George Edwards (Australian politician)

The Honourable
George Edwards
Member of the Australian Parliament
for South Sydney
In office
29 March 1901 – 8 November 1906
Preceded byNew seat
Succeeded byChris Watson
Member of the Australian Parliament
for North Sydney
In office
13 April 1910 – 4 February 1911
Preceded byDugald Thomson
Succeeded byGranville Ryrie
Personal details
Born(1855-01-30)30 January 1855
Hobart, Tasmania, Australia
Died4 February 1911(1911-02-04) (aged 56)
Turramurra, New South Wales, Australia
Political partyFree Trade (1901–06)
Liberal (1909–11)
OccupationJournalist

George Bertrand Edwards (30 January 1855 – 4 February 1911) was an Australian politician. He was a member of the Australian House of Representatives representing the Division of South Sydney for the Free Trade Party from 1901 to 1906 and the Division of North Sydney for the Liberal Party from 1910 until his death in 1911.

Edwards was born and raised in Hobart, Tasmania, the son of a tobacconist and was educated at Christ College. He became a journalist with the Tasmanian Tribune at the age of 20. He later managed the new Hobart office of Launceston newspaper The Examiner c. 1882–83, then in 1884 briefly went to Sydney to run the Peacock Jam Company branch there, but returned to Hobart the next year to run the Launceston office of Hobart newspaper The Mercury. He married the eldest daughter of jam magnate George Peacock in October 1885. He later worked on the general staff of The Mercury, was chief Hansard reporter for two sessions of the Federal Council of Australasia and was editor of the Mercury-owned Tasmanian Mail weekly magazine in 1888–89.[1][2][3][4][5][6]

Edwards then managed the Peacock Jam Company's Melbourne branch until purchasing the company's Sydney operations in 1894, subsequently operating that business in partnership with Herbert Peacock. He also purchased 60 acres of land adjoining Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park for a house and fruitgrowing operation. He was a supporter of free trade policies and an unsuccessful Free Trade candidate at the 1898 election.[7][8][1][9]

In 1901, he contested the first federal election as the Free Trade candidate for South Sydney, and won, defeating state Labor leader James McGowen. His platform included support for a White Australia policy and a federal old age pension.[10][11] In parliament, Edwards chaired the Decimal Coinage Commission and was a member of the Royal Commission on Navigation.[1] Edwards was an early supporter of decimalisation and metrification, and moved several motions calling on Australia to adopt the metric system and a decimal currency.[12][13] He retired at the 1906 election due to a mix of health concerns and business commitments.[14][15] Peacock & Co (Edwards' Sydney operation) amalgamated with two other major jam manufacturers to form Henry Jones' Co-operative, Ltd. (later Henry Jones IXL) in early 1910, and later that year he returned to the House of Representatives as the Liberal member for North Sydney.[16][17]

Edwards was killed when an acetylene gasometer exploded at his property in Turramurra on 4 February 1911. A mechanic named John Graham was also killed in the explosion, which was overheard by Edwards' daughter Annie. The explosion destroyed the brick structure in which the gasometer was housed, and the victims' bodies were found some distance from the gasometer, both with severe head injuries.[18] A coronial inquiry returned a verdict of accidental death.[19]

  1. ^ a b c "A SHOCKING ACCIDENT". The Mercury. Vol. XCV, no. 12, 752. Tasmania, Australia. 6 February 1911. p. 5. Retrieved 13 May 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
  2. ^ "DEATH OF HON. G. B. EDWARDS". Tasmanian News. No. 9224. Tasmania, Australia. 6 February 1911. p. 2 (5.30 EDITION). Retrieved 13 May 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
  3. ^ "Advertising". Launceston Examiner. Vol. XLIII, no. 8. Tasmania, Australia. 9 January 1883. p. 2. Retrieved 13 May 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
  4. ^ "Advertising". Launceston Examiner. Vol. XLI, no. 113. Tasmania, Australia. 13 May 1882. p. 2 (Supplement to the Launceston Examiner.). Retrieved 13 May 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
  5. ^ "Advertising". The Mercury. Vol. XLVI, no. 4, 639. Tasmania, Australia. 1 January 1885. p. 2. Retrieved 13 May 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
  6. ^ "HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES". The Sydney Morning Herald. No. 19, 680. New South Wales, Australia. 9 April 1901. p. 4. Retrieved 13 May 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
  7. ^ "INDUSTRIAL NEW SOUTH WALES". The Australian Star. No. 3423. New South Wales, Australia. 2 February 1899. p. 3. Retrieved 13 May 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
  8. ^ "Family Notices". The Mercury. Vol. XLVII, no. 4, 894. Tasmania, Australia. 30 October 1885. p. 1. Retrieved 13 May 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
  9. ^ "Index page". New South Wales Government Gazette. No. INDEX 18940101-18940228. New South Wales, Australia. 28 February 1894. p. xvi. Retrieved 13 May 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
  10. ^ "THE FEDERAL CAMPAIGN". Evening News. No. 10, 530. New South Wales, Australia. 9 March 1901. p. 2. Retrieved 13 May 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
  11. ^ "THE FEDERAL CAMPAIGN". The Australian Star. No. 4078. New South Wales, Australia. 12 March 1901. p. 4. Retrieved 13 May 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
  12. ^ Tiger Webb (7 March 2018). "Are you pronouncing 'kilometre' correctly?". Australia: ABC News. Retrieved 7 March 2018.
  13. ^ HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES // QUESTION: DECIMAL SYSTEMS OF MONEY, WEIGHT, AND MEASURE, 4 August 1910.
  14. ^ "RETIREMENT OF MR. G. B. EDWARDS". The Age. No. 16084. Victoria, Australia. 28 September 1906. p. 5. Retrieved 13 May 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
  15. ^ "MEN AND WOMEN". The Australian Star. No. 5812. New South Wales, Australia. 28 September 1906. p. 4 (FIRST EDITION). Retrieved 13 May 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
  16. ^ Carr, Adam (2008). "Australian Election Archive". Psephos, Adam Carr's Election Archive. Archived from the original on 17 July 2007. Retrieved 24 May 2008.
  17. ^ "ON 'CHANGE". The Sydney Mail and New South Wales Advertiser. Vol. LXXXIX, no. 2519. New South Wales, Australia. 16 February 1910. p. 15. Retrieved 13 May 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
  18. ^ "Tragic explosion". The Sydney Morning Herald. 6 February 1911.
  19. ^ "The gas explosion". The Sydney Morning Herald. 14 February 1911.