Andrew Fisher was born on 29 August 1862 at Crosshouse, near Kilmaurs, Ayrshire, Scotland. He immigrated to Australia in 1885. After various positions in Queensland he arrived in Gympie in 1888 and worked at the North Phoenix Mine. He became involved with the Amalgamated Miners’ Union. In 1899 he won the seat for Wide Bay as the Federal Labor Candidate. In 1895 he married Miss Margaret Jane Irvine, his Gympie landlady’s daughter. He was Prime Minister of Australia three times: 1908-09, 1910-13 and 1914-15.

For more detailed information: Australian Dictionary of Biography: http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/fisher-andrew-378
National Archives of Australia: http://primeministers.naa.gov.au/primemin…/…/fast-facts.aspx
National Museum Australia http://www.nma.gov.au/primeministers/andrew_fisher

1893 – The General Election

Andrew Fisher and William Smyth were the members elected in Gympie’s two-member electorate in the 1893 General Election.

Mr Fisher’s maiden speech, published in The Gympie Times on 30 May 1893 can be read here: https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/171606396/20141762

Another speech by Fisher “Present-Day Politics” can be read here: https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/171610979/20142112