View source for Frederick Illingworth

{{Short description|Australian politician}}
{{Use British English|date=June 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2021}}

[[File:Frederick Illingworth2.jpg|thumb|right|Frederick Illingworth]]

'''Frederick Illingworth''' (24 September 1844 – 8 September 1908),<ref name=adb>
{{Australian Dictionary of Biography
 |first=G. C. |last=Bolton
 |title=Illingworth, Frederick (1844–1908)
 |id2=illingworth-frederick-6789
 |accessdate=7 June 2014
}}</ref> was an Australian [[politician]], who was a [[Member of Parliament]] in two [[States and territories of Australia|Australian colonies (later states)]], and a [[Minister (government)|government minister]] in Western Australia. As a financer of land speculation in Victoria in the 1880s, he was heavily involved in the [[Melbourne#Land boom and bust|Victorian land boom]].

==Early life==
Frederick Illingworth was born in [[Little Horton]], now part of [[Bradford]], [[West Yorkshire]], on 24 September 1844. The son of a woolcomber, at the age of four he emigrated to [[Victoria (Australia)|Victoria]], with his family. As a young man he worked as an [[ironmongery|ironmonger]] at [[Brighton, Victoria|Brighton]], [[Melbourne]], and he later acquired [[pastoralism|pastoral]] land at [[Yalook, Victoria|Yalook]]. In the late 1870s, he partnered with J. R. Hoskins to form an [[estate agent|estate agency]], but the business failed. In 1883, he returned to ironmongery, establishing an [[electroplating]] business in [[Melbourne]].

==Victorian Land Boom==
{{Expand section|date=June 2008}}
In 1888, Illingworth founded and became the major share holder in the [[Centennial Land Bank]],<ref name=adb/> a [[land bank (banking)|land bank]] formed to finance [[speculation]] on [[real estate]] during the Victorian Land Boom, an [[economic bubble]] that began in the early 1880s. The boom peaked around 1888, followed by a devastating crash. Nearly every land company went into liquidation, and Illingworth was left a huge debt totalling £300,000. Having been elected to the [[Victorian Legislative Council]] for [[Northern Province (Victoria)|Northern Province]] in July 1889, Illingworth was granted leave of absence from parliament in 1890 for "a business trip to Europe", but left the ship in [[Perth]],  [[Western Australia]], and  his seat was declared vacant in the following year, for non-attendance.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Cannon |first1=Michael |title=The Land Boomers |date=1966 |publisher=Melbourne University Press |location=Carlton, Victoria |isbn=0522837883 |pages=83–85}}</ref>

==In Western Australia==
In Western Australia, Illingworth established himself as a land and estate agent, and invested in a number of [[mining|mine]]s in the [[Murchison River (Western Australia)|Murchison]] district. On 5 July 1894, he was elected to the [[Western Australian Legislative Assembly]] in the [[Electoral district of Nannine|seat of Nannine]]. He held the seat until its abolition at the election of May 1897, when he won the [[Electoral district of Central Murchison|seat of Central Murchison]]. That in turn was abolished at the election of 24 April 1901, so Illingworth contested and won the [[electoral district of Cue|seat of Cue]]. Defeated for Cue by [[Edward Heitmann]] in the election of 27 June 1904, he successfully contested the [[Electoral district of West Perth|seat of West Perth]] on 27 October 1905, holding it until his resignation on 13 August 1907.

Illingworth initially sat in [[Parliament of Western Australia|parliament]] in opposition to [[John Forrest]]'s government. From August 1900 until May 1901, he was [[Leader of the Opposition (Western Australia)|Leader of the Opposition]], and was accordingly called upon to form a government when Forrest's successor [[George Throssell]] resigned as premier in May 1901. He was unable to do so, however, because [[George Leake]] refused to serve under him, and the other oppositionists would not serve without Leake. Eventually, an agreement was reached whereby Leake became Premier and Illingworth became Colonial Treasurer and [[Colonial Secretary of Western Australia|Colonial Secretary]]. He held those portfolios throughout the term of the [[First Leake Ministry]], and was reappointed to the positions in the [[Second Leake Ministry]]. Following Leake's death in June 1902, Illingworth was not included in the [[James Ministry|ministry]] of Leake's successor [[Walter James (Australian politician)|Walter James]]. He was [[Chairman of Committees (House of Lords)|Chairman of Committees]] from 3 December 1903 to 27 June 1904, and again from 30 November 1905, until his resignation.
Illingworth's creditors released him from his financial obligations in 1903, and the [[Government of Western Australia]] then granted him £1000 as compensation for the financial proceedings taken against him in Victoria. After his resignation from the Legislative Assembly in August 1907, he returned to Victoria. He died at [[Brighton, Victoria]] on 8 September 1908, and was buried in [[Melbourne Cemetery]].

==Family==
Illingworth married Elizabeth Tarry (c. 1845 – 20 January 1896)<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article84722554 |title=Family Notices |newspaper=[[The Daily News (Perth)]] |volume=XIV |issue=6,392 |location=Western Australia |date=28 January 1896 |access-date=26 November 2024 |page=2 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref> on 5 September 1867.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article244398383 |title=Family Notices |newspaper=[[The Herald (Melbourne)]] |volume=LXXVIII |issue=6774 |location=Victoria, Australia |date=7 September 1867 |access-date=25 November 2024 |page=2 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref> Their children included:
*[[Albert Ebenezer Illingworth]] (20 January 1868 – 16 October 1942) was a Church of Christ minister, born at 289 Lygon Street, Carlton<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article5819717 |title=Family Notices |newspaper=[[The Argus (Melbourne)]] |issue=6,876 |location=Victoria, Australia |date=23 June 1868 |access-date=26 November 2024 |page=4 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref>
*Alice Rose Elizabeth Illingworth (1870 – 10 June 1911)<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article239104272 |title=Family Notices |newspaper=[[The Daily Telegraph]] |issue=9997 |location=New South Wales, Australia |date=12 June 1911 |accessdate=26 November 2024 |page=6 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref>

He married again, to Jane McGregor at [[Adelaide]], [[South Australia]] on 18 November 1896. They had no children together.

He had a sister Mary Jane Illingworth, who died at Sandhurst, Victoria, on 12 September 1875.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article142153900 |title=Family Notices |newspaper=[[The Australasian]] |volume=XIX |issue=494 |location=Victoria, Australia |date=18 September 1875 |access-date=26 November 2024 |page=26 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref>

==See also==
*''[[Illingworth v Houldsworth]]''
*[[Alfred Illingworth]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
*{{Black and Bolton 2001}}
*{{cite book|author=de Garis, Brian|chapter=Self-Government and Political Parties|year=1991|title=The House on the Hill: A History of the Parliament of Western Australia 1832–1990|editor=Black, David|editor-link=David Black (historian)|location=Perth, Western Australia|publisher=Parliament of Western Australia|isbn=0-7309-3983-9}}
*{{Kimberly 1897}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Illingworth, Frederick}}
[[Category:1844 births]]
[[Category:1908 deaths]]
[[Category:Chairpersons of Committees of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly]]
[[Category:Members of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly]]
[[Category:People from Little Horton]]
[[Category:Members of the Victorian Legislative Council]]
[[Category:Treasurers of Western Australia]]
[[Category:19th-century Australian politicians]]
[[Category:Ministers for education (Western Australia)]]