William Henry Groom

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Queensland Legislative Assembly
for Toowoomba
In office
10 November 1873 – 15 November 1878
Preceded byNew seat
Succeeded bySeat abolished
Personal details
Born(1833-03-09)9 March 1833
Victoria
Resting placeDrayton and Toowoomba Cemetery
Political partyProtectionist Party
SpouseGrace Littleton
RelationsLittleton Groom (son), Henry Littleton Groom (son)
OccupationAuctioneer

William Henry Groom (9 March 1833 – 8 August 1901) was an Australian publican, newspaper proprietor, and politician who served as a member of the Parliament of Queensland from 1862 to 1901 and of the Parliament of Australia in 1901.

Early life

Groom was born at

Victoria. After he was again released, Groom eventually found himself on the Darling Downs in Queensland
, where, despite whispers about his chequered past, he became one of the leading members of society.

Career

In 1858 Groom became associated with

auctioneer
.

Groom was proprietor of

Heritage Building Society). He was also involved in the creation of the Toowoomba Racecourse Clifford Park
, the Toowoomba School of Arts and many other establishments.

Politics

Groom served as an alderman in the

Borough of Toowoomba from 1861 to 1901, as well as the town's inaugural mayor in 1861. He went on to serve three consecutive terms as Mayor, and was re-elected to the position again in 1864, 1867, 1883 and 1884. During his first term as Mayor he successfully led his council to petition the colonial government for land for a town hall, a municipal market and the original site for Queens Park
.

Groom in speaker's garb

In 1862 Groom was elected to the

Queensland Legislative Assembly in the electoral district of Toowoomba
with a majority of 21 votes. He served as parliamentary speaker from 1883 to 1888.

Groom played a major role in the growth of Toowoomba by securing funding for bridges and arterial roads, the establishment of the General Hospital (now Queensland Health's Toowoomba Base Hospital) and Willowburn Hospital (now Baillie Henderson Hospital).

Groom was elected as a Protectionist to the Darling Downs electorate at the inaugural Australian federal election in 1901, becoming the only transported convict to ever sit as a member of the Australian Parliament.

Death

Unfortunately, he was given little time to enjoy the crowning glory of his political career, as he died on 8 August of the same year at the first Commonwealth Parliament meeting in Melbourne. He died of a combination of bronchial catarrh and heart failure. Groom was the first serving member of the Australian Parliament to die. (Sir James Dickson, Minister for Defence, had died in January, but that was before the first parliament had been elected). Groom's body was returned to Queensland for burial in the Drayton and Toowoomba Cemetery.[1]

Legacy

William Henry Groom was succeeded as the member for Darling Downs by his third son Littleton Groom, who won the seat in Australia's first federal by-election and later became Speaker of the House of Representatives.

William Henry Groom was also the father of Queensland State parliamentarian (

MLC) Henry Littleton Groom.[2]

His home, Millbrook, is listed on the Queensland Heritage Register.[3]

See also

References

  • Serle, Percival (1949). "Groom, William Henry". Dictionary of Australian Biography. Sydney: Angus & Robertson. Retrieved 30 December 2008.
  • D. B. Waterson, 'Groom, William Henry (1833 - 1901)',
    MUP
    , 1972, pp. 304–305. Retrieved on 30 December 2008.
  1. ^ William Groom — Toowoomba Regional Council. Retrieved 12 January 2015.
  2. Queensland Parliament. Archived from the original on 26 April 2020. Retrieved 19 October 2014.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link
    )
  3. ^ "Millbrook (entry 601310)". Queensland Heritage Register. Queensland Heritage Council. Retrieved 1 August 2014.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to William Henry Groom.

Further reading

  • Simpson, Mary Lou (2014). From Convict to Politician: The Life of William Henry Groom. Boolarong Press.
    ISBN 9781925046779
    .
Parliament of Australia
New seat Member for Darling Downs
1901 		Succeeded by
Parliament of Queensland
Preceded by
Speaker of the Legislative Assembly

1883–1888 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Member for Drayton and Toowoomba
1862–1873 		Abolished
New seat Member for Toowoomba
1873–1878 		Abolished
New seat Member for Drayton and Toowoomba
1878–1901
Served alongside: George Davenport, Robert Aland, John Fogarty 		Succeeded by
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