John Kidd was an Australian politician.

Born in Brechin, Forfarshire, Scotland

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

, to boot manufacturer John Kidd and Elizabeth Souter, received a limited education and was apprenticed at the age of thirteen as a baker and confectioner. In 1857 he arrived in New South Wales

New South Wales

New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...

 and became a baker in Sydney

Sydney

Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...

; by 1876 his bakery was a general store. In November 1860 he married Sophie Collier at Aberdeen

Aberdeen, New South Wales

Aberdeen is a small town in the upper Hunter Valley region of New South Wales, Australia, in Upper Hunter Shire. It is located about 12 kilometres north of Muswellbrook on the New England Highway. Aberdeen is named after Aberdeen, Scotland. At the 2006 census, Aberdeen had a population of...

, with whom he had three children. He visited the United Kingdom

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...

 in 1877 and had a cattle property near Campbelltown

Campbelltown, New South Wales

Campbelltown is a suburb in south-western Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Campbelltown is located 51 kilometres south-west of the Sydney central business district and is the administrative centre for the local government area of the City of Campbelltown.- History :Campbelltown...

. In 1880 he was elected to the New South Wales Legislative Assembly

New South Wales Legislative Assembly

The Legislative Assembly, or lower house, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of New South Wales, an Australian state. The other chamber is the Legislative Council. Both the Assembly and Council sit at Parliament House in the state capital, Sydney...

 as the member for Camden

Electoral district of Camden

Camden is an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of New South Wales in Sydney's south-west. It is currently represented by Chris Patterson of the Liberal Party of Australia.-History:...

; he served until 1882 and then again from 1885 to 1887, 1889 to 1895, and 1898 to 1904. He was Secretary for Mines and Minister for Agriculture from 1901 to 1904, and during his various terms was associated with the Protectionist

Protectionist Party

The Protectionist Party was an Australian political party, formally organised from 1889 until 1909, with policies centred on protectionism. It argued that Australia needed protective tariffs to allow Australian industry to grow and provide employment. It had its greatest strength in Victoria and in...

 and Progressive

Progressive Party (Australia)

The Progressive Party was an Australian political party, active in New South Wales state politics. The question of tariff policy which, had created and divided the Free Trade Party and Protectionist Party in New South Wales in the 1890s, became a federal issue at the time of federation...

 parties. He had been a supporter of Federation from 1891. Kidd died at Campbelltown in 1919.