Sir John Newlands formerly John Newland, was a Scottish

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...

-born Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

n politician. Born in Nairnshire, he was educated in Scotland before migrating to Australia in 1883, where he became a railway worker. He was secretary of the Railway Officers' Association and sat on Terowie District Council

Terowie, South Australia

Terowie is a small town in the mid-north of South Australia located north of Adelaide. It is located in the Regional Council of Goyder. Terowie retains a number of authentic and well preserved 1880s buildings, and has been declared a "historic town". It also remains a town of interest to those...

 before being elected to the South Australian House of Assembly

South Australian House of Assembly

The House of Assembly, or lower house, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of South Australia. The other is the Legislative Council. It sits in Parliament House in the state capital, Adelaide.- Overview :...

 as the Labor

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...

 member for Burra in 1906. He left the Assembly in 1912, but was elected to the Australian Senate

Australian Senate

The Senate is the upper house of the bicameral Parliament of Australia, the lower house being the House of Representatives. Senators are popularly elected under a system of proportional representation. Senators are elected for a term that is usually six years; after a double dissolution, however,...

 in 1913 as a Labor Senator for South Australia. He left the Labor Party in the wake of the 1916 split over 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...

, joining the Nationalist Party

Nationalist Party of Australia

The Nationalist Party of Australia was an Australian political party. It was formed on 17 February 1917 from a merger between the conservative Commonwealth Liberal Party and the National Labor Party, the name given to the pro-conscription defectors from the Australian Labor Party led by Prime...

. He was knighted in 1926, and changed his name to Newlands. On 1 July 1926, he was appointed President of the Senate

President of the Australian Senate

The President of the Australian Senate is the presiding officer of the Australian Senate, the upper house of the Parliament of Australia. The presiding officer of the lower house is the Speaker of the House of Representatives....

, succeeding Thomas Givens

Thomas Givens

Thomas Givens was an Irish-born Australian politician. Born in County Tipperary, he received a primary education before migrating to Australia in 1882. He became a bush worker and miner in Queensland, and was secretary of the Queensland Miners' Union, as well as proprietor of the Cairns Daily Times...

. He held the presidency until 13 August 1929, when he was succeeded by 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...

. He retired in 1931, but died in 1932 while his term was still unexpired. No appointment was made.