Frederick Holder facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Sir Frederick Holder
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| 19th Premier of South Australia | |
| In office 21 June 1892 – 15 October 1892 |
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| Monarch | Victoria |
| Governor | Earl of Kintore |
| Preceded by | Thomas Playford II |
| Succeeded by | John Downer |
| In office 8 December 1899 – 15 May 1901 |
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| Monarch | Victoria Edward VII |
| Governor | Sir Thomas Buxton Lord Tennyson |
| Preceded by | Vaiben Louis Solomon |
| Succeeded by | John Jenkins |
| 7th Leader of the Opposition (SA) | |
| In office 1890–1892 |
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| Preceded by | Thomas Playford II |
| Succeeded by | John Downer |
| In office 1899–1899 |
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| Preceded by | Vaiben Louis Solomon |
| Succeeded by | Vaiben Louis Solomon |
| Member of the Australian Parliament for South Australia |
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| In office 30 March 1901 – 16 December 1903 Serving with Lee Batchelor, Langdon Bonython, Paddy Glynn, Charles Kingston, Alexander Poynton, Vaiben Louis Solomon
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| Succeeded by | Division abolished |
| Member of the Australian Parliament for Wakefield |
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| In office 16 December 1903 – 23 July 1909 |
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| Succeeded by | Richard Foster |
| 1st Speaker of the Australian House of Representatives | |
| In office 9 May 1901 – 23 July 1909 |
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| Succeeded by | Carty Salmon |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 12 May 1850 Happy Valley, South Australia |
| Died | 23 July 1909 (aged 59) Melbourne |
| Political party | Liberals (second term) Free Trade (from 1901) Independent (by 1903, to 1909) |
| Spouse | Julia Maria Stephens |
Sir Frederick William Holder (born 12 May 1850, died 23 July 1909) was an important Australian politician. He was the very first Speaker of the Australian House of Representatives, serving from 1901 to 1909. Before that, he was the 19th Premier of South Australia twice. He played a big part in the movement that led to Australia becoming a united country in 1901, known as Federation.
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Early Life and Career
Frederick Holder was born in Happy Valley, South Australia. His parents were James Morecott Holder and Martha Breakspear Roby. He went to Pulteney Grammar School and St Peter's College, Adelaide.
After school, he worked as a teacher and a Methodist preacher. He also became the editor and owner of a newspaper called the Burra Record. He wrote for another newspaper, the Adelaide Register, too.
In 1877, Frederick married Julia Maria Stephens. Julia was very supportive of his career. She gave him political advice and was the President of the Women's Christian Temperance Union in South Australia. This group was quite important at the time.
Political Career in South Australia
Frederick Holder had a lot of experience in local government. He was a Councillor and a Town Clerk. Just five months after becoming the mayor of Burra, he was elected to the South Australian House of Assembly in 1887. This was the main law-making body for South Australia. He quickly became well-known in parliament.
He served as the Treasurer of South Australia from 1889 to 1890. The Treasurer is in charge of the government's money. He was also the Leader of the Opposition from 1890 to 1892, and again in 1899. This means he led the main party that was not in power.
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In June 1891, he became the Premier and Treasurer. The Premier is like the leader of the state government. However, his government had a small majority, and South Australia was facing money problems due to a drought. He was Premier for only four months.
Later, he worked as the Commissioner of Public Works from 1893 to 1894. This role involved overseeing public building projects. He then became Treasurer again from 1894 until he was re-elected Premier and Treasurer in late 1899.
As Premier, he made an important change by introducing one standard time zone across all of South Australia. He also played a key role in the movement to unite the Australian colonies. He was a member of the Australasian Federal Convention in 1897–98, which helped create the rules for the new Commonwealth of Australia.
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Frederick Holder was Premier again from 1899 to 1901. He was followed in this role by John Jenkins.
Federal Politics and Speaker Role
When Australia became a federation in 1901, Frederick Holder expected to be offered a job in the new national government. He was initially offered a position by William Lyne, who was asked to form the first government. However, Holder was convinced by Alfred Deakin to support Edmund Barton instead. Barton became the first Prime Minister. Holder was disappointed not to get a cabinet job from Barton.
Despite this, Holder resigned as Premier of South Australia to run in the 1901 federal election. He was elected to the new parliament for the area of South Australia. He then became the very first Speaker of the House of Representatives.
The Speaker is like the referee of the parliament. Their job is to make sure debates are fair and that rules are followed. Following a tradition from the British Parliament, Holder left his political party when he became Speaker. This showed he was fair to everyone, no matter their party. He was re-elected without anyone running against him in the 1903 election for the Division of Wakefield. Even when the Labor party ran a candidate against him in 1906, he was still re-elected as an independent. He was known for being fair and not taking sides while he was Speaker.
Death
Frederick Holder was given the title of Knight in 1902, becoming Sir Frederick Holder. He served as Speaker until his death on 23 July 1909. He became unwell during a very long parliamentary session that had lasted 14 hours. He collapsed in his seat and was taken to his room. Doctors said he had a serious medical issue. He passed away later that day without waking up. He was given a special state funeral in Adelaide.
Recognition
Several places have been named in his honour:
- Holder Road in Hove, a suburb of Adelaide.
- The Canberra suburb of Holder, named in 1970.
Family
Frederick Holder married Julia Maria Stephens on 29 March 1877. Julia was a leader in her own right. She was president of the Women's Christian Temperance Union in South Australia and a vice-president of the National Council of Women. They had several children:
- Ethel Roby Holder (born 1878)
- Rhoda Sims Holder (born 1880)
- Frederick Stephens Holder (born 1882)
- Winifred Breakspeare Holder (born 1886)
- Evan Morecott Holder (born 1888)
- Sydney Ernest Holder (born 1890)
- Ruth Eliza Holder (born 1892)
- Ida Margaret Holder (born 1894)
See also
- First Holder Ministry
- Second Holder Ministry
Images for kids
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Holder at the 1898 Australasian Federal Convention.
