Frederick William "Fred" Bamford (11 February 1849 – 10 September 1934) was an Australian politician.

Bamford was born in Dubbo, New South Wales and educated at Toowoomba, Queensland

Toowoomba, Queensland

Toowoomba is a city in Southern Queensland, Australia. It is located west of Queensland's capital city, Brisbane. With an estimated district population of 128,600, Toowoomba is Australia's second largest inland city and its largest non-capital inland city...

. He left school at 14 and worked as a carpenter around the Toowoomba area. In September 1871 he married Mary Ann Miller. He and a partner set up a cabinet-making business in Mackay

Mackay, Queensland

Mackay is a city on the eastern coast of Queensland, Australia, about north of Brisbane, on the Pioneer River. Mackay is nicknamed the sugar capital of Australia because its region produces more than a third of Australia's cane sugar....

 in 1882 but he went bankrupt in 1884.

Political career

In 1892 Bamford became a publican in Bowen

Bowen, Queensland

Bowen is a town on the eastern coast of Queensland, Australia. At the 2006 census, Bowen had a population of 7,484.-Geography:Bowen is located on the north-east coast of Australia, at exactly twenty degrees south of the equator. In fact, the twentieth parallel crosses the main street...

 and ran unsuccessfully for the seat of Bowen in the Queensland Legislative Assembly

Queensland Legislative Assembly

The Queensland Legislative Assembly is the unicameral chamber of the Parliament of Queensland. Elections are held approximately once every three years. Voting is by the Optional Preferential Voting form of the Alternative Vote system...

 in December 1895 and March 1899. He was elected to the Bowen municipal council

Shire of Bowen

The Shire of Bowen was a Local Government Area located in the North Queensland region of Queensland, Australia. The shire, administered from the town of Bowen, covered an area of , and existed as a local government entity from 1879 until 2008, when it amalgamated with the Shire of Whitsunday to...

 in 1897 and was elected mayor in 1898.

Bamford narrowly won the seat of Australian House of Representatives

Australian House of Representatives

The House of Representatives is one of the two houses of the Parliament of Australia; it is the lower house; the upper house is the Senate. Members of Parliament serve for terms of approximately three years....

 Herbert

Division of Herbert

The Division of Herbert is an Australian Electoral Division in Queensland. Eligible voters within the Division elect a single representative, known as the member for Herbert, to the Australian House of Representatives. The division was first contested at the 1901 election...

 at the 1901 election as the Australian Labor Party

Australian Labor Party

The Australian Labor Party is an Australian political party. It has been the governing party of the Commonwealth of Australia since the 2007 federal election. Julia Gillard is the party's federal parliamentary leader and Prime Minister of Australia...

 candidate, campaigning specifically against the employment of Kanakas

Kanakas

Kanaka was the term for a worker from various Pacific Islands employed in British colonies, such as British Columbia , Fiji and Queensland in the 19th and early 20th centuries...

 in the North Queensland sugar cane fields. In parliament, he spoke frequently in support of the White Australia policy

White Australia policy

The White Australia policy comprises various historical policies that intentionally restricted "non-white" immigration to Australia. From origins at Federation in 1901, the polices were progressively dismantled between 1949-1973....

 and subsidies and protection for the sugar industry. From 1902 to 1916, he was vice-president of the Waterside Workers' Federation

Maritime Union of Australia

The Maritime Union of Australia covers waterside workers, seafarers, port workers, professional divers, and office workers associated with Australian ports. As of 2011 the union has about 13,000 members. It is an affiliate of the International Transport Workers' Federation and represents the...

 while Billy Hughes

Billy Hughes

William Morris "Billy" Hughes, CH, KC, MHR , Australian politician, was the seventh Prime Minister of Australia from 1915 to 1923....

 was its president. In July 1915, he became the first member to speak in favour of the introduction of conscription

Conscription

Conscription is the compulsory enlistment of people in some sort of national service, most often military service. Conscription dates back to antiquity and continues in some countries to the present day under various names...

 during World War I. He was expelled from the Labor Party on 30 October 1916 and was Minister for Home and Territories

Minister for Home Affairs (Australia)

The Australian Minister for Home Affairs has been Brendan O'Connor since 6 June 2009. The Home Affairs portfolio brings together agencies such as the Australian Customs Service , the Australian Federal Police and the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation, which were previously the...

 in Hughes' National Labor Party

National Labor Party

The National Labor Party was the name used by the Australian Prime Minister Billy Hughes for himself and his followers after he was expelled from the Australian Labor Party in November 1916 over his pro-conscription stance in relation to World War I...

 ministry

Second Hughes Ministry

The Second Hughes Ministry was the thirteenth Australian Commonwealth ministry, and ran from 14 November 1916 to 17 February 1917.National Labor Party*Rt Hon Billy Hughes, MP: Prime Minister, Attorney-General*Senator Hon George Pearce: Minister for Defence...

 from 14 November to 17 February 1917. He retired from parliament at the 1925 election

Australian federal election, 1925

Federal elections were held in Australia on 14 November 1925. All 75 seats in the House of Representatives, and 22 of the 36 seats in the Senate were up for election...

.

Bamford moved to Sydney where he died in 1934, survived by three sons and two daughters.