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Biographical Register of Members of the Parliament of Western Australia

Herbert Edward Wells

Parliamentary Service

House

MLA

Party

Nationalist unendorsed in 1939, Independent 1941

Date Elected

12 April 1930

Electorate

Canning

Service

Electorates

MLA Canning 12 April 1930–8 April 1933
Contested Collie 21 October 1914, Canning 26 March 1927, 8 April 1933, 15 February 1936, East Perth 18 March 1939, Metropolitan Province 1 November 1941 (by-election)

Committees

Member Joint House Committee 1932–1933

Private Member's Bills

Inaugural Speech

Year Retired/Resigned

1933

Personal Information

Birth date

9 October 1872

Place of birth

Durham Lead, Ballarat, Victoria, Australia

Death date

9 November 1960

Cause of death

Place of death

South Perth, Western Australia

Cemetery

Karrakatta Cemetery, WA

Arrived in WA

Arrived WA 1895

Parents

Son of James Wells, miner, and Mary Murray

Marriage and Family

Married 18 April 1900, Wesley Church, Coolgardie to Philippa Mary Catherine Bayley (born circa 1879 and died 16 July 1973), daughter of John Bayley and Emily Wedge
Children: three sons and one daughter

Religion

Methodist

Education

Occupation

Auctioneer

Employment History

Worked at Fremantle, in the Murchison mines and at Coolgardie before opening a boot shop at Mt Leonora
To Collie 1899 as bootmaker and boot salesman
By 1907 in business as auctioneer and agent
Enlisted Australian Imperial Force February 1916 Served in 63rd and 44th Battalion—Lieutenant from 7 March 1916 and Hon Captain from 1 July 1917
Discharged 29 October 1918
Opened auctioneering business in Perth

Local Government

Collie Road Board 23 April 1900–January 1902, and from October 1904 (chairman by January 1906) Collie Municipal Council 1 August 1901–January 1908 Mayor of Collie November 1908–September 1909, November 1911–November 1913 Had previously contested Mayoralty of Collie 1904 and 1905 (lost by four votes)

Principal Honours

Background/Membership

President Victoria Park sub-branch RSL 1926–1929 and member State Executive 1930
Justice of the Peace
Member Wellington Licensing Bench

References

D Black and G Bolton, eds, Biographical Register of Members of the Parliament of Western Australia: volume two 1930-2010, Western Australian Parliamentary History Project, Perth, WA, 2011, p. 275.
West Australian, 14 April 1930.

Bibliography

Further Information