Thomas Chesson

{{short description|Australian trade unionist}}

{{Use Australian English|date=March 2016}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2016}}

{{Infobox officeholder

|honorific-prefix =

|name = Thomas Chesson

|honorific-suffix =

|image =

|image_size =

|office = Member of the Legislative Assembly
of Western Australia

|constituency = Cue

|term_start = 12 November 1913

|term_end = 12 April 1930

|predecessor = Edward Heitmann

|successor = None {{Small|(abolished)}}

|birth_date = c. 1867

|birth_place = Adelong, New South Wales, Australia

|death_date = 6 May 1943

|death_place = Perth, Western Australia, Australia

|party = Labor

}}

Thomas Chesson (c. 1867 – 6 May 1943) was an Australian trade unionist and politician who was a Labor Party member of the Legislative Assembly of Western Australia from 1913 to 1930, representing the seat of Cue.

Chesson was born in Adelong, New South Wales, to Bridget (née McKay) and John Benjamin Chesson. Arriving in Western Australia in the 1890s, he settled in the inland mining town of Cue, where he worked on the mines. He became prominent in local labour circles, serving as a branch official for various general unions.[http://www.parliament.wa.gov.au/parliament/library/MPHistoricalData.nsf/(Lookup)/361122DEC3B9F0C3482577E50028A56A?OpenDocument Thomas Chesson] – Biographical Register of Members of the Parliament of Western Australia. Retrieved 26 June 2016. Chesson entered parliament in November 1913, following the resignation of Edward Heitmann. He was the only candidate at the by-election, and was re-elected unopposed another four times at state elections, only once facing another candidate (at the 1921 election).{{cite book|last=Black|first=David|authorlink=David Black (historian)|last2=Prescott|first2=Valerie|title=Election statistics : Legislative Assembly of Western Australia, 1890-1996|year=1997|publisher=Western Australian Parliamentary History Project and Western Australian Electoral Commission|location=Perth, [W.A.]|isbn=0730984095}} The seat of Cue was abolished at the 1930 election, and Chesson left parliament.[http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/58376305 "CHRONICLES OF THE LABOUR MOVEMENT"], The Sunday Times, 2 March 1930. He eventually retired to Perth, dying there in May 1943.[http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/148422030 "Death of Tom Chesson"], Westralian Worker, 14 May 1943. He had married Kate Martin in 1901, with whom he had six children.