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James Drake (politician)

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The Honourable
James Drake
Attorney-General of Australia
In office
24 September 1903 – 27 April 1904
Prime MinisterAlfred Deakin
Preceded byAlfred Deakin
Succeeded byH. B. Higgins
Minister for Defence
In office
10 August 1903 – 24 September 1903
Prime MinisterEdmund Barton
Preceded byJohn Forrest
Succeeded byAustin Chapman
Postmaster-General of Australia
In office
5 February 1901 – 10 August 1903
Prime MinisterEdmund Barton
Preceded byJohn Forrest
Succeeded byPhilip Fysh
Senator for Queensland
In office
30 March 1901 – 31 December 1906
Member of the Queensland Legislative Council
In office
17 December 1899 – 13 May 1901
Member of the Queensland Legislative Assembly
for Enoggera
In office
12 May 1888 – 7 December 1899
Preceded byJames Dickson
Succeeded byMatthew Reid
Personal details
Born
James George Drake

(1850-04-26)26 April 1850
London, England, United Kingdom
Died1 August 1941(1941-08-01) (aged 91)
Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
Resting placeToowong Cemetery
NationalityEnglish Australian
Political partyProtectionist Party
Other political
affiliations		Opposition (Queensland)
Spouse
Mary Street
​
(m. 1897⁠–⁠1924)​
Occupation

James George Drake (26 April 1850 – 1 August 1941), often cited as J. G. Drake, was an Australian politician. After a number of years in Queensland colonial politics, he was elected to the Senate at the first federal election in 1901. He subsequently held ministerial office under prime ministers Edmund Barton, Alfred Deakin, and George Reid, serving as Postmaster-General (1901–1903), Minister for Defence (1903), Attorney-General (1903–1904), and Vice-President of the Executive Council (1904–1905).

Early life

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Drake was born on 26 April 1850 in London, England. He was the son of Ann (née Hyde) and Edward Drake, his father being a publican. He was educated at King's College School and then worked for merchant firms for several years.[1] Drake left London in October 1873 and arrived in Brisbane in January 1874. He sought work unsuccessfully in the tin mines at Stanthorpe before finding employment as a store clerk in Toowoomba, later returning to Brisbane. He also spent some time as a jackaroo in western Queensland.[2]

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Drake in 1889

In 1875, Drake began working as a journalist with the Bundaberg Star. He subsequently moved to the Daily Northern Argus (Rockhampton) and then returned to Brisbane to work on the Telegraph and Courier (as leader writer). For a brief period he moved to Melbourne and worked as a parliamentary reporter for the Argus.[2] Upon his return to Queensland he joined the staff of Hansard, making use of his shorthand skills in transcribing debates in the colonial parliament; he was president of the Queensland Shorthand Writers' Association.[1]

Drake began reading law in May 1881 and was admitted to the bar in June 1882. He established a "flourishing practice" in partnership with Magnus Jensen. His radical views led to a friendship with the utopian socialist William Lane, and in 1887 he became a shareholder, writer, and joint editor of Lane's weekly newspaper The Boomerang.[1]

Military service

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Drake was commissioned as a lieutenant in the Queensland Defence Force in 1886, and promoted to captain in 1888 and major in 1900.[3][4][5]

Colonial politics

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Drake in 1899

Drake was a member of the Legislative Assembly of Queensland for the Electoral district of Enoggera from 12 May 1888 to 7 December 1899. Following his period as an elected representative, he was appointed a life Member of the Legislative Council of Queensland on 7 December 1899, during which he was Postmaster-General and Secretary for Public Instruction in Queensland. Although membership of the Legislative Council was a life appointment, he resigned on 13 May 1901 in order to pursue a career in newly established federal parliament.[1][6]

Federal politics

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Drake c. 1900

After Federation on 1 January 1901, Edmund Barton formed a caretaker ministry with James Dickson as Queensland's sole representative. Dickson's sudden death just over a week later caused Barton to seek another Queenslander to join his ministry. Philp recommended that Drake be offered the position, and as a result he was appointed Postmaster-General on 5 February 1901. He was elected to the Senate as a Protectionist at the inaugural federal election held the following month.[2]

Drake was tasked with establishing a national post and telegraph system from the six existing colonial systems. He secured the passage of the Post and Telegraph Act 1901, in his second reading speech expressing the need for non-discrimination in the provision of services and the advantages of a publicly owned telegraph service. He was generally regarded as a competent administrator,[2] although his appointment of Queenslander Robert Scott as the inaugural head of the Postmaster-General's Department led to accusation of state bias. Punch regarded him as "a plodder – thorough rather than brilliant".[1]

Following a reshuffle in August 1903, Drake replaced John Forrest as Minister for Defence. He held the position for only six weeks, as Attorney-General Alfred Deakin replaced Barton as prime minister the following month and appointed Drake as his successor. He presented the Commonwealth's arguments in D'Emden v Pedder, one of the first significant constitutional cases decided by the High Court of Australia.[1] Drake was a strong supporter of the White Australia policy. Days before the 1903 federal election, in response to the Petriana affair, he stated that its provisions should even extend to shipwrecked sailors. The Argus reported he had told an election meeting in Sydney:[7]

It was undesirable that educated gentlemen who had been in gaol, or coloured men who had been shipwrecked, should land in Australia in defiance of the law. They intended to keep their race pure, and make Australia a place worth living in.

Deakin's first government fell in April 1904. After a brief interlude of Australian Labor Party (ALP) government led by Chris Watson, opposition leader George Reid formed a coalition government of his Free Traders and the Protectionists willing to support him. Drake joined the government as Vice-President of the Executive Council and Leader of the Government in the Senate, holding office until the government fell in July 1905. He was not invited to join the Second Deakin ministry, although in January 1906 he established Commonwealth, a broadsheet designed to counter anti-federation feeling in Queensland. He lost preselection prior to the 1906 federal election, and decided to retire from federal politics rather than stand for re-election as an independent.[2]

Affiliation

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Drake was a founding member of Brisbane's Johnsonian Club.[8]

Later life

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Drake stood for the Queensland state seat of North Brisbane in 1907, but only gained 137 votes.[1] He was state crown prosecutor from 1910 to 1920 and in 1912 was appointed Acting Deputy Judge of the District Court of Queensland.[9]

Death

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He died in Brisbane Hospital and was buried in Toowong Cemetery.[10] He was the last surviving member of the Barton, Reid and the first Deakin Cabinet. Drake was survived by four children from his marriage to Mary Street in 1897.[1]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Gibbney, H. J. (1981). "Drake, James George (1850–1941)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Canberra: National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. ISBN 978-0-522-84459-7. ISSN 1833-7538. OCLC 70677943. Retrieved 14 August 2022.
  2. ^ a b c d e Drinkwater, Derek (2000). "Drake, James George (1850–1941)". The Biographical Dictionary of the Australian Senate. Vol. 1. Retrieved 15 March 2020.
  3. ^ "Commission of Appointment - Lieutenant, Land Defence Force - James George Drake, Queensland State Archives Item ID2765941, Letters patent". Archived from the original on 16 December 2019. Retrieved 3 July 2018.
  4. ^ "Commission of Appointment - Captain in the Land Defence Force - James George Drake, Queensland State Archives Item ID2765941, Letters patent". Archived from the original on 3 July 2018. Retrieved 3 July 2018.
  5. ^ "Commission of Appointment - Major, Unattached List, Land Defence Force - James George Drake, Queensland State Archives Item ID2767604, Letters patent". Archived from the original on 3 July 2018. Retrieved 3 July 2018.
  6. ^ "Former Members Register". Queensland Parliament. Archived from the original on 2 April 2012. Retrieved 31 December 2012.
  7. ^ Foster, Leonie (2014). "Shipwrecks and the White Australia policy". The Great Circle. 36 (2). The Australian Association for Maritime History: 74. JSTOR 24583070.
  8. ^ "TROUBLED TIMES". The Brisbane Courier. No. 22, 568. Queensland, Australia. 29 May 1930. p. 14. Retrieved 15 April 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
  9. ^ "Instrument of Appointment - Acting Deputy Judge, District Courts - James George Drake, Queensland State Archives Item ID2768641, Letters patent".
  10. ^ Drake James George Archived 8 June 2012 at the Wayback Machine – Brisbane City Council Grave Location Search. Retrieved 18 February 2015.
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to James Drake (Queensland politician).

 

Political offices
Preceded by
James Dickson & Robert Bulcock
(dual-member constituency)
 Legislative Assembly of Queensland
Electoral district of Enoggera
12 May 1888 – 7 December 1899 		Succeeded by
Preceded by
 Legislative Council of Queensland
7 December 1899 – 13 May 1901 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Postmaster-General
1901–1903 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Attorney General
1903–1904 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Minister for Defence
1901–1903 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Vice-President of the Executive Council
1904–1905 		Succeeded by
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