Bartholomew James Stubbs
| Lieut. B.J. Stubbs, MLA | |
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| Member of Legislative Assembly, Western Australia | |
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In office 3 October 1911 – 26 September 1917 |
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| Preceded by | Henry Daglish |
| Succeeded by | Samuel McConnell Brown |
| Constituency | Subiaco |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
31 May 1872 Bendigo, Victoria |
| Died | 26 September 1917 (aged 45) Killed in action in the Battle of Polygon Wood, Flanders, Belgium |
| Political party | Labor |
| Spouse(s) | Alice Maud Rewell (1864–1954) |
| Children | Step children: Edith May Geddes, William Francis Geddes; Adopted: May Stephens |
| Parents | William Stubbs, Catherine Stubbs (nee Farrell) |
Bartholomew James Stubbs (1872–1917) was the first sitting member of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly to be killed in action while on military service for his country.
The soldier-legislator, known as Jim to family and friends, was born on 31 May 1872, second son of Irish Catholic parents William and Catherine Stubbs of Quarry Hill, Bendigo, Victoria. His father was for many years a mining manager on sites such as Johnson's Reef Extended mine.
After finishing school, Stubbs served an apprenticeship as a tailor in Victoria and was introduced to the Labor Party in 1890 when he first joined a trade union. In 1894, the 22-year-old moved to Perth, Western Australia. He was joined there later by younger brother Francis Michael Stubbs, an iron moulder who settled in the south-west township of Tambellup.
Stubbs ran a tailor shop in Subiaco, where he soon met Alice Rewell, a young widow to the infamous surveyor-turned-swindler William Goodwin Geddes Junior. The couple married on 11 November 1897 at St. Mary's Cathedral, Perth. Stubbs became stepfather to Alice's two children—William Frances Geddes (11) and Edith May Geddes (8). In 1905 they took in Alice's orphaned niece, five-year-old May Stephens.
A keen sportsman, Stubbs kept himself active by participating in various social events. He represented Perth tailors in several games of Australian Rules football as well as in running events during the annual Eight Hours Day (Labour Day) sports carnivals.
The focus of the young tailor's endeavours gradually shifted to improving the rights and conditions of workers. In 1896, he became a foundation member of the Perth Tailors Society and later held various offices within the organisation, including treasurer, vice-president and president, as it morphed into the Tailors Union and eventually the Amalgamated Tailors and Tailoresses Union.
For several years in the mid-1900s, Stubbs worked in Kalgoorlie and represented the tailors union on the Eastern Goldfields Trades and Labor Council. In due course he served as president of that Council. After returning to Perth in about 1907, Stubbs became a prominent leader of the labour movement. He represented the Perth Tailors and Tailoresses Union at various labour conferences and congresses and, by 1911, the year the Trades Hall was opened in Perth, he had become the president of the Metropolitan Council of the Australian Labour Federation.
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