56 Facts About Henry Daglish

Henry Daglish was an Australian politician who was the sixth premier of Western Australia and the first from the Labor Party, serving from 10 August 1904 to 25 August 1905.

Henry Daglish first stood for election in 1896 but failed to win the Victorian Legislative Assembly seat of Melbourne South.

Henry Daglish then moved to Subiaco, Western Australia, where he found work as a chief clerk in the Western Australian Police Department.

In 1900, Henry Daglish was elected to the Subiaco Municipal Council and in April the following year, he was elected to the Western Australian Legislative Assembly as the member for the newly created seat of Subiaco, becoming one of six Labor members in the Western Australian Legislative Assembly.

On 1 December 1902, Henry Daglish was sworn in as mayor of Subiaco, having been elected the previous month.

In parliament, Henry Daglish struggled to achieve anything due to a hostile Legislative Council; his one major success was the passing of a new Public Service Act.

On 27 September 1905, Henry Daglish resigned as leader of the Labor Party.

Henry Daglish then left the party and styled himself as an Independent Labor politician.

Henry Daglish was again elected Mayor of Subiaco on 5 June 1907 and served until 1908.

From August 1907 to September 1910, Henry Daglish held the position of Chairman of Committees, and from September 1910 to October 1911, he was the minister for works in Frank Wilson's Liberal government.

At the October 1911 state election, Henry Daglish lost his seat in parliament to Labor candidate Bartholomew James Stubbs and failed to regain the seat at the 1914 state election.

Henry Daglish died at his home in Subiaco on 16 August 1920.

Henry Daglish was born in Ballarat, Victoria, on 18 November 1866, to Mary Ann and William Daglish, an engine driver.

Henry Daglish was educated in Geelong and in 1881 he attended the University of Melbourne.

Henry Daglish gained a mechanical engineering apprenticeship at a foundry in 1882 but a year later, he left engineering to join the public service as a clerk in the Victorian Police Department.

On 20 August 1894, in Carlton, Victoria, Daglish married Edith May Bishop, with whom he had a son, H Daglish, of the Bank of New South Wales, Narrabeen, and a daughter, Rae Daglish.

In 1895 and 1896, Henry Daglish was a member of the National Anti-Sweating League, a group campaigning against the poor conditions endured by low-paid workers.

In 1896, Henry Daglish stood in a by-election for the seat of Melbourne South in the Victorian Legislative Assembly, receiving 34 out of 2,192 total votes.

Henry Daglish wrote a letter to Premier John Forrest requesting work in the WA public service in 1897; he was offered and accepted a position as assistant to the chief clerk in the WA Police Department.

Henry Daglish later resigned and entered business as an auctioneer, accountant and legal manager.

In November 1899, Henry Daglish unsuccessfully stood for election to the Central Ward of the Subiaco Municipal Council.

Henry Daglish resigned from the public service in 1901 to stand as a Labor Party candidate in the newly created seat of Subiaco in the Western Australian Legislative Assembly.

The party had only seven members, all of whom, aside from Henry Daglish, represented seats in the mining regions of Murchison and the Goldfields.

Henry Daglish tendered his resignation from the Subiaco Municipal Council on 1 May 1901.

Henry Daglish was successful in stopping the spending of money to help public servants immigrate from England, instead spending the money on assisting Western Australian workers migrate their families from the eastern states.

Henry Daglish advocated for the non-alienation of crown lands and the introduction of a comprehensive system of old age pensions.

In November 1902, Henry Daglish was elected unopposed as mayor of Subiaco.

Henry Daglish was sworn in on 1 December 1902 by Walter James, the premier of Western Australia.

Henry Daglish was appointed to the Kings Park Board in his capacity as the member for Subiaco in October 1902.

In January 1903, Henry Daglish joined the Perth Hospital Board, which managed Perth Public Hospital.

Henry Daglish was a member of the Lake Monger Board and the Karrakatta Cemetery Board.

Henry Daglish was the first Labor Party premier of WA, the sixth overall, and at 37 years of age, the youngest premier of the state at the time and the fourth-youngest as of 2022.

Henry Daglish's Cabinet were sworn in the same day; his party granted him the freedom to choose his own cabinet.

Henry Daglish said the state's finances were in a poor position and expenditure was to be reduced.

Henry Daglish twice introduced a bill for a referendum to abolish the Legislative Council; the first bill was discharged at the end of the session and the second failed to pass before the Daglish government resigned.

Henry Daglish reshuffled his cabinet on 7 June 1905, making Thomas Bath the minister for education, leaving himself as premier and colonial treasurer.

The cabinet reshuffle caused a split in the Labor Party; Henry Daglish's opponents said he acted towards his colleagues in a high-handed and humiliating manner.

Henry Daglish owned the Midland railway line, which ran from Midland Junction near Perth to Walkaway near Geraldton.

On 27 September 1905, Henry Daglish resigned as leader of the Labor Party and on 4 October, William Johnson was elected leader of the party.

Henry Daglish later left the party and began styling himself as an Independent Labor politician.

Labor Party lost eight seats at the election but Henry Daglish narrowly retained his seat.

The failure of Henry Daglish's government caused the Labor Party to be more careful in selecting candidates and to use more discipline.

On 5 June 1907, Henry Daglish was again elected Mayor of Subiaco, following the resignation of the previous mayor Austin Bastow.

Henry Daglish was re-elected unopposed in November 1907 and did not re-contest the post in 1908.

From 20 August 1907 to 16 September 1910, Henry Daglish held the position of Chairman of Committees.

At the October 1911 state election, Henry Daglish lost his seat in parliament to Labor candidate Bartholomew James Stubbs.

At the following election in 1914, Henry Daglish unsuccessfully stood for the seat of Subiaco.

From c to 1906, Daglish was president of Subiaco Football Club.

Henry Daglish helped secure money from the Municipality of Subiaco for the construction of a playing ground at Mueller Park, which later became known as Subiaco Oval.

In 1911, Henry Daglish again served as president of Subiaco Football Club.

From 1912, Henry Daglish worked as an estate agent and from March that year, he was appointed the employers' representative in the Court of Arbitration, a post in which served until his death.

In 1920, Henry Daglish, who had been ill for several months, travelled to Melbourne for medical treatment.

Henry Daglish returned to Perth, arriving on 12 August 1920, and died at his home in Subiaco four days later.

Henry Daglish was survived by his wife Edith, who died aged 71 on 28 May 1946, and his two children.

When Henry Daglish resigned, he became Western Australia's first leader of the opposition.

The Subiaco house in which Henry Daglish lived in from 1908 is heritage listed.