William Irvine (Australian politician)

The Honourable
Sir William Irvine
GCMG
The Honourable Sir William Irvine GCMG
Chief Justice of Victoria
	In office; 9 April 1918 – 30 September 1935
Preceded by	John Madden
Succeeded by	Frederick Mann
Attorney-General of Australia
	In office; 24 June 1913 – 17 September 1914
Prime Minister	Joseph Cook
Preceded by	Billy Hughes
Succeeded by	Billy Hughes
Premier of Victoria
	In office; 10 June 1902 – 16 February 1904
Governor	George Clarke ; Reginald Talbot
Preceded by	Alexander Peacock
Succeeded by	Thomas Bent
Member of the Australian Parliament; for Division of Flinders
	In office; 12 December 1906 – 5 April 1918
Preceded by	James Gibb
Succeeded by	Stanley Bruce
Personal details
Born	6 July 1858; Toorak, Victoria, Australia
Political party	Liberal (federal)
Spouse	Agnes Wanliss (m. 1891)
Relations	Trinity College, Dublin; University of Melbourne.
Profession	Barrister

Sir William Hill Irvine

GCMG (6 July 1858 – 20 August 1943) was an Australian politician and judge. He served as Premier of Victoria (1902–1904), Attorney-General of Australia (1913–1914), and Chief Justice of Victoria

(1918–1935).

Irvine was born in

Trinity College, Dublin, and the University of Melbourne, immigrating to Australia in 1879. He qualified as a barrister and was first elected to the Victorian Legislative Assembly in 1894. Appointed attorney-general of Victoria in 1899, Irvine succeeded Alexander Peacock as premier in 1902 with the backing of the National Citizens' Reform League and retained office after the 1902 state election. He carried out democratic reforms but attracted the enmity of the labour movement

for his suppression of a railway strike in 1903, resigning as premier in 1904.

At the 1906 federal election, Irvine was elected to the seat of Flinders. He served as attorney-general in the Liberal government of Joseph Cook from 1913 to 1914, and during World War I was an advocate of conscription and leading campaigner in the 1916 referendum on overseas conscription. Irvine resigned from federal parliament in 1918 to become chief justice of Victoria. He served on the court until 1935 and as lieutenant-governor also served as acting governor of Victoria for nearly three years during the Great Depression.

Early life

Irvine was born on 6 July 1858 at Dromalane near

Irish nationalist.^[1]

Irvine was raised in a

Trinity College, Dublin, graduating Bachelor of Arts in 1879. He subsequently entered the King's Inns with the intent of qualifying as a barrister, but the death of his father and financial difficulties led him to instead immigrate to Australia.^[1]

After arriving in Australia, Irvine settled in

justices of the peace and women's property (co-authored with Frank Gavan Duffy). He also speculated unsuccessfully on gold mining ventures.^[1]

Victorian politics

In 1894, Irvine was elected to the Victorian Legislative Assembly as a Liberal. He was Attorney-General 1899–1900 and 1902–03, and Solicitor-General in 1903. He succeeded George Turner as leader of the Victorian Liberals, but was much more conservative than either Turner or the federal Protectionist Party leader, Alfred Deakin. In 1902, supported by the National Citizens' Reform League, he displaced the more liberal Alexander Peacock and became Premier and Treasurer. He held office until 1904, when he was succeeded by the similarly-minded Thomas Bent.

Irvine's ministry was appointed on 10 June 1902:^[2]

Attorney-General
: William Irvine
Treasurer : William Shiels
Solicitor-General : John Mark Davies
Minister of Railways : Thomas Bent
Minister of Education and Health : Robert Reid
Minister of Public Works and Agriculture : John Taverner
President of Board of Lands : Malcolm McKenzie
Minister of Mines : Ewen Cameron
Chief Secretary and Minister of Labour : John Murray

Federal politics

In 1906, Irvine was elected to the

Commonwealth Liberal Party in 1908. He was Attorney-General in Joseph Cook's Liberal government of 1913–14. He is the only state premier to have served as attorney-general. He was considered a potential Prime Minister of Australia

, but his abrupt manner and hard-line conservatism made him unacceptable to many Liberals; in Parliament he was known as "Iceberg Irvine."

Judicial career

Recognising that he was unlikely to progress further in politics, Irvine accepted appointment as the

highest-ranking court in that state

. He held the position from 1918 until 1935.

Personal life

In 1891, Irvine married Agnes Somerville Wanliss, the daughter of colonial MP

Toorak on 20 August 1943, aged 85, after suffering a "progressively disabling disease that restricted movement and speech". He was granted a state funeral.^[1]

Irvine was knighted

GCMG in 1936. A keen motorist, he was a founding member of the Royal Automobile Club of Victoria (RACV) and was its patron from 1938 through 1943. In 1932 a painting of Irvine by Ernest Buckmaster won the Archibald Prize, Australia's best-known portrait prize.^[1]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Bennett, J. M.; Smith, Ann G. (1983). "Sir William Hill Irvine (1858–1943)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Vol. 9.
^ "Latest intelligence - The new Victorian Cabinet". The Times. No. 36790. London. 10 June 1902. p. 7.

Sources

Geoff Browne, A Biographical Register of the Victorian Parliament, 1900–84, Government Printer, Melbourne, 1985
Don Garden, Victoria: A History, Thomas Nelson, Melbourne, 1984
Kathleen Thompson and Geoffrey Serle, A Biographical Register of the Victorian Parliament, 1856–1900, Australian National University Press, Canberra, 1972
Raymond Wright, A People's Counsel. A History of the Parliament of Victoria, 1856–1990, Oxford University Press, Melbourne, 1992

External links

Supreme Court of Victoria Website
"Irvine, Hon. Sir William Hill" . Thom's Irish Who's Who . Dublin: Alexander Thom and Son Ltd. 1923. p. 115 – via Wikisource.

Victorian Legislative Assembly
Preceded by Richard Baker	Member for Lowan 1894–1906	Succeeded by Robert Stanley
Preceded by Isaac Isaacs	Attorney-General of Victoria 1899–1900	Succeeded by Isaac Isaacs
Preceded by Alexander Peacock	Premier of Victoria 1902–1904	Succeeded by Thomas Bent
Preceded by Sir Samuel Gillott as Attorney-General	Attorney-General of Victoria 1902-1903 Solicitor-General of Victoria Feb - Sep 1903	Succeeded by John Davies
Preceded by John Davies as Solicitor-General		Succeeded by John Davies
Parliament of Australia
Preceded by James Gibb	Member for Flinders 1906–1918	Succeeded by Stanley Bruce
Preceded by Billy Hughes	Attorney-General of Australia 1913–1914	Succeeded by Billy Hughes
Government offices
Preceded by John Madden	Lieutenant-Governor of Victoria 1918–1936	Succeeded by Frederick Mann
Legal offices
Preceded by John Madden	Chief Justice of Victoria 1918–1935	Succeeded by Frederick Mann

[adb-1] Bennett, J. M.; Smith, Ann G. (1983). "Sir William Hill Irvine (1858–1943)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Vol. 9.

[2] "Latest intelligence - The new Victorian Cabinet". The Times. No. 36790. London. 10 June 1902. p. 7.

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