Philip Fysh

Sir Philip Oakley Fysh KCMG (1 March 1835 – 20 December 1919) was an Australian politician. He arrived in Tasmania in 1859 and became a leading merchant in Hobart. He served two terms as premier of Tasmania (1877–1878, 1887–1892) and became a leader of the colony's federation movement. He subsequently won election to the new federal House of Representatives (1901–1910) and was invited to represent Tasmania in the first federal ministry, serving as minister without portfolio (1901–1903) and Postmaster-General (1903–1904).

Sir Philip Fysh

KCMG
Postmaster-General of Australia
In office
10 August 1903  27 April 1904
Prime MinisterEdmund Barton
Alfred Deakin
Preceded byJames Drake
Succeeded byHugh Mahon
Premier of Tasmania
In office
29 March 1887  17 August 1892
GovernorRobert Hamilton
Preceded byJames Agnew
Succeeded byHenry Dobson
In office
9 August 1877  5 March 1878
GovernorFrederick Weld
Preceded byThomas Reibey
Succeeded byWilliam Giblin
Personal details
Born
Philip Oakley Fysh

(1835-03-01)1 March 1835
Highbury, London, England
Died20 December 1919(1919-12-20) (aged 84)
Sandy Bay, Tasmania, Australia
Political partyProtectionist (to 1909)
Fusion (from 1909)
Spouse(s)
Esther Willis
(m. 18561912)
RelationsWilliam Willis (brother-in-law)
OccupationMerchant

Early life

Fysh was born in Highbury, London, the son of John Fysh and his wife Charlotte. He was educated at the Denmark Hill school in Islington. At 13 years of age, Fysh commenced work in a London stockbroker's office, then he obtained a position in the office of a shipping firm, L. Stevenson & Sons, with Australian connections. Fysh migrated to Tasmania in 1859, becoming a leading merchant (establishing P. O. Fysh and Company), hop-grower and orchardist.

Colonial politics

A Protectionist, Fysh was a member of the Tasmanian Legislative Council from 1866–69, 1870–73, 1884–90, and of the Tasmanian House of Assembly 1873–78 (where he was treasurer in the Alfred Kennerley ministry until March 1875) and 1894–99. Fysh became Premier and Chief Secretary of Tasmania in 1877, serving initially until 1878 and returning to the positions in 1887, serving to 1892. He was again elected to the assembly and was treasurer in Braddon's ministry from April 1894 to December 1898, when he was appointed Agent-General for Tasmania at London.

Federation movement

Fysh at the 1891 Australasian Federal Convention

Fysh took an important part in the federal movement in Tasmania. He was a representative of his colony at the 1891 and 1897 conventions, and was a member of the Australian delegation that watched the passing of the federal bill through the Imperial Parliament.

Federal politics

Fysh was elected to the Australian House of Representatives in 1901 as a member for Division of Tasmania and was minister without portfolio until 1903. After Tasmania was split into five electoral divisions in 1903, Fysh was elected for the Division of Denison, based on Hobart. He was Postmaster-General 1903–04. He retired in 1910.

Later life

Fysh in 1915

Fysh was created a Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George (KCMG) in January 1896. He died in December 1919, aged 84. He was survived by five sons and four daughters. Fysh's wife, Esther Kentish Willis, was the daughter of William, a straw-hat manufacturer of Luton, Bedfordshire, who was also father of the judge and M.P. William Willis.[1]

Honours

The Canberra suburb of Fyshwick was named after him.

See also

References

  1. Dod's Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage, 1901, S. Low, Marston & Co., p. 376
  • Parliamentary Library profile
  • Serle, Percival (1949). "Fysh, Philip". Dictionary of Australian Biography. Sydney: Angus and Robertson. Retrieved 29 October 2008.
  • Quentin Beresford, 'Fysh, Sir Philip Oakley (1835–1919)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 8, MUP, 1981, pp 602–603.
Political offices
Preceded by
Thomas Reibey
Premier of Tasmania
1877–1878
Succeeded by
William Giblin
Preceded by
James Agnew
Premier of Tasmania
1887–1892
Succeeded by
Henry Dobson
Preceded by
James Drake
Postmaster-General
1903–1904
Succeeded by
Hugh Mahon
Tasmanian Legislative Council
Preceded by
John Wedge
Member for Hobart
1866–1869
Served alongside: Kennerley, Wilson
Succeeded by
William Crowther
Preceded by
Thomas Lowes
Member for Buckingham
1870–1873
Succeeded by
Thomas Chapman
Preceded by
Thomas Chapman
Member for Buckingham
1884–1894
Succeeded by
Frederick Piesse
Parliament of Australia
New division Member for Tasmania
1901–1902
Served alongside: Braddon, Cameron, O'Malley, Piesse
Division abolished
Member for Tasmania
1902–1903
Served alongside: Braddon, Cameron, Hartnoll, O'Malley
New division Member for Denison
1903–1910
Succeeded by
William Laird Smith
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