James McGowen
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The Honourable James McGowen JP |
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|---|---|
 |
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| 18th Premier of New South Wales | |
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In office 21 October 1910 – 29 June 1913 |
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| Monarch | George V |
| Governor |
Lord Chelmsford Sir Gerald Strickland |
| Preceded by | Charles Wade |
| Succeeded by | William Holman |
| Member of the New South Wales Parliament for Redfern |
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In office 17 June 1891 – 21 February 1917 |
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| Preceded by | William Stephen |
| Succeeded by | William McKell |
| Member of the New South Wales Legislative Council | |
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In office 17 July 1917 – 7 April 1922 |
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| Personal details | |
| Born |
16 August 1855 "Western Bride", At sea. |
| Died | 7 April 1922 (aged 66) Petersham, New South Wales, Australia |
James Sinclair Taylor McGowen (16 August 1855 – 7 April 1922) was an Australian politician and the first Labor Premier of New South Wales from 21 October 1910 to 30 June 1913.
McGowen was the son of James McGowen, a boilermaker, and his wife Eliza Ditchfield, immigrants from Lancashire and was born at sea, on the "Western Bride", on the way to Melbourne. His father worked building in bridges, initially in Victoria, and later in New South Wales. After limited schooling he was apprenticed as a boiler maker in 1870. He became a member of the United Society of Boilermakers and Iron Shipbuilders of New South Wales on its establishment in 1873, he became secretary in 1874. He entered the railways department and in 1888 was elected president of the executive of Trades Hall committee. He worked hard and successfully to raise funds to build the Trades Hall at Sydney.
In 1891, the New South Wales Trades and Labour Council established the Labor Electoral League, which developed into Australian Labor Party, and McGowen stood for election to the New South Wales Legislative Assembly seat of Redfern and was one of 35 Labor candidates to win and the most experienced unionist. He held the seat continuously to 1917.
While the Australian Labor Party eventually became the most disciplined in the world, the first Labor parliamentarians were almost as independent as their fellow parliamentarians. McGowen was one of three to sign the "pledge" to abide by party discipline. As a result of his increasingly skillfulness as a parliamentarian and his relative seniority he became Labor's parliamentary leader in 1894. After the 1898 election George Reid's Protectionist Government was dependent on Labor to push through New South Wales' adoption of Federation. McGowen's support for Federation was critical to Labor maintaining its support for the adoption of measures to implement Federation, even though it remained opposed to the Constitution adopted, which it saw as biased in favour of business interests. McGowen stood for the Federal seat of South Sydney in 1901, but was narrowly defeated.
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