12 Facts About Titus Lander

Titus Lander was an Australian politician and animal welfare advocate.

Titus Lander was the first salaried RSPCA inspector in Western Australia, and later served a single term in the state's Legislative Assembly, where he secured the passage of an animal welfare bill.

Titus Lander trained as a stonemason, which had been his father's profession, and emigrated to South Australia in 1883.

Titus Lander later lived for periods in Victoria and New South Wales, working as a monumental mason.

Titus Lander initially continued in the masonry trade, but soon began volunteering as an inspector for the local branch of the SPCA.

Titus Lander began working full-time for the SPCA in 1894, and until 1906 was the organisation's only salaried inspector in Western Australia.

Outside of his animal welfare work, Titus Lander sat the Sanitary Institute exams, allowing him to work as a food inspector for the Perth board of health.

Titus Lander was elected to the Perth City Council in 1909, and to parliament at the 1911 state election, standing for the Labor Party in the seat of East Perth.

Titus Lander's candidacy was helped by the fact that the sitting member, John Hardwick, made a mistake in submitting his nomination and was thus unable to be listed on the ballot.

In parliament, Titus Lander introduced a bill which was eventually passed into law as the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act 1912, the first of its kind in Western Australia.

Titus Lander retired to Merredin in 1936, and died in Perth in 1948, aged 86.

Titus Lander had married Lucinda Jane Beattie in 1887, with whom he had four children.