Hermann Homburg
{{Short description|Australian politician}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2021}}
{{Use Australian English|date=August 2021}}
{{Infobox MP
| honorific_prefix =
| name = Hermann Robert Homburg
| honorific_suffix =
| image = Hermann Homburg.jpg
| alt = Head and shoulders of a man in formal dress with a bow tie, in an oval frame
| caption = Hermann Homburg as a member of the Adelaide Liedertafel in 1904
| office= Attorney-General of South Australia
| term_start = {{start date|1909|12|22|df=y}}
| term_end = {{end date|1910|6|3|df=y}}
| premier = Archibald Peake
| predecessor = Samuel James Mitchell
| successor = Bill Denny
| term_start1 = {{start date|1912|2|17|df=y}}
| term_end1 = {{end date|1915|1|21|df=y}}
| premier1 = Archibald Peake
| predecessor1 = Bill Denny
| successor1 = Angas Parsons
| term_start2 = {{start date|1927|4|8|df=y}}
| term_end2 = {{end date|1930|4|17 |df=y}}
| premier2= R. L. Butler
| predecessor2 = Bill Denny
| successor2 = Bill Denny
| office3= Minister for Industry
| term_start3 = {{start date|1912|2|17|df=y}}
| term_end3 = {{end date|1915|1|21|df=y}}
| premier3 = Archibald Peake
| predecessor3 =
| successor3 =
| term_start4 = {{start date|1927|4|8|df=y}}
| term_end4 = {{end date|1930|4|17 |df=y}}
| premier4 = R. L. Butler
| predecessor4 =
| successor4 =
| office5 = Member of the South Australian Legislative Council for Central District No. 2
| parliamentarygroup5 =
| term_start5 = {{start date|1933|df=y}}
| term_end5 = {{end date|1941|df=y}}
| predecessor5 = John Herbert Cooke
| successor5 = Ernest Anthoney
| office6 = Member of the South Australian Legislative Assembly for Murray
| parliamentarygroup6 = Liberal Federation
| term_start6 = {{start date|1927|3|26|df=y}}
| term_end6 = {{end date|1930|4|5|df=y}}
| predecessor6 = Frank Staniford, Harry Young
| successor6 = Robert Hunter, Frank Staniford
| parliamentarygroup7 = {{plainlist|
- {{nowrap|National League (1906–1910)}}
- Liberal Union (1910–1915)
}}
| term_start7 = {{start date| 1906|11|3|df=y}}
| term_end7 = {{end date|1915|3|27|df=y}}
| predecessor7 = Walter Duncan
| successor7 = George Dunn
| pronunciation =
| birth_name =
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1874|3|17|df=y}}
| birth_place = Norwood, South Australia
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1964|12|12|1874|3|17|df=y}}
| death_place = Dulwich, South Australia
| death_cause =
| resting_place = Centennial Park Cemetery
| resting_place_coordinates =
| party = Liberal and Democratic Union, Liberal Union, Liberal Federation
| otherparty =
| spouse = {{marriage|Emma Lydia Louisa Herring|29 November 1897}}
| relations =
| children =
| mother =
| father = Robert Homburg
| relatives = Robert Homburg Jr. (brother)
| residence =
| education =
| alma_mater =
| occupation = politician and lawyer
| profession =
| known_for =
| cabinet =
| committees =
| portfolio =
| awards =
}}
Hermann Robert Homburg (17 March 1874 – 12 December 1964) was a South Australian politician and lawyer.
Early life
Homburg was born in Norwood and educated at Prince Alfred College and the University of Adelaide. Following his admission to the bar in 1897, he practised law at his father's legal firm, Homburg & Melrose. Homburg's German-born father, Robert Homburg, was also a prominent South Australian politician and lawyer. Robert Homburg had served as Attorney-General of South Australia on three separate occasions, and also, later, as a justice of the Supreme Court of South Australia, the first non-British migrant to be appointed to such a position in Australia.
Homburg supported participation in sport more than watching it. He was member and captain of the Glen Osmond Cricket Club and chairman of the North Adelaide Cycling Club.{{cite news |url=https://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article58189918 |title=Interesting People |newspaper=The Mail (Adelaide) |date=21 September 1912 |access-date=22 April 2019 |page=2 |via=Trove}}
Before World War I
Representing his father's former electorate, Hermann Homburg served as a non-Labor Party member for Murray in the House of Assembly from 1906 to 1915. He became Attorney-General under Premier Archibald Peake in 1909 and also Minister for Industry from 1912 to 1915.{{Cite SA-parl |pid=4165 |name=Hermann Robert Homburg |former=yes |access-date=26 November 2022}}
The outbreak of World War I in 1914 resulted in widespread distrust and persecution of German-Australians. In 1914, while he was Attorney-General, Homburg's government office in Adelaide was raided by soldiers with fixed bayonets. {{Australian Dictionary of Biography |last=Harmstorf |first=Ian |id2=homburg-hermann-robert-7069 |title=Homburg, Hermann Robert (1874 - 1964) |volume=9 |year=1983 |pages=355–356 |access-date=26 November 2022}} He soon fell victim to anti-German sentiment and resigned in early 1915 to avoid embarrassing the government in the forthcoming election.{{cite news |url=https://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article146330390 |title=Personal |newspaper=Table Talk |date=21 January 1915 |access-date=22 April 2019 |page=6 |via=Trove}} Homburg wrote of a "campaign of lies and calumnies against me... because I am not of British lineage."
Between the wars
In 1927, Homburg successfully contested Murray again and returned to parliament. He served as Attorney-General and Minister for Industry in the R. L. Butler ministry from 1927 until losing his seat in 1930. From 1933 to 1941 he was a member of the Legislative Council. He was also a leader of Adelaide's secular German community during the interwar period.
Despite his many years of public service, Homburg's loyalties were once again questioned following the advent of World War II. His home and private office were searched and he was interned on 25 November 1940 but released after appeal on 21 December, under open conditional arrest, one condition being that he moved interstate. In January 1941 he relocated to Melbourne and then moved to Ballarat whereupon he retired from parliament. The judges at Homburg's appeal concluded, "it is obvious that one or more of the persons reporting may have a grudge against the objector Homburg and under pledge of secrecy be willing to lie to cause him distress and trouble."
After politics
References
{{reflist}}
Bibliography
- {{Citation | author1=Homburg, Hermann | title=South Australian Lutherans and wartime rumours | publication-date=1947 | publisher=[s.n.] | url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/work/26524356 |location=Adelaide |accessdate=22 April 2019 }}
{{s-start}}
{{s-off}}
{{s-bef|before=Samuel Mitchell}}
{{s-ttl|title=Attorney-General of South Australia|years=1909-1910}}
{{s-aft|after=Bill Denny}}
{{s-bef|before=Bill Denny}}
{{s-ttl|title=Attorney-General of South Australia|years=1912-1915}}
{{s-aft|after=Herbert Angas Parsons}}
{{s-bef|before=Bill Denny}}
{{s-ttl|title=Attorney-General of South Australia|years=1927-1930}}
{{s-aft|after=Bill Denny}}
{{s-par|au-sa-la}}
{{s-bef | before=Walter Hughes Duncan }}
{{s-ttl | title=Member for Murray | years=1906–1915}}
{{s-aft | after =George Dunn}}
{{s-bef | before=Frank Staniford
Harry Young }}
{{s-ttl | title=Member for Murray | years=1927–1930}}
{{s-aft | after =Robert Hunter
Frank Staniford}}
{{s-par|au-sa-lc}}
{{s-bef | before=John Herbert Cooke
George Henry Prosser }}
{{s-ttl | title=Member for Central District No. 2 | years=1933–1941}}
{{s-aft | after =Ernest Anthoney}}
{{s-end}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Homburg, Hermann}}
Category:Australian people of German descent
Category:People educated at Prince Alfred College
Category:Politicians from Adelaide
Category:Lawyers from Adelaide
Category:Members of the South Australian House of Assembly
Category:Members of the South Australian Legislative Council
Category:Liberal and Country League politicians