Members Of The Senate: 1901-1903

This is the full list of senators who served in the First Parliament from 1901 to 1903.

There were 36 senators elected at the March 29-30, 1901 election, six from each state. In all states except Tasmania, voters cast six votes. In Tasmania, electors cast one vote.

The Free Trade Party elected 17 senators, the Protectionist 13 and the Labour Party 6. Two Protectionists, Gregor McGregor and David O’Keefe, immediately joined Labour after their election, reducing the Protectionists to 11 members and increasing Labour to 8.

The first President of the Senate was Senator Richard Chaffey Baker, a former South Australian MP and President of the Legislative Council.

The oldest member of the 1901 Senate was John Ferguson (FT-Qld), who was 71. The youngest was John Keating (Prot-Tas), who was 28. Comparable data for the House of Representatives is here.

The last surviving member of the first Senate was Western Australian Senator George Pearce, who died in 1952 at the age of 82. He was the third-last surviving member of the First Parliament. Pearce was also the last continuously serving member of the first Senate when his term ended on June 30, 1938. He began his political career in the Labour Party and served as Minister for Defence in the three Fisher governments (1908-09, 1910-13 and 1914-15) and in the Hughes Labor government (1915-16). In 1916, when Labour split over conscription, Pearce left the party, serving again as Defence Minister in the Hughes Nationalist government, in other portfolios under Bruce (1923-29), and in External Affairs and Defence under Lyons (1932-37). In total, he was a minister for 24 years and 7 months, an all-time record.

Three members left the Senate during 1901-03. Their casual vacancies were filled by the relevant state parliament. Accordingly, a total of 39 senators are shown in the lists below.

• Jan 02, 1903: Sen. Frederick Sargood (FT-Vic) died; replaced by Robert Reid.
• Apr 17, 1903: Sen. Norman Ewing (FT-WA) resigned; replaced by Henry Saunders.
• Sep 27, 1903: Sen. Richard O’Connor (Prot-NSW) resigned and was appointed an inaugural Justice of the High Court; replaced by Dr Charles Mackellar.

In addition, Senator John Ferguson’s seat was declared vacant just before the 1903 election, due to his infrequent attendance. Ferguson remained a member of the Queensland Legislative Council whilst he was in the Senate.

Where relevant, service in state/colonial parliaments is shown in the table below. The acronyms MLA, MHA and MLC are followed by the member’s seat and state.