Colonial Secretary of Western Australia

The Colonial Secretary of Western Australia was one of the most important and powerful public offices in Western Australia

Western Australia

Western Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east...

, in the time when Western Australia was a British

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

colony

Colony

In politics and history, a colony is a territory under the immediate political control of a state. For colonies in antiquity, city-states would often found their own colonies. Some colonies were historically countries, while others were territories without definite statehood from their inception....

. The Colonial Secretary was the representative of the British Colonial Office

Secretary of State for the Colonies

The Secretary of State for the Colonies or Colonial Secretary was the British Cabinet minister in charge of managing the United Kingdom's various colonial dependencies....

in Western Australia, and was usually appointed from Britain. He was responsible for all official correspondence between the colony and the Colonial Office. He was at all times a member of the Western Australian Legislative Council

Western Australian Legislative Council

The Legislative Council, or upper house, is one of the two chambers of parliament in the Australian state of Western Australia. Its central purpose is to act as a house of review for legislation passed through the lower house, the Legislative Assembly. It sits in Parliament House in the state...

and the Western Australian Executive Council.

After Western Australia gained responsible government

Responsible government

Responsible government is a conception of a system of government that embodies the principle of parliamentary accountability which is the foundation of the Westminster system of parliamentary democracy...

in 1890, the office of Colonial Secretary became a ministerial portfolio. The responsibilities of the office changed substantially, and it was no longer such an important role. Colebatch (2004) described the office of Colonial Secretary in 1917 as

responsible for a large number of departments including Aborigines, Public Health, charities and many of the state trading concerns including the State Shipping Service. The position required a great deal of detailed work and would always attract many Parliamentary Questions, but did not allow the minister much scope for initiative or achievement.

Since Western Australia was no longer a British colony after 1901, the office of Colonial Secretary was misnamed after this date. In 1924, the office was renamed to Chief Secretary.

List of Colonial Secretaries of Western Australia

The following is a list of Colonial Secretaries of Western Australia:

Colonial Secretary	Period in office
Peter Broun Peter Broun Peter Nicholas Broun , known for most of his life as Peter Nicholas Brown, was the first Colonial Secretary of Western Australia, and a member of Western Australia's first Legislative Council.-Early life:...	1828–1846
George Fletcher Moore George Fletcher Moore George Fletcher Moore was a prominent early settler in colonial Western Australia, and "one [of] the key figures in early Western Australia's ruling elite"... (acting)	November 1846–1847
Richard Madden	May 1847–1849
Revett Bland (acting)	January 1849–March 1850
Thomas Yule (acting)	March 1850–October 1850
Charles Piesse	October 1850–March 1851
Thomas Yule (acting)	March–December 1851
Thomas Falconer Thomas Falconer Thomas Falconer was an English jurist and explorer.Born in Bath, England on 25 June 1805, Falconer was admitted to Lincoln's Inn in 1823, and to the bar in 1830...	From March 1851 but never arrived in colony
William Sanford	January 1852–July 1855
Frederick Barlee Frederick Barlee Sir Frederick Palgrave Barlee KCMG was Colonial Secretary of Western Australia from 1855 to 1875; Lieutenant-Governor of the British Honduras from 1877 to 1882; and Administrator of Trinidad in 1884....	July 1855–24 November 1875 (on leave from 24 July 1875)
Anthony O'Grady Lefroy Anthony O'Grady Lefroy Anthony O'Grady Lefroy CMG , often known as O'Grady Lefroy, was an important government official in Western Australia before the advent of responsible government.... (acting)	24 July 1875–30 August 1877
Roger Goldsworthy Roger Goldsworthy Sir Roger Tuckfield Goldsworthy KCMG was a British colonial administrator.Roger Goldsworthy was born in Marylebone, Middlesex in 1839, and educated at Sandhurst, the younger brother of Major-General Walter Tuckfield Goldsworthy MP...	30 August 1877–7 September 1880
Edric Gifford	2 November 1880–21 January 1883
Malcolm Fraser Malcolm Fraser (surveyor) Sir Malcolm Fraser KCMG was a powerful public servant in colonial Western Australia in the 1870s and 1880s.Malcolm Fraser was born in Gloucestershire, England in 1834. Nothing is known of his early life, except that he must have qualified as a surveyor at some stage, and that he emigrated to New...	5 January 1883–28 December 1890
Matthew Smith Matthew Smith (colonial secretary) Matthew Skinner Smith was acting Colonial Secretary of Western Australia from 1885 to 1887.Smith was born on 30 August 1836. Little is known of his early life. From 1854, he was an officer in the 44th Regiment; he served in the Crimea, China, and India, before retiring as a Captain in 1867... (acting)	8 December 1885–18 April 1887
George Shenton George Shenton Sir George Shenton was a prominent businessman in colonial Western Australia, the first Mayor of Perth, and a Member of the Western Australian Legislative Council for over thirty years.-Early and family life:...	29 December 1890–11 October 1892
Stephen Parker Stephen Henry Parker Sir Stephen Henry Parker KCMG was a lawyer and Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Western Australia from 1906 to 1914.-Early life:...	11 October 1892–4 December 1894
John Forrest John Forrest Sir John Forrest GCMG was an Australian explorer, the first Premier of Western Australia and a cabinet minister in Australia's first federal parliament....	4 December 1894–28 April 1898
George Randell George Randell George Randell was an Australian politician. He was a member of the Western Australian Legislative Council from 1873–1875 and 1880–1890, then when representative self-government was achieved in 1890, won the seat of Moore in the new Legislative Assembly...	28 April 1898–27 May 1901
Frederick Illingworth Frederick Illingworth Frederick Illingworth , Australian politician, was a Member of Parliament in two Australian states, and a government minister in Western Australia...	27 May–21 November 1901
Matthew Moss	21 November–23 December 1901
Frederick Illingworth Frederick Illingworth Frederick Illingworth , Australian politician, was a Member of Parliament in two Australian states, and a government minister in Western Australia...	23 December 1901–30 June 1902
Walter Kingsmill Walter Kingsmill Sir Walter Kingsmill was an Australian politician.Born in Glenelg, South Australia, he was educated at St Peter's College in Adelaide and at the University of Adelaide before becoming a geologist. Moving to Western Australia in 1888, he became a mine manager...	1 July 1902–10 August 1904
George Taylor	10 August 1904–7 June 1905
John Drew	7 June–5 August 1905
Walter Kingsmill Walter Kingsmill Sir Walter Kingsmill was an Australian politician.Born in Glenelg, South Australia, he was educated at St Peter's College in Adelaide and at the University of Adelaide before becoming a geologist. Moving to Western Australia in 1888, he became a mine manager...	25 August 1905–7 May 1906
John Connolly	7 May 1906–7 October 1911
John Drew	7 October 1911–27 July 1916
Hal Colebatch Hal Colebatch Sir Harry Pateshall Colebatch CMG , better known as Sir Hal Colebatch, was a long-serving and occasionally controversial figure in Western Australian politics...	27 July 1916–17 April 1919
Charles Hudson	17 April–17 May 1919
John Scaddan John Scaddan John Scaddan, CMG , popularly known as "Happy Jack", was Premier of Western Australia from 7 October 1911 until 27 July 1916.- Biography :...	17 May–25 June 1919
Frank Broun	25 June 1919–22 August 1922
Richard Sampson	22 August 1922–16 April 1924

List of Colonial Secretaries of Western Australia

Further reading