Henry Daglish

Henry Daglish
Black and white image of man with large moustache and short hair
6th Premier of Western Australia
In office
10 August 1904 – 25 August 1905
MonarchEdward VII
GovernorSir Frederick Bedford
Preceded bySir Walter James
Succeeded byHector Rason
Colonial Treasurer
In office
10 August 1904 – 25 August 1905
PremierHimself
Preceded byHector Rason
Succeeded byHector Rason
Minister for Education
In office
10 August 1904 – 7 June 1905
PremierHimself
Preceded byWalter Kingsmill
Succeeded byThomas Bath
Leader of the Opposition
In office
25 August 1905 – 27 September 1905
PremierHector Rason
Preceded byNew office
Succeeded byWilliam Johnson
Leader of the Labor Party in Western Australia
In office
8 July 1904 – 27 September 1905
Preceded byRobert Hastie
Succeeded byWilliam Johnson
Minister for Works
In office
16 September 1910 – 3 October 1911
PremierFrank Wilson
Preceded byFrank Wilson
Succeeded byWilliam Johnson
Member of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly for Subiaco
In office
24 April 1901 – 3 October 1911
Preceded byNew seat
Succeeded byBartholomew James Stubbs
Personal details
Born(1866-11-18)18 November 1866
Ballarat, Victoria, British Empire
Died16 August 1920(1920-08-16) (aged 53)
Subiaco, Western Australia, Australia
Resting placeKarrakatta Cemetery
NationalityBritish subject
Political partyLabor (1901–1905)[a]
Other political
affiliations
Independent Labour (1905–1908)
Liberal (1908–1911)[b]
Spouse
Edith May (née Bishop)
(m. 1894)
Children2
Parent(s)William Daglish
Mary Ann (née James)
Alma materUniversity of Melbourne
OccupationMechanical engineer, public servant, trade union official, real estate agent[1]

Henry Daglish (18 November 1866 – 16 August 1920) was an Australian politician who was the sixth premier of Western Australia and the first from the Labor Party,[a] serving from 10 August 1904 to 25 August 1905. Daglish was born in Ballarat, Victoria, and studied at the University of Melbourne. In 1882, he worked as a mechanical engineer but soon switched to working in the Victorian public service. He first stood for election in 1896 but failed to win the Victorian Legislative Assembly seat of Melbourne South. He then moved to Subiaco, Western Australia, where he found work as a chief clerk in the Western Australian Police Department. In 1900, Daglish was elected to the Subiaco Municipal Council and in April the following year, he was elected to the Western Australian Legislative Assembly as the member for the newly created seat of Subiaco, becoming one of six Labor members in the Western Australian Legislative Assembly. The party elected him as its whip, and he resigned from the Subiaco council on 1 May 1901. On 1 December 1902, Daglish was sworn in as mayor of Subiaco, having been elected the previous month.

In the 1904 state election, Labor won 22 of the Legislative Assembly's 50 seats, making it the party with the most seats. On 8 July 1904, the Labor Party caucus elected Daglish as the party's leader, and on 10 August, he successfully moved a motion of no confidence in the government of Walter James, who resigned as premier. Governor Frederick Bedford then swore in Daglish as premier of Western Australia, colonial treasurer and minister for education. His keynote speech on 23 August was poorly received; militant Labor supporters saw him as giving up on Labor policies. In parliament, Daglish struggled to achieve anything due to a hostile Legislative Council; his one major success was the passing of a new Public Service Act. In June 1905, a cabinet reshuffle decreased Daglish's popularity within the Labor Party but he defeated a motion of no confidence at a caucus meeting later that month. Daglish resigned as premier on 22 August 1905 when his plan to buy the Midland Railway Company for £1.5 million (equivalent to AU$253,000,000 in 2022) failed to pass through parliament. Hector Rason succeeded him as premier on 25 August.

On 27 September 1905, Daglish resigned as leader of the Labor Party. He then left the party and styled himself as an Independent Labor politician. He was again elected Mayor of Subiaco on 5 June 1907 and served until 1908. From August 1907 to September 1910, Daglish held the position of Chairman of Committees, and from September 1910 to October 1911, he was the minister for works in Frank Wilson's Liberal[b] government. At the October 1911 state election, Daglish lost his seat in parliament to Labor candidate Bartholomew James Stubbs and failed to regain the seat at the 1914 state election. Daglish died at his home in Subiaco on 16 August 1920. Daglish railway station and the suburb of Daglish, Western Australia, are named after him.


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  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference Australian Dictionary of Biography was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Oliver 2003, p. 1.
  3. ^ "Political Unity". Daily Standard. 6 December 1918. p. 6. Retrieved 22 July 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference Royal Commission was invoked but never defined (see the help page).