COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA LEGISLATIVE ELECTION OF 16 DECEMBER 1903 ==================================================================== SENATE ELECTION ==================================================================== WESTERN AUSTRALIA (Three senators to be elected) ==================================================================== Enrolled voters: 116,942 +28.4 Votes cast: unknown Informal votes: 2,001 Formal votes: unknown -------------------------------------------------------------------- Candidate Party Votes % -------------------------------------------------------------------- Michael Cavanagh Prot 8,892 28.5 John CROFT Lab 17,464 56.1 ELECTED 3 Hon Hugh DE LARGIE * Lab 19,644 63.1 ELECTED 1 George HENDERSON Lab 18,414 59.1 ELECTED 2 William Martin FT 7,109 22.8 Samuel Moore Prot 5,818 18.7 Herbert Preston FT 6,126 19.7 Henry Saunders * FT 9,979 32.0 -------------------------------------------------------------------- Total 93,466 -------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. The official Return gives only the total number of votes cast (93,466), not the number of voters who cast them. Since each voter in Western Australia could vote for up to three candidates, the total formal vote is taken to be 31,149 (93,466 divided by three). But since voters could vote for fewer than three candidates, the actual number of voters was greater. The total formal vote for the House of Representatives in Western Australia in 1903 is not relevant because only three seats were contested. 2. Percentages shown are percentages of 31,149, indicating the proportion of voters who supported each candidate. The percentages column will thus add up to 300%, since each voter cast three votes. -------------------------------------------------------------------- Senators' terms began 1 January 1904. Croft, de Largie and Henderson elected for a term to end on 30 June 1910. Continuing senators (terms to end 31 December 1906): Hon Alexander MATHESON (FT), Hon George PEARCE (Lab), Hon Staniforth SMITH (FT). -------------------------------------------------------------------- > John William Croft (1870-1913): Elected 1903 Born: 29 January 1870, Newcastle, NSW Career: Educated state schools. Apprentice bootmaker. To Western Australia 1890s. Secretary Coastal (ie, Perth) Trades and Labour Council. > Hugh de Largie (1859-1947): Elected 1901, 1903 > George Henderson (1861-1933): Elected 1903 Born: 1861, Clackmannanshire, Scotland Career: Primary education. Migrated 1885. Coalminer, NSW. General Secretary Illawarra Miners Union. To Western Australia c1900. Coalminer, Collie, Western Australia. Collie Municipal Council. > Alexander Perceval Matheson (1861-1929): Elected 1901 Matheson retired in 1906. Died 8 August 1929 > George Foster Pearce (1870-1952): Elected 1901 > Henry John Saunders (1855-1919): Appointed 1903. Defeated 1903 Later career: WA MLC for Metropolitan 1918-19 Died 13 October 1919 > Miles Staniforth Cater Smith (1869-1934): Elected 1901 Smith retired in 1906. Later career: Papuan Government Service, Director of Agriculture and Mines. Military Service 1914-18. Acting Administrator Northern Territory 1919-21. Commissioner for Crown Lands, Mines and Agriculture Papua. Farmer Boyup Brook, Western Australia. Died 14 January 1934 --------------------------------------------------------------------