James Hutchison (Australian politician)
{{Short description|Australian politician and printer}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2025}}
{{Use Australian English|date=January 2016}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific-prefix = The Honourable
| image = Portrait of James Hutchison, M.H.R. for Hindmarsh, South Australia (cropped, monochrome).jpg
| constituency_MP = Hindmarsh
| parliament = Australian
| predecessor = Position established
| successor = William Archibald
| term_start = 16 December 1903
| term_end = 6 December 1909
| constituency_MP2 = East Adelaide
| parliament2 = South Australian
| predecessor2 = John McPherson
| successor2 = Position abolished
| term_start2 = January 1898
| term_end2 = May 1902
| birth_date = {{birth date|df=y|1859|4|20}}
| birth_place = Aberdeen, Scotland
| death_date = {{death date and age|df=y|1909|12|6|1859|4|20}}
| death_place = Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
| spouse = {{marriage|Mary Jane Trebilcock|1886}}
| party = Labor
| relations =
| children =
| residence =
| alma_mater =
| occupation = Politician, printer
| profession =
| signature = James Hutchison signature.svg
| website =
| footnotes =
}}
James Hutchison (20 April 1859 – 6 December 1909) was an Australian politician and printer. He was a member of the Australian Labor Party (ALP), serving in the South Australian House of Assembly (1898–1902) and Australian House of Representatives (1903–1909). He was an honorary minister in the First Fisher Ministry (1908–1909).
Early life
Hutchison was born in Aberdeen, Scotland, received a primary education and was eventually apprenticed as a compositor on the Daily Free Press and attended the mechanics' institute. He migrated to South Australia in 1884 with fellow worker, John McPherson and they found work on the South Australian Register. In 1886, he married Mary Jane Trebilcock. In 1888, Hutchison and McPherson were sacked for taking part in a strike over their paper's opposition to union labor. In 1889 Hutchison established a press, Hutchison, Craker & Smith, with two other sacked compositors and in 1890 began publishing a satirical paper, Quiz.
{{Australian Dictionary of Biography
|last= Edgar
|first= Suzanne
|year=1983
|id2=hutchison-james-6778
|title= Hutchison, James (1859 – 1909)
|accessdate=2013-01-19
}}
South Australian politics
File:Portrait of James Hutchison.jpg
In December 1897, John McPherson, who had been elected as the United Labor Party member for the seat of East Adelaide in the South Australian House of Assembly, died and Hutchison won the subsequent by-election on 22 January 1898.{{cite SA-parl |pid=3760 |name=James Hutchison |former=yes |access-date=23 August 2022}} In the House he supported the federation of Australia and White Australia. In his opposition to a bill authorising the take-over and electrification of some of Adelaide's horse tram lines, he made remarks about Charles Tucker, a supporter of the bill, which led Tucker to sue for libel, bankrupting Hutchison in April 1902. The seat of East Adelaide was abolished at the May 1902 election, Hutchison was not elected to any of the new seats.
Federal politics
At the 1903 federal election, Hutchison won the House of Representatives seat of Hindmarsh. From November 1908 until June 1909, Hutchison was an honorary minister in the first Fisher ministry representing the Minister for Defence in the House of Representatives. He died suddenly in Melbourne from "inflammation of the kidneys and gall bladder", survived by his wife and six children.
Notes
{{Reflist}}
{{s-start}}
{{s-par|au-sa-la}}
{{s-bef | before = John McPherson}}
{{s-ttl | title=Member for East Adelaide | years=Jan 1898 – May 1902 |alongside = Theodor Scherk}}
{{s-non | reason = Seat abolished}}
{{s-par|au}}
{{s-new | division }}
{{s-ttl | title=Member for Hindmarsh | years=1903–1909}}
{{s-aft | after=William Archibald }}
{{s-end}}
{{authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hutchison, James}}
Category:Politicians from Aberdeen
Category:Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Australia
Category:Members of the South Australian House of Assembly
Category:Members of the Australian House of Representatives
Category:Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Hindmarsh
Category:19th-century Australian politicians