Sir Thomas Cockburn-Campbell, 4th Baronet (18 April 1845 – 27 September 1892) was an English-born Australian journalist and politician. He was a member of the Western Australian Legislative Council and the first president of the Legislative Council after the colony achieved responsible government.
Contents
Early life
Cockburn-Campbell was born in Exeter in 1845. He was the second son of Sir Alexander Thomas Cockburn-Campbell, the second baronet of Gartsford, and his wife Grace (née Spence).
Career
Cockburn-Campbell left England for Queensland, Australia in 1864 where he worked with Augustus Gregory as a chain man and later with other surveyors. In the late 1860s, he went to Western Australia and took up farming.
In 1871, after his brother died, Cockburn-Campbell succeeded him as the fourth baronet.
In 1871, he was appointed a member of the colony's Legislative Council.
In 1890, he went to London as a delegate to ensure the passage of the Western Australian Constitution Bill conferring Western Australia with responsible government. After the passage of the bill, the Legislative Council became the upper house of Parliament and Cockburn-Campbell became the new council's first president.
Cockburn-Campbell also served as editor of The West Australian newspaper from 1879-1887.
Personal life and death
Cockburn-Campbell married Lucy Anne Trimmer in 1870. He died in Perth on 28 September 1892 and was survived by two sons and four daughters. His eldest son, Alexander, became the fifth baronet.
Cockburn-Campbell's great-great-granddaughter is the Western Australian MP, Merome Beard.
Music
Cockburn-Campbell composed a waltz "The Fair Maid of Perth" (1890) dedicated to Miss Margaret Brockman (Mrs P. A. Hope), published in London.
