Hon Sir Henry Barwell KCMG

Sir Henry Newman Barwell KCMG

26 February 1877

Liberal Federation

Stanley

House of Assembly

27 March 1915

LLB 1899

Lawyer

Adelaide born and educated, Henry Barwell was a prominent barrister working throughout South Australia in the early part of the century. A confident and uncompromising conservative, Barwell was elected as a Liberal member to the House of Assembly in 1915. He acted as Attorney-General for the majority of Peake's third Premiership. Following Peake's death in April 1920, Barwell became leader of the Liberal Party and Premier. Re-elected in 1921 with a comfortable majority, the Barwell government remained in office until 1924. Throughout his administration, Barwell emphasised the necessity of small government and wage "restraint". He was also responsible for large expenditures (almost five million pounds) on South Australia's ailing state railways. Overall, however, the Barwell government was an unpopular one, particularly among workers; this was not helped by his sometimes tactless political style. As a result, his government was decisively defeated by the Labor Party in the April 1924 elections. Barwell resigned from the South Australia Parliament in 1925 to become a Senator in the Federal Parliament. He resigned that position in 1928 to become the state's Agent-General in London, serving until 1933, but continued living in Britain. He competed in the 1934 British Empire Games (later known as the Commonwealth Games) in lawn bowling. He returned to South Australia in 1940 where he remained until his death in 1959.

30 September 1959