Macalister, Arthur CMG
Personal
Birth Date:
1818 (Glasgow)
Death Date:
23 March 1883 (`Uddington', Glasgow)
Parents:
John Macalister and Mary Ann (nee Scoullar)
Family:
Elizabeth Wallace Tassie in 1839 in Edinburgh, 9 children
Education:
Glasgow
Religion:
Presbyterian
Career
Working for a Sydney solicitor by 1846; Admitted to the Supreme Court in 1850 as a solicitor, attorney and proctor; Practiced law in Ipswich
Parliamentary Representation
| House | Party | Electorate | From | To | Elected/Departure Reason |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Assembly | NONE | Ipswich | 10 May 1860 | 18 Sep 1868 | |
| Assembly | NONE | Eastern Downs | 22 Sep 1868 | 22 Jul 1871 | |
| Assembly | NONE | Ipswich | 22 Oct 1872 | 14 Jun 1876 |
Parliamentary Service
| Description | From | To |
|---|---|---|
| Secretary for Public Works and Mines | 24 Oct 1874 | 13 Nov 1874 |
| Premier and Colonial Secretary | 8 Jan 1874 | 5 Jun 1876 |
| Speaker | 15 Nov 1870 | 21 Jun 1871 |
| Secretary for Public Works and Goldfields | 28 Jan 1869 | 3 May 1870 |
| Secretary for Lands and Public Works | 25 Nov 1868 | 28 Jan 1869 |
| Premier and Colonial Secretary | 7 Aug 1866 | 15 Aug 1867 |
| Premier and Secretary for Lands and Works | 1 Feb 1866 | 20 Jul 1866 |
| Secretary for Lands and Public Works | 21 Mar 1862 | 20 Jul 1866 |
| Chairman of Committees | 30 May 1860 | 12 Jun 1861 |
Additional Information
Notes:
Member, Board of Education; founding trustee: St Stephen's Church and the Ipswich Grammar School; He was active in the Presbyterian church and was a freemason; He was an active separationist and became a founding member of the North Australian Club in 1857; One of Macalister's notable legacies to Queensland was the narrow gauge railway system; While Premier in 1875, he took a strong stand against pastoralists in the settled areas and authorised the resumption of large quantities of pastoral land for agricultural settlement
Sources:
Image courtesy of John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland, Neg: 68168; Wilson, Paul, `Arthur Macalister: "Slippery Mac"', Murphy, DJ and Joyce RB (eds), Queensland Political Portraits 1859-1952 (St. Lucia: University of Queensland Press, 1972); Wilson, Paul D, 'Macalister, Arthur (1818-1883)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, V.5, Melbourne University Press, 1974, pp 118-120; Waterson, DB, Biographical Register of the Queensland Parliament: 1860-1929, 2nd revised edition (Sydney: Casket Publications, 2001)
[Last Modified: Wednesday, 09 August 2017]