Politician and Australian Prime Minister. Born in Crosshouse (East Ayrshire), the son of a miner, he left school at the age of 10 to join his father in the pit. Active in the Miner's Union, he was blacklisted following a strike and was forced to emigrate. Settling in Australia, he gained employment on the coalmines of Queensland. He studied in his spare time and became a Union leader, before being elected to the Queensland Assembly (1893). He was Prime Minister three times between 1908 and 1915, resigning to become Australian High Commissioner to London, a position he held until 1921. Becoming involved in British politics, he failed in an attempt to be selected as Labour candidate for Kilmarnock (1923) and retired to London where he died.
He is commemorated by a memorial in Crosshouse.