15 Facts About Fred Bamford

Frederick William Bamford was an Australian politician.

Fred Bamford was a member of the Australian House of Representatives from the inaugural 1901 federal election until his retirement in 1925, representing the electorate of Herbert.

Fred Bamford represented the Australian Labor Party until the 1916 Labor split, when he followed Billy Hughes into the National Labor Party and served as Minister for Home and Territories in the second Hughes Ministry.

Fred Bamford remained in parliament until the age of 76.

Fred Bamford left school at 14 and worked as a carpenter around the Toowoomba area for many years.

Fred Bamford worked as a sleeper-inspector on the under-construction Bowen railway and then as inspector of railway bridges in the Cairns area and was discharged from bankruptcy in November 1885.

Fred Bamford became the local secretary of the licensed victuallers' association.

Fred Bamford was elected as a councillor of the Borough of Bowen in 1897 and was elected mayor in 1898.

Fred Bamford resigned from the council in July 1899 and thereafter worked as a journalist for a Townsville newspaper.

Fred Bamford made two unsuccessful candidacies for the Parliament of Queensland in 1896 and 1899.

Fred Bamford narrowly won the House of Representatives seat of Herbert at the 1901 election as the Australian Labor Party candidate, campaigning specifically against the employment of Kanakas in the North Queensland sugar cane fields.

Fred Bamford was chairman of the 1913 Royal Commission on the Pearling Industry and the 1915 Royal Commission on New Hebrides mail service.

In July 1915, Bamford became the first member to speak in favour of the introduction of conscription during World War I He was expelled from the Labor Party on 30 October 1916 and was Minister for Home and Territories in Hughes' National Labor Party ministry from 14 November to 17 February 1917.

Fred Bamford served as chairman of committees from 1923 to 1925.

Fred Bamford moved to Sydney, where he died in 1934, survived by three sons and two daughters.