33 Facts About Matthew Charlton

Matthew Charlton was an Australian politician who served as leader of the Australian Labor Party and Leader of the Opposition from 1922 to 1928.

Matthew Charlton led the party to defeat at the 1922 and 1925 federal elections.

Matthew Charlton left school at a young age to work in the coal mines, initially as a hurrier.

Matthew Charlton became prominent in the trade union movement, and in 1903 was elected to the New South Wales Legislative Assembly for the Labor Party.

Matthew Charlton was an anti-conscriptionist, and remained with Labor after the party split of 1916.

Matthew Charlton was elected party leader in early 1922, following the death of Frank Tudor.

Matthew Charlton increased Labor's vote at the 1922 election but suffered a backwards slide in 1925.

Matthew Charlton resigned as leader in early 1928, succeeded by James Scullin, and left politics later that year.

Matthew Charlton was born to Matthew Charlton, an English miner from Durham, and Mabel.

In 1871, the five-year-old Matthew Charlton's father moved with his family to Lambton, a suburb of Newcastle, New South Wales.

When too old for the job, Matthew Charlton was given a job at the coal-face.

Matthew Charlton supported the struggle against wage reductions, but the effort failed and, along with many other miners, he moved to the goldfields near Kalgoorlie, Western Australia.

Colleagues urged Matthew Charlton to stand for the state electoral district of Waratah, and on 5 December 1903 Matthew Charlton became the second member for the district in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly.

Matthew Charlton became the unofficial spokesperson for the miners, speaking principally about mining matters in parliament.

In 1909 a coal miners' strike struck New South Wales and Matthew Charlton was called upon by the Colliery Employees' Federation to represent it in front of a wage board.

Matthew Charlton was unsuccessful in gaining better conditions for the miners but he did settle the dispute, talking to miners around the state and convincing them to return to work.

Matthew Charlton resigned from state politics and in 1910 Charlton wrested the federal Division of Hunter from the sitting Frank Liddell.

Matthew Charlton was an immediate success with Andrew Fisher and was promoted to the temporary chairmanship of committees in the House in 1913, however Matthew Charlton threatened to resign in 1915 over a dispute in government delays in granting the committee increased powers.

Fisher mollified him and in 1916 Matthew Charlton proved his loyalty to the new Labor leader Billy Hughes by voting for Hughes' conscription referendum bill, even though he was vehemently opposed to conscription and fought hard against it.

However, Matthew Charlton seemed to accept the affirmative result of the referendum and again proved his loyalty to Hughes by defending him when he became the target of caucus criticism.

Matthew Charlton attempted to deflect attacks made on Hughes to a party conference, but Hughes left the party before a decision could be made.

Tudor died of heart disease on 10 January 1922, and Matthew Charlton became the de facto acting leader of the party.

At the 1922 federal election, Matthew Charlton offered alternative policies and looked to be favourite until he was hospitalised with illness halfway through the campaign.

Labor still won the most seats as a single party, but Matthew Charlton was unable to defeat a strong government coalition.

In 1924 Matthew Charlton was invited to a League of Nations conference in Geneva, Switzerland.

At the conference Matthew Charlton strongly opposed war, and the Geneva Protocol took form.

Matthew Charlton lost the 1925 election, largely due to his stance on industrial relations and continual militant union action which plagued his campaign.

Matthew Charlton always aided in maintaining amicable relations in the party and many times lent his expertise to conflicts within the NSW branch of the Labor Party.

Matthew Charlton resigned from his positions on 29 March 1928.

Matthew Charlton died at Lambton, New South Wales, on 8 December 1948, the place where he had grown up and lived most of his life.

Matthew Charlton was buried in the general section of Sandgate Cemetery.

Martha Matthew Charlton died on 8 June 1955 and is interred with him.

The Division of Matthew Charlton in the Hunter Region was named in his honour, and was a safe Labor seat from its creation in 1984 until its abolition in 2016.