James Crawford (Australian politician)

Crawford was born in Woonona, New South Wales, to parents James Crawford and his wife Ellen (née Simpson) and attended school while still in Woonona. He was a coalminer in Wollongong in 1883 and by 1888 he was in Narrandera working for the railways. He became a barrister and solicitor working out of Clermont.[1]

When working in the mines he became involved in the labour movement, becoming vice-president of the Australian Workers' Association in Cobar, New South Wales, and secretary of the Fitzroy Miners' Union. He was a member of the Royal Commission into the Mount Morgan disaster in 1908.[1]

In 1905 he married Myra Clarke but it is not recorded if they had any children.[1] He drowned in the catastrophic floods that hit Clermont in December 1916.[2][1]

Crawford represented the state seat of Fitzroy from 1909 until 1912. He then represented the new seat of Mount Morgan in 1912 but was defeated by James Stopford in 1915. He started out representing the Labour Party but by the end of his political career he was a member of the Ministerialists.[1]