William Brookes
Member of the Queensland Legislative Assembly
for East Moreton
In office
22 April 1864 – 3 August 1864
Serving with George Edmondstone
Preceded byThomas Warry
Succeeded byRobert Cribb
Member of the Queensland Legislative Assembly
for Town of Brisbane
In office
22 April 1864 – 3 August 1864
Preceded byGeorge Raff
Succeeded byHimself
In office
13 August 1864 – 2 June 1867
Preceded byHimself
Succeeded byKevin O'Doherty
Member of the Queensland Legislative Assembly
for North Brisbane
In office
13 January 1882 – 5 May 1888
Serving with Samuel Griffith
Preceded byArthur Palmer
Succeeded bySeat abolished
Member of the Queensland Legislative Council
In office
27 June 1891 – 11 June 1897
Personal details
Born
William Brookes

(1825-10-14)14 October 1825
Hanging Ditch, Manchester, England
Died16 July 1898(1898-07-16) (aged 72)
Eagle Junction, Queensland, Australia
Resting placeSouth Brisbane Cemetery
NationalityEnglish Australian
SpouseMary Ann Evans (m.1849 d.1890)
OccupationIronmonger

William Brookes (14 October 1825 -16 July 1898) was a member of both the Queensland Legislative Council and the Queensland Legislative Assembly in Australia.[1]

Early life

Brookes was born in Hanging Ditch, Manchester, to William Brookes and his wife, Mary (née Oakden) and was educated at Hall State School, Manchester, and was also privately schooled. He began his working career as an apprentice draper before arriving in Sydney in 1848 on the SS 'Bengal'. After trying his hand unsuccessfully as a gold miner at Turon, he returned to Sydney and joined the Union Bank of Australia as a clerk.[2]

In 1853, Brookes was sent to Queensland to work with J.S. Turner in opening a branch of the Union Bank and five years later, in partnership with his brother Benjamin, purchased an Ironmonger's business in Brisbane.[1]

Political career

Brookes entered politics in 1858, serving as an alderman in the Brisbane Municipal Council till 1866.[1] He was elected to the Queensland Legislative Assembly as the member for East Moreton in September 1863 but nine days later his election was declared null and void[1] and in the resulting by-election he lost to Robert Cribb.[3]

In 1864, Brookes stood for the seat of Town of Brisbane which he duly won however, once again his election was declared null and void.[1] This time though, he won the by-election and held the seat till 1867 when he was defeated by Dr Kevin O'Doherty.[4]

His final representation in the Assembly came when he won the seat of North Brisbane in 1882, holding it for six years until losing the seat in 1888.[5]

Brookes was appointed to the Queensland Legislative Council in 1891, serving for six years until his retirement from politics in 1897.[1]

Opposition to the Melanesian labour trade

As a liberal humanitarian he was an ardent opponent of the Melanesian labour trade.[6] He stressed its worst features; that the labourers were treated like chattels, and that they were often obtained illegally or unwittingly.[7] In the Select Committee on the General Question of Polynesian Labour 1876, Brookes stated "The idea of obtaining servants over whom we could have unlimited control; who would be obedient, docile, handy, industrious... for wages that are so small they seemed to be next to no wages at all... drove out all consideration of how these people were procured"[7] and "so it came to pass that citizens,... saw no shame in availing themselves of the labor of poor helpless savages who have been inveigled from their native homes, or... who had been sold at their island by their chiefs, and bought by white men and bought a second time at our wharves in Brisbane, Maryborough, Rockhampton and Mackay"[7] "They had a market price; were quoted at so much a head...They were, in fact, merchandise."[7]

Personal life

In Sydney in 1849, Brookes married Mary Ann Evans, whom he had met on the voyage to Australia and together they had five children.[1] Brookes died in 1898 and was buried in South Brisbane Cemetery.[8]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Former Members". Parliament of Queensland. 2015. Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 14 March 2015.
  2. ↑ Brookes, William (1825–1898) Archived 2 April 2015 at the Wayback Machine – Australian Dictionary of Biography. Retrieved 14 March 2015.
  3. ↑ "Former Members". Parliament of Queensland. 2015. Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 14 March 2015.
  4. ↑ "NORTH BRISBANE ELECTION". The Brisbane Courier. National Library of Australia. 24 June 1867. p. 2. Retrieved 14 March 2015.
  5. ↑ "The General Election". The Brisbane Courier. National Library of Australia. 7 May 1888. p. 5. Archived from the original on 30 July 2022. Retrieved 14 March 2015.
  6. ↑ "Legislative Council Hansard 1876" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 30 July 2022. Retrieved 18 August 2023.
  7. 1 2 3 4 Johnston, W. Ross (1988). A Documentary History of Queensland. St Lucia, Queensland, Australia: University of Queensland Press. pp. 229–230. ISBN 0-7022-2059-0.
  8. ↑ Brooks William Archived 2 April 2015 at the Wayback Machine — Brisbane City Council Grave Location Search. Retrieved 14 March 2015.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.