Next month it will be one hundred years since Harry Lawson (1875-1952) was elected the 27th premier of Victoria.

Harry Lawson was the son of John Wightman Lawson (1830-1892), a Presbyterian minister from Edinburgh, Scotland, and his wife Penelope Bell, née Hawkins (1851-1898). Harry was born in Dunolly but the family moved to Castlemaine in 1884.

Harry Lawson trained as a solicitor and entered Victorian parliament at the age of 24.

Next month in Lawson’s home town of Castlemaine there will be a lunch to celebrate the centenary of Sir Harry Lawson becoming Premier of Victoria in 1918.

My great grandmother Beatrix Champion de Crespigny née Hughes (1884-1943) was a first cousin of Sir Harry Lawson. The noted feminist Vida Goldstein (1869-1949) was also a first cousin of both Harry Lawson and my great grandmother. All three were grandchildren of Samuel Proudfoot Hawkins (1819-1867) and Jeanie Hawkins née Hutcheson (1824-1864).

Lawson 1918 a

Lawson 1918 b A NEW PREMIER (1918, March 19). The Sun (Sydney, NSW : 1910 – 1954), p. 6. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article221939194