Sir Alexander Matheson, 3rd Baronet

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3rd Baronet
Senator for Western Australia
In office
29 March 1901 – 31 December 1906
Member of the Western Australian Legislative Council
In office
29 June 1897 – March 1901
ConstituencyNorth-East Province
Personal details
Born(1861-02-06)6 February 1861
Mayfair, London, England
Died6 August 1929(1929-08-06) (aged 68)
Kensington, London, England
Political partyFree Trade
Spouse
Eleanor Money
​
(m. 1884)​
RelationsSpencer Perceval jun. (grandfather)
Parent(s)Sir Alexander Matheson, 1st Bt.
Eleanor Perceval
OccupationBusinessman

Sir Alexander Perceval Matheson, 3rd Baronet (6 February 1861 – 6 August 1929) was a

Western Australian gold rush, returning to England following the end of his Senate term. He was the son of Scottish MP Sir Alexander Matheson, 1st Baronet
, and succeeded to the baronetcy in 1920.

Early life

Matheson was born on 8 February 1861 in Mayfair, London, England. He was the son of Alexander Matheson and his third wife Eleanor (née Perceval). His maternal grandfather was Spencer Perceval junior, his mother being a granddaughter of the assassinated British prime minister Spencer Perceval. Matheson's father, a Scotsman from Ross-shire, was a wealthy businessman and Liberal MP who was created a baronet in 1882.[1]

Matheson was educated at

Western Australian gold rush, Matheson moved to Western Australia and established the Mutual Stores Company on the Eastern Goldfields. The firm was based in Coolgardie and also had branches in various smaller towns.[2] As "Alexander Matheson & Company", he also provided finance for new mines, rented offices and rooms in Kalgoorlie, and acted as an agent for British mining firms.[1]

Colonial politics

Matheson in 1899 at the final meeting of the Federal Council of Australasia

Matheson was elected to the

schools of mines. Premier John Forrest subsequently appointed him as one of the colony's representatives on the Federal Council of Australasia. However, in 1900 he became president of the Eastern Goldfields Reform League, which campaigned for the creation of a separate colony on the goldfields.[1]

After his election to the Legislative Council, Matheson brought his family to Perth where they joined the upper ranks of its society. He had earlier bought much of the present-day suburb of Applecross, which he subdivided.[1][2]

Senate

Matheson was elected to the

Political Labor Party in Perth. In November 1901, a Senate committee dismissed the petition on a technicality.[1]

Matheson's election platform included support for free trade, compulsory arbitration, old-age pensions, and universal white suffrage. He supported much of the policy of the newly formed Australian Labor Party (ALP) and was a close friend of Labor MP King O'Malley, but did not join the party.[1][2] As with the other Western Australian MPs, he was a strong supporter of the Trans-Australian Railway. He spoke frequently on defence matters and favoured increased defence spending.[1]

Matheson was a strong opponent of

voting rights for Indigenous Australians. In the debate over the Commonwealth Franchise Bill in 1902, he moved an amendment that would have denied all Aboriginal people the right to vote in federal elections. He stated:[3]

Surely it is absolutely repugnant to the great number of the people of the Commonwealth that an aboriginal man, or aboriginal lubra or gin – a horrible, degraded, dirty creature – should have the same rights, simply by virtue of being 21 years of age, that we have, after some debate today, decided to give to our wives and daughters. To me it is as repugnant and atrocious a legislative proposal as anyone could suggest.

In 1903, Matheson came into renewed conflict with John Forrest, who had become the federal defence minister. He asked 17 questions in parliament about Forrest's "Minute on Naval Defence", which had attracted attention in Britain,

Richard O'Connor said that Matheson's criticisms were due to personal antipathy and that "almost every word he uttered in regard to Sir John Forrest was bubbling over with personal malice". Matheson subsequently proposed the creation of a Council of Defence in order to reduce Forrest's powers as minister, but the proposal failed to pass.[5]

Later life

Matheson did not re-contest his seat at the 1906 federal election. He wound up his business affairs in Australia and returned to England, where he was soon in financial difficulties. During World War I, all three of Matheson's sons were killed in action. He succeeded his half-brother Kenneth in the baronetcy in 1920, and shortly after moved to New Zealand where he was a correspondent for The Times.[1] In 1925, it was announced that he was engaged to Beatrice Davison,[6] but the marriage did not take place.[2] By 1927 he was living in a flat in Monaco. He died at Queen's Gate, Kensington, London, on 6 August 1929 and was buried in Putney Vale Cemetery.[2]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h de Garis, Brian (2000). "Matheson, Sir Alexander Perceval (1861–1929)". The Biographical Dictionary of the Australian Senate. Vol. 1 (1901-1929). Retrieved 23 December 2022.
  2. ^
    ISSN 1833-7538
    . Retrieved 14 August 2022.
  3. ISBN 9780521597517
    .
  4. ^ Crowley, Frank (2000). Big John Forrest 1847–1918: A Founding Father of the Commonwealth of Australia. p. 336.
  5. ^ Crowley 2000, p. 337.
  6. ^ "Engagement announced". Daily Mail. 14 October 1925. Retrieved 23 December 2022 – via Trove.

 

Baronetage of the United Kingdom
Preceded by
Kenneth James Matheson
Baronet

(of Lochalsh)
1920–1929 		Succeeded by
Roderick Mackenzie Chisholm Matheson
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