James Isdell

James Isdell (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 byWalter Kingsmill
Succeeded byHenry Underwood
ConstituencyPilbara
Personal details
Born1849
Victoria, Australia
Died5 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 removal of mixed race children of 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] He also authored several books on the future of the Pilbara region.[1] Isdell died in Perth in October 1919, having spent the last few years of his life in poverty.[5]

See also

References
  1. James Isdell – Biographical Register of Members of the Parliament of Western Australia. Retrieved 13 June 2016.
  2. 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.
  3. "THE PILBARRA SEAT", The Daily News, 23 May 1906.
  4. 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.
  5. "TUESDAY, OCT. 14, 1919.", The Pilbarra Goldfield News (Marble Bar, Western Australia), 14 October 1919.
Parliament of Western Australia
Preceded by
Walter Kingsmill		 Member for Pilbara
1903–1906		 Succeeded by
Henry Underwood
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