Charles North

Charles Frederic John North (14 September 1887 – 30 September 1979) was an Australian lawyer and politician who was a member of the Legislative Assembly of Western Australia from 1924 to 1956, initially representing the Nationalist Party and later the Liberal Party. He was Speaker of the Legislative Assembly from 1947 to 1953. Early life North was born in Perth to Flora Frances (née Hamersley) and Frederic Dudley North. His father, a prominent civil servant, was a grandson of the Scottish artist Sir Francis Grant and a descendant of the Barons North. His mother was the daughter of Edward Hamersley II, a member of the pioneering Hamersley family of Western Australia. North attended Hale School, Perth, before being sent to England to continue his education at Rugby School. He studied law at Oriel College, Oxford, graduating in 1909 with a Bachelor of Arts. He was also a member of the college eight for three years. North was called to the Bar as part of the Middle Temple in 1912. He was admitted to the Western Australian bar upon his return to Australia the following year, and, making his debut in politics, went on to contest the 1914 federal election for the Commonwealth Liberal Party, standing for the Senate. North served as a captain in the No. 16 Squadron RAF in World War I, as an observer-air gunner. He returned to Western Australia after the conclusion of the war, practising as a solicitor in Perth. He was elected to the Cottesloe Municipal Council in 1921, and served as Mayor of Cottesloe from 1923 to 1924. Politics North was elected to the seat of Claremont at the 1924 state election, defeating a Labor candidate, George Dennis, and the sitting member, John Thomson, who had lost the endorsement of the Nationalists in favour of North. He was appointed government whip in 1930, and remained whip of the Nationalists (and, from 1945, the Liberals) until assuming the role of speaker in 1947. North held Claremont with large margins at every election during this time, with the exceptions of 1933 and 1936, when another Nationalist candidate, Donald Cleland, reduced the margin to less than 400 votes. During the 1930s, North became involved in the Social Credit movement, and served as state president of the Douglas Social Credit Movement.