1. Sir John William Downer, KCMG, KC was an Australian politician who served two terms as Premier of South Australia, from 1885 to 1887 and again from 1892 to 1893.
43 Facts About John Downer
1. 2.
John Downer later entered federal politics and served as a Senator for South Australia from 1901 to 1903.
3.
John Downer was the first of four Australian politicians from the Downer family dynasty.
4.
John Downer was one of four sons born to Jane and Henry Downer; his father was a tailor.
5.
John Downer's parents had immigrated from England to South Australia in 1838, among the first waves of British immigrants brought out by the South Australian Company.
6.
John Downer went on to attend St Peter's College, Adelaide, on a scholarship.
7.
John Downer followed his older brother Henry Edward John Downer into the legal profession, serving his articles of clerkship with Henry and with James Boucaut.
8.
John Downer was elected unopposed to the South Australian House of Assembly at the 1878 general election, standing in the two-member seat of Barossa.
9.
John Downer continued to represented Barossa until his resignation to enter federal parliament in 1901.
10.
John Downer's electorate spanned from Gawler across the Barossa Valley to the River Murray; his primary support base was in Gawler.
11.
John Downer introduced a number of legal reforms, notably the Married Women's Property Act 1883 which abolished the law of coverture and allowed married woman to own property, enter into contracts and take part in lawsuits in their own right.
12.
John Downer was an early advocate of universal women's suffrage and opposed attempts to include a property qualification, although he did not support the right of women to stand for parliament.
13.
John Downer succeeded in carrying bills allowing accused persons to give evidence on oath, and amending the insolvency and marriage acts.
14.
On 16 June 1885, John Downer himself became Premier for the first time, as well as being Attorney-General .
15.
John Downer made significant contributions to establishing irrigation settlements along the Murray River.
16.
At the Colonial Conference held in London during 1887, John Downer represented South Australia, but during his return journey to Australia his government was defeated.
17.
John Downer was not in office again for several years, but in October 1892 again became Premier, taking the portfolio of Chief Secretary.
18.
John Downer remarked of this party: 'They are very clever fellows.
19.
For most of the period until 1899 John Downer led the Opposition.
20.
John Downer was a strong federalist and had represented South Australia at the 1883 and 1891 conventions.
21.
John Downer was the most senior and significant representative of the conservative portion of the Convention's ideological spectrum.
22.
John Downer was elected to the Senate at the inaugural 1901 federal election, placing fourth in the poll and winning election to a three-year term.
23.
In parliament, John Downer served on the standing orders committee and chaired the elections and qualifications committee, which notably denied Henry Saunders' petition to unseat Alexander Matheson from a Western Australian seat.
24.
John Downer spoke frequently on the Senate's role and importance, stressing "the independence of the Senate and its crucial role as the protector of the smaller states".
25.
John Downer "doggedly defended the Senate's constitutional rights" including the principle that it might remove governments, although he opposed attempts to delay a supply bill as against Westminster convention.
26.
John Downer generally supported the Protectionist government formed by Edmund Barton, although he often crossed the floor and was critical of individual pieces of legislation.
27.
John Downer believed the Immigration Restriction Act 1901 should not be given a high priority and criticised "this general running amok with the name of white Australia".
28.
John Downer opposed the government's bill to grant sugar-growers a bounty and was equivocal about the Commonwealth Franchise Act 1902 and other electoral legislation.
29.
John Downer did support the Naval Agreement Act 1903, which defined the terms on which Australian personnel would serve in the Royal Navy before the creation of an independent Australian Navy.
30.
John Downer took a particular interest in the passage of the Judiciary Act 1903, which created the High Court of Australia as envisaged in the constitution.
31.
John Downer hoped to be appointed as one of the inaugural justices of the High Court, based on his role in drafting the constitution, his status as a leading constitutional lawyer, and his personal friendship with Barton.
32.
John Downer's name was considered by cabinet but was ultimately rejected, with Barton himself becoming one of the three inaugural justices along with Samuel Griffith and Richard O'Connor.
33.
John Downer declined to re-contest his Senate seat at the 1903 election.
34.
John Downer subsequently resumed an active practice at the bar and made frequent appearances in the Supreme Court of South Australia.
35.
In 1905, John Downer was elected to the South Australian Legislative Council as a member for the Southern District.
36.
John Downer was re-elected in 1912 and remained a member of the Legislative Council until his death.
37.
John Downer died of cancer at his home in North Adelaide on 2 August 1915, aged 72.
38.
John Downer was regarded a first-rate barrister, and some of his speeches to juries were singled out by contemporaries as laudable examples of forensic art.
39.
John Downer was equally successful in parliamentary debate; one of his colleagues called him the best debater in a house that contained Charles Kingston, Frederick Holder, John Cockburn, and John Jenkins.
40.
In politics John Downer tended to be conservative without being obstinate.
41.
John Downer described himself as a Tory, and partly on account of this he often found himself in a minority during his later years in parliament.
42.
John Downer appeared as attorney for William Willshire, a policeman known for his brutality who was acquitted of the murder of a group of Aboriginal people in 1891 at Tempe Downs Station in the NT.
43.
In 1887, at the Imperial Conference in London, John Downer was created KCMG, recommended to the Queen by the Marquis of Salisbury.