James Isdell (c. 1849 – 5 October 1919) was an Australian pastoralist and politician who was a member of the Legislative Assembly of Western Australia from 1903 to 1906, representing the seat of Pilbara.
James Isdell | |
|---|---|
| Member of the Legislative Assembly of Western Australia | |
| In office 6 March 1903 – 27 June 1906 | |
| Preceded by | Walter Kingsmill |
| Succeeded by | Henry Underwood |
| Constituency | Pilbara |
| Personal details | |
| Born | c. 1849 Victoria, Australia |
| Died | 5 October 1919 (aged 69-70) Shenton Park, Western Australia, Australia |
Isdell was born in Victoria, and came to Western Australia in 1884. He managed a station near Roebourne for a period, and later acquired several pastoral leases of his own in the Kimberley, including Croydon Station.[1] Isdell was elected to parliament at the 1903 Pilbara by-election, which had been caused by the resignation of Walter Kingsmill. He was re-elected at the 1904 and 1905 state elections,[2] but resigned in June 1906, stating that it was too expensive to properly represent his constituency.[3]
After leaving parliament, Isdell managed a mine at Nullagine for a period, and later served as a Protector of Aborigines. He was appointed "Travelling Protector" in 1907 and in this role oversaw the forced removal of mixed race children from their Indigenous parents, which he considered a moral duty, once telling his superior “I consider it a great scandal to allow any of these half-caste girls to remain with the natives.”[4]
Isdell also authored several books on the future of the Pilbara region.[1] He died in Perth in October 1919, having spent the last few years of his life in poverty.[5]
See also edit
- Isdell River, named after Isdell in 1898
References edit
- ^ a b James Isdell – Biographical Register of Members of the Parliament of Western Australia. Retrieved 13 June 2016.
- ^ Black, David; Prescott, Valerie (1997). Election statistics : Legislative Assembly of Western Australia, 1890-1996. Perth, [W.A.]: Western Australian Parliamentary History Project and Western Australian Electoral Commission. ISBN 0730984095.
- ^ "THE PILBARRA SEAT", The Daily News, 23 May 1906.
- ^ Barta, Tony (June 2008). "Sorry, and not sorry, in Australia: how the apology to the stolen generations buried a history of genocide". Journal of Genocide Research. 10 (2): 201–214. doi:10.1080/14623520802065438. ISSN 1462-3528. S2CID 73078524.
- ^ "TUESDAY, OCT. 14, 1919.", The Pilbarra Goldfield News (Marble Bar, Western Australia), 14 October 1919.