Richard Arthur (Australian politician)

Australian politician

For the Irish bishop, see Richard Arthur (bishop).

Richard Arthur (25 October 1865 – 21 May 1932) was an Australian politician, social reformer and medical practitioner.

## Early life

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Caricature by David Low

Arthur was born in Aldershot, Hampshire, England and educated at Dover College. He received a Master of Arts from the University of St Andrews (1885) and a MB ChB from the University of Edinburgh (1888). He worked in the slums of Edinburgh, but contracted typhoid fever. He met and married his wife, Jessie Sinclair Bruce, daughter of David Bruce,[1][2] in Australia in 1890. He returned to Europe and studied hypnotism in Paris, which earned him an MD from the University of Edinburgh in 1891.[3] After again becoming ill working in the slums of London, he returned to Australia and established a practice in the Sydney suburb of Mosman, specialising in eye, ear-nose-and-throat, and dental work. He was a director of the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital from 1917 to 1920 and from 1927 to 1931 and of Sydney Hospital from 1924 to 1932.[4]

## Political career

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Arthur was elected in 1904 to the New South Wales Legislative Assembly as member for Middle Harbour, representing the Liberal and Reform Party. In December 1912, he became the inaugural president of the Eugenics Society of New South Wales.[5] He became an early advocate of child endowment in 1916 and was a strong supporter of closer settlement and assisted immigration to reduce the Japanese threat. From 1920 to 1927, he represented North Shore. He was chairman of the 1923 Royal Commission on Lunacy Law and Administration and, as a eugenicist, recommended special training and institutions for "defectives". He represented Mosman from 1927 to 1932 and was Minister for Public Health from 1927 to 1930 during the Bavin Government,[6] but he failed to carry a mental defectives bill.[4]

Arthur died in Mosman and was survived by his wife, son and two daughters.[4] His wife's sister, Mary Alexander Sinclair Bruce, was married to Frederick Smythe Willis, sometime mayor of Willoughby, New South Wales and a founder member (and first hon. treasurer) of the Corporation of Accountants of Australia.[7]

## References

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1. ^ Medical Journal of Australia, vol. 2, 1932, p. 95
2. ^ "Richard Arthur (1865–1932)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. National Centre of Biography, Australian National University.
3. ^ Arthur, Richard (1891). Hypnotism and its therapeutic uses (Thesis). University of Edinburgh. hdl:1842/23687.
4. ^ a b c Roe, Michael. "Arthur, Richard (1865–1932)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Canberra: National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. ISBN 978-0-522-84459-7. ISSN 1833-7538. OCLC 70677943. Retrieved 12 April 2007.
5. ^ The Sydney Morning Herald, 11 December 1912
6. ^ "Dr Richard Arthur (1865–1932)". Former members of the Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 11 May 2019.
7. ^ "Marriage". The Press. Vol. XLIX, no. 8317\. 31 October 1892. p. 2. Retrieved 6 September 2017.

## Further reading

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* Roe, Michael (1984). "Richard Arthur: 1865–1932". Nine Australian Progressives: Vitalism in Bourgeois Social Thought 1890–1960. University of Queensland Press. pp. 155–184. ISBN 0702219746.

New South Wales Legislative Assembly

New district |  Member for Middle Harbour
1904 - 1920  | District abolished
New district |  Member for North Shore
1920 - 1927
With:  Cocks/Kay/Tonge, Murphy, Reid/Fell, Weaver/Reid | District abolished
New district |  Member for Mosman
1927 - 1932  | Succeeded by

Herbert Lloyd

Political offices
Preceded by

Robert Stuart-Robertson

|  Minister for Public Health
1927 - 1930  | Succeeded by

James McGirr

as Minister for Health

Authority control databases

International|

* VIAF

People|

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* Australia

Other|

* SNAC