. Retrieved 1 October 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
- The South Australian Advertiser. Vol. XXIX, no. 8884. South Australia. 9 April 1887. p. 6. Retrieved 1 October 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
- ^ "Women's Suffrage Petition 1894: parliament.sa.gov.au" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 29 March 2011. Retrieved 8 January 2016.
- ^ William Coleman,Their Fiery Cross of Union. A Retelling of the Creation of the Australian Federation, 1889-1914, Connor Court, Queensland, 2021, p. 401.
- ^ Glass 1997, p. 218.
- ^ Glass 1997, p. 220.
- ^ a b Glass 1997, p. 221.
- ^ Glass 1997, pp. 221–222.
- ^ Glass 1997, p. 222.
- ^ Glass 1997, p. 223.
- ^ Glass 1997, p. 225.
- ^ Former premier's body exhumed for paternity DNA test which proved that this was the case and they were in fact defendants of Kingston. – ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)
- ^ "Premier's body exhumed to prove paternity | The Australian". Archived from the original on 28 May 2008. Retrieved 26 May 2008.
- ^ Premier's body dug up | Herald Sun
- ^ "Womanising political pioneer Charles Kingston exhumed over paternity rumours | The Australian". Archived from the original on 28 May 2008. Retrieved 26 May 2008.
- ^ Digging for political bastardry | NEWS.com.au Archived 30 May 2008 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Koolmatrie, Jacinta (15 June 2020). "Statues erase more history than they tell". The Adelaide Review. Retrieved 22 June 2020.
Further reading
- Crisp, L. F. (1990). "Charles Cameron Kingston: Radical Federationist". In Hart, John (ed.). Federation Fathers. Melbourne University Press. pp. 272–368. ISBN 0522843999.
- Glass, Margaret (1997). Charles Cameron Kingston: Federation Father. Melbourne University Press. ISBN 0522847781.
External links
- "Kingston, Charles". Former members of the Parliament of South Australia. Retrieved 19 August 2022.