Barnes, Walter Henry
Personal
Birth Date:
7 September 1858 (Castlemaine, Victoria)
Death Date:
19 February 1933 (Brisbane, Queensland)
Parents:
Hiram Barnes and Catherine (nee Dawes)
Family:
Katherine E. Edmonds on 5 June 1888, 1 son
Education:
Ipswich and Brisbane Normal schools; Rev. C Ogg, Divinity Hall
Religion:
Methodist
Career
Joined firm of Barnes & Co., produce merchants, with his brother, George, 1884; Postal Clerk in the Postal Department; Apprenticed to L Uhr, Brisbane saddler; Employee of Cobb & Co.
Local Government Service:
Alderman, Coorparoo Shire Council for 25 years, 5 times elected chairman
Parliamentary Representation
House | Party | Electorate | From | To | Elected/Departure Reason |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Assembly | OPP | Bulimba | 27 Aug 1904 | 5 Feb 1908 | |
Assembly | MIN | Bulimba | 5 Feb 1908 | 22 May 1915 | |
Assembly | NAT | Bulimba | 16 Mar 1918 | 12 May 1923 | |
Assembly | CPNP | Wynnum | 8 May 1926 | 19 Feb 1933 | Died in Office |
Assembly | MIN | Bulimba | 16 Feb 1901 | 27 Aug 1904 | By-election |
Assembly | QUP | Wynnum | 12 May 1923 | 8 May 1926 |
Parliamentary Service
Description | From | To |
---|---|---|
Treasurer | 21 May 1929 | 17 Jun 1932 |
Treasurer and Secretary for Public Works | 7 Feb 1911 | 1 Jun 1915 |
Secretary for Public Instruction and for Public Works | 22 Oct 1909 | 7 Feb 1911 |
Secretary for Public Instruction | 29 Jun 1909 | 22 Oct 1909 |
Secretary for Public Lands | 19 Nov 1907 | 18 Feb 1908 |
Additional Information
Notes:
Walter Barnes' father, Hiram, was a senior driver for Cobb & Co. and established the company in Queensland. In 1865 he took 16 coaches from Bathurst to Brisbane and in 1868 he commenced the Brisbane-Gympie-Maryborough run. Hiram Barnes made a fortune on his first day on the Castlemaine goldfields. As Secretary for Public Instruction Walter's most controverisal action was his passing of the Industrial Peace Act in 1912 in wake of the general strike. Despite his assurance that its 'liberal provisions' would render all future strikes unnecessary, the then opposition leader, David Bowman, described it as 'the worst, the most tyrannical, and most coercive bill that had ever existed in any part of Australia'. President, RSPCA, the YMCA and the Brisbane City Mission. Walter Barnes was accorded a state funeral on 20 Feb 1933 at the Albert Street Methodist Church
Sources:
Image courtesy of State Library of Queensland; Brisbane Courier, 'Links with the long ago', p. 9, 23 Feb 1933; Brisbane Courier, 'Dense throngs pay homage', 21 Feb 1933; Brisbane Courier, 'A notable career. Death of Mr W.H. Barnes', 20 Feb 1933; Letter from Claire Wagner, great-niece to George and Walter Barnes, 11 March 2004; Lack, Clem, Three Decades of Queensland Political History, 1929-1960 (Brisbane: Government Printer, 1962); Waterson, DB and John Arnold, Biographical Register of the Queensland Parliament: 1930-1980, (Canberra: ANU Press, 1982); Waterson, DB, Biographical Register of the Queensland Parliament: 1860-1929, 2nd revised edition (Sydney: Casket Publications, 2001); Costar, BJ, 'Barnes, Walter Henry (1858–1933)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/barnes-walter-henry-5603
[Last Modified: Monday, 27 February 2017]