Sir Malcolm Fraser KCMGThe Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is a British order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George, Prince Regent whilst he was acting as Prince Regent for his father, George III. It is named in honour of two military saints, St. Michael and St...
(1834–17 August 1900) was a powerful public servant in
colonialIn politics and in history, a colony is a territory under the immediate political control of a state. For colonies in antiquity, city-states would often found their own colonies. Some colonies were historically countries, while others were territories without definite statehood from their...
Western AustraliaWestern Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. Australia's largest state and the second largest subnational entity in the world, it has 2.2 million inhabitants , 85% of whom live in the south-west corner of the state.The state's capital...
in the 1870s and 1880s.
Malcolm Fraser was born in
GloucestershireGloucestershire is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn, and the entire Forest of Dean....
,
EnglandEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the North Sea to the east, with the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
in 1834. Nothing is known of his early life, except that he must have qualified as a surveyor at some stage, and that he emigrated to
New ZealandNew Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses , and numerous smaller islands, most notably Stewart Island/Rakiura and the Chatham Islands. The indigenous Māori named New Zealand Aotearoa, commonly translated as The Land of the Long White Cloud...
. From 1857 to 1859, Fraser worked as a surveyor in
AucklandThe Auckland metropolitan area , in the North Island of New Zealand, is the largest and most populous urban area in the country with a population approaching 1.4 million residents, percent of the country's population. Demographic trends indicate that it will continue to grow faster than the rest...
. He was then district surveyor for the Native Land Purchase Department until 1863; district surveyor for the Canterbury West Gold Fields until 1867; and finally Chief Surveyor for Westland until 1869.
In 1870, Fraser emigrated to
Western AustraliaWestern Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. Australia's largest state and the second largest subnational entity in the world, it has 2.2 million inhabitants , 85% of whom live in the south-west corner of the state.The state's capital...
to take up the position of Surveyor-General, which had become vacant on the retirement of
John Septimus RoeJohn Septimus Roe was the first Surveyor-General of Western Australia. He was a renowned explorer, and a Member of Western Australia's Legislative and Executive Councils for nearly 40 years.-Early life:...
.
Sir Malcolm Fraser KCMGThe Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is a British order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George, Prince Regent whilst he was acting as Prince Regent for his father, George III. It is named in honour of two military saints, St. Michael and St...
(1834–17 August 1900) was a powerful public servant in
colonialIn politics and in history, a colony is a territory under the immediate political control of a state. For colonies in antiquity, city-states would often found their own colonies. Some colonies were historically countries, while others were territories without definite statehood from their...
Western AustraliaWestern Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. Australia's largest state and the second largest subnational entity in the world, it has 2.2 million inhabitants , 85% of whom live in the south-west corner of the state.The state's capital...
in the 1870s and 1880s.
Malcolm Fraser was born in
GloucestershireGloucestershire is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn, and the entire Forest of Dean....
,
EnglandEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the North Sea to the east, with the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
in 1834. Nothing is known of his early life, except that he must have qualified as a surveyor at some stage, and that he emigrated to
New ZealandNew Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses , and numerous smaller islands, most notably Stewart Island/Rakiura and the Chatham Islands. The indigenous Māori named New Zealand Aotearoa, commonly translated as The Land of the Long White Cloud...
. From 1857 to 1859, Fraser worked as a surveyor in
AucklandThe Auckland metropolitan area , in the North Island of New Zealand, is the largest and most populous urban area in the country with a population approaching 1.4 million residents, percent of the country's population. Demographic trends indicate that it will continue to grow faster than the rest...
. He was then district surveyor for the Native Land Purchase Department until 1863; district surveyor for the Canterbury West Gold Fields until 1867; and finally Chief Surveyor for Westland until 1869.
In 1870, Fraser emigrated to
Western AustraliaWestern Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. Australia's largest state and the second largest subnational entity in the world, it has 2.2 million inhabitants , 85% of whom live in the south-west corner of the state.The state's capital...
to take up the position of Surveyor-General, which had become vacant on the retirement of
John Septimus RoeJohn Septimus Roe was the first Surveyor-General of Western Australia. He was a renowned explorer, and a Member of Western Australia's Legislative and Executive Councils for nearly 40 years.-Early life:...
. Fraser was recruited to the position by then
Governor of Western AustraliaThe Governor of Western Australia is the representative in Western Australia of Australia's Monarch Queen Elizabeth II. The Governor performs important constitutional, ceremonial and community functions, including:* presiding over the Executive Council;...
Frederick WeldSir Frederick Aloysius Weld, GCMG , was a New Zealand politician and a governor of various British colonies. He was the sixth person to serve as Premier of New Zealand, and later served as Governor of Western Australia, Governor of Tasmania, and Governor of the Straits Settlements.-Early life:Weld...
, who had formerly been
Premier of New ZealandThe Prime Minister of New Zealand is New Zealand's head of government consequent on being the leader of the party or coalition with majority support in the Parliament of New Zealand...
and knew Fraser personally from that time. Fraser commenced as surveyor-general on 19 December 1870. In May 1871 he completely reorganised the Lands and Surveys Department, which resulted in the promotion of
John ForrestSir John Forrest GCMG was an Australian explorer, the first Premier of Western Australia and a cabinet minister in Australia's first federal parliament....
and the dismissal of
Alexander ForrestAlexander Forrest CMG, was an explorer and surveyor of Western Australia, as well as a politician.-Early life:Forrest was born at Picton, near Bunbury in Western Australia, the son of William and Margaret Forrest...
.
As surveyor-general, Fraser immediately became a nominated member of Western Australia's
LegislativeThe Legislative Council, or upper house, is one of the two chambers of parliament in the Australian state of Western Australia. Its central purpose is to act as a house of review for legislation passed through the lower house, the Legislative Assembly. It sits in Parliament House in the state...
and Executive Councils. He remained surveyor-general until 5 January 1883, when he was appointed to succeed Edric Gifford as
Colonial Secretary of Western AustraliaThe Colonial Secretary of Western Australia was one of the most important and powerful public offices in Western Australia, in the time when Western Australia was a British colony. The Colonial Secretary was the representative of the British Colonial Office in Western Australia, and was usually...
. Later that year, Fraser represented Western Australia at the Australasian Convention in Sydney. From June 1886 to June 1887, he was on leave in
EnglandEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the North Sea to the east, with the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, and while there he represented Western Australia at the Colonial and Imperial Exhibition in
London[]London is the capital of England and the United Kingdom. It has been a major settlement for two millennia, and the history of London goes back to its founding by the Romans, when it was named Londinium. London's core, the ancient City of London, the 'square mile', retains its medieval boundaries...
. In 1888, he represented the state at the Intercolonial Conference in Sydney.
After
Frederick BroomeSir Frederick Napier Broome was a lord so nice and loyal KCMG was a colonial administrator.He was born in Canada, but was living in England in 1865, when he married Mary Anne Lady Wellinton...
's tenure as
GovernorThe Governor of Western Australia is the representative in Western Australia of Australia's Monarch Queen Elizabeth II. The Governor performs important constitutional, ceremonial and community functions, including:* presiding over the Executive Council;...
came to an end in December 1889, Fraser was appointed Administrator of Western Australia until the appointment of the next governor.
William RobinsonSir William Cleaver Francis Robinson, GCMG was a British colonial administrator and a musical composer, being the author of several well known songs...
was appointed Governor in October 1890, and one of his first tasks was to institute
responsible governmentResponsible government is a conception of a system of government that embodies the principle of parliamentary accountability which is the foundation of the Westminster system of parliamentary democracy...
. Under responsible government, the Executive Council was dissolved, and the office of Colonial Secretary became a ministerial portfolio. Rather than contest a
parliamentaryThe Parliament of Western Australia consists of the Western Australian Legislative Council, the Western Australian Legislative Assembly and the Governor of Western Australia...
seat, Fraser decided to retire on his pension. He retired on 28 December 1890, and shortly afterwards set sail for London. In April 1892 he came out of retirement to accept the position of the first Agent General for Western Australia in London, which position he held until 1898.
Malcolm Fraser died at
CliftonClifton is the name of both one of the thirty-five council wards in the City of Bristol in England, and of a large suburb of the city that lies mostly within that ward...
on 17 August 1900. He was survived by his three sons and two daughters. His wife since 1861, Elizabeth nee Riddiford, had died four years earlier. Fraser was made
CMGThe Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is a British order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George, Prince Regent whilst he was acting as Prince Regent for his father, George III. It is named in honour of two military saints, St. Michael and St...
in 1881 and
KCMGThe Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is a British order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George, Prince Regent whilst he was acting as Prince Regent for his father, George III. It is named in honour of two military saints, St. Michael and St...
in 1897. Throughout his life Fraser had a reputation for his bad temper; Crowley (2000) referred to him as
a man whose intemperate habits had been town gossip for years.