Matthew Charlton

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Matthew Charlton

Matthew Charlton (born March 15, 1866 in Linton , Victoria , † December 8, 1948 in Lambton , New South Wales ) was an Australian politician and chairman of the Australian Labor Party .

Early life

Charlton was born in Linton, a rural Victoria town. His family moved to Lambton, New South Wales when he was five years old. Since he hardly received any schooling in his youth, he worked as a coal worker. In 1889 he married Martha Rollings. Even in middle age, Charlton was interested in politics and in 1896 joined the union strikes against wage cuts.

Political career

After working for two years in Kalgoorlie-Boulder , Western Australia , Charlton returned to Lambton in 1901. There he joined the "Colliery workers' union", whose treasurer he was. In the constituency of Waratah he won a seat in the legislative assembly, the lower house of the parliament of New South Wales in 1903 and defended it in 1904 in the constituency of Northumberland.

In the federal elections in 1910 he was elected to the Australian House of Representatives in the Hunter constituency and joined the government of Andrew Fisher . With the Australian Labor Party , he was from now on in the opposition. After the surprising death of party chairman Frank Tudor , who had previously lost his deputy in a sudden death the previous year, Charlton was elected as the new party leader in 1922. Due to a long illness during his election campaign, Charlton lost the following federal elections.

The League of Nations (now the United Nations ) invited Charlton to a meeting in 1924, but failed to persuade Australia to accept the Geneva Protocol that was drawn up during the meeting.

Due to union strikes, Charlton and his party lost the 1925 federal elections and resigned from active politics in 1928. Charlton died on December 8, 1948 in Lambton, New South Wales.

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personal data
SURNAME Charlton, Matthew
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Australian politician
DATE OF BIRTH March 15, 1866
PLACE OF BIRTH Linton , Victoria
DATE OF DEATH December 8, 1948
Place of death Lambton , New South Wales