Preceded by William Giblin Succeeded by William Giblin Role Australian Politician | Name William Crowther Profession Surgeon Children Edward Crowther | |
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Full Name William Lodewyk Crowther Born 15 April 1817
Haarlem, Netherlands ( 1817-04-15 ) Spouse(s) Sarah Victoria Marie Louise Muller Died April 12, 1885, Hobart, Australia | ||
William Lodewyk Crowther FRCS (15 April 1817 – 12 April 1885) was an Australian politician, who was Premier of Tasmania 20 December 1878 to 29 October 1879.
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Early life
Crowther was born in Haarlem, Netherlands, elder child of Dr. William Crowther who was later a long-time resident surgeon of Hobart. The Crowthers moved to Van Diemen's Land (now Tasmania) in 1824.
Crowther was educated at a private school at Richard B. Claiborne's Grammar School in Longford, Tasmania and then went to St Thomas' Hospital, England to study medicine. In 1842 he returned to Tasmania and practised at Hobart.
Political career
Crowther was elected to the Tasmanian House of Assembly in October 1866, but resigned his seat in December 1866. On 22 March 1869, he was elected to the Tasmanian Legislative Council as a representative of Hobart and held this seat until his death. He was a constant attendant and an able speaker. In July 1876 he joined the Thomas Reibey cabinet as a minister without portfolio, and on 20 December 1878 became premier. The state of the political parties at that time made it practically impossible to do anything constructive. Crowther resigned on 29 October 1879.
Legacy
Crowther died in Hobart on 12 April 1885. He married Victoria Marie Louise, daughter of General Muller, who survived him with eight children. One of his sons, Dr Edward Crowther, was a member of the Tasmanian parliament from 1878 to 1912. A statue of W. L. Crowther is erected in Franklin Square, Hobart. The inscription reads:
Erected
By a grateful public,
And sincere personal friends,
To perpetuate the memory of long and
Zealous political and professional service
In this colony
By
William Lodewyk Crowther
F. R. S. C. England
The W.L. Crowther Library was named in his memory, and presented to the State Library of Tasmania by his grandson Sir William Crowther (1887–1981).
William Lanne
Crowther is noted for mutilating the remains of William Lanne, a Tasmanian Aboriginal, in 1869. He removed Lanne's skull and sent it to the Royal College of Surgeons in London.
The act proved controversial even at the time:
A fracas occurred outside the Council chamber, Hobart Town, a few nights ago. Mr. Crowther, member for Hobart Town, threatened his colleague, Mr. Kennerley, with personal violence, because of the latter's allusion to Mr. Crowther's alleged abstraction of the last aboriginal's head. Mr. Kennerley called the attention of the House to the circumstance, and Mr. Crowther was reprimanded.
Despite a long life involving many other endeavours and achievements in his adopted home and abroad, according to historian Helen Patricia MacDonald "the events of 1869 came to define William Crowther's place in Tasmanian history."