Lawyer, Politician; Premier of South Australia1893-1899

Born in Adelaide in 1850, Charles Cameron Kingston was the son of colonial surveyor and architect, George Strickland Kingston. He trained as a lawyer and was articled to Samuel Way. He was admitted to the Bar in 1873 after some controversy when his application was opposed by a man who claimed that Kingston had seduced his younger sister.

In 1881 he was elected to the seat of West Adelaide in the South Australian House of Assembly. He was re-elected to the seat six times. Kingston was a South Australian delegate to the Australasian conference held in Sydney in 1888. Here he strongly opposed Chinese immigration to Australia. It was later claimed that Kingston's ideas formed the basis of the 'White Australia' policy.

In 1892 Kingston was involved in another scandal when he challenged Richard Baker, a conservative member of the Legislative Council, to a duel with pistols in Victoria Square. Baker sent the police to meet Kingston at the appointed time and he was arrested. Kingston was tried and sentenced to keep the peace for a period of twelve months. This was still in force in June 1893 when Kingston became South Australia's premier! Kingston was premier until 1899 and his government was responsible for granting women the vote (although Kingston had previously been opposed to extending the franchise to women and supported it as premier when convinced by colleagues that it would be politically advantageous), the establishment of a state bank and generous laws regulating factories.

A strong supporter of federation, Kingston was a prominent player in the drafting of the Australian Constitution and travelled to England in 1900 with an Australian delegation to ensure that the Commonwealth of Australia Bill was passed by the UK parliament with as few amendments as possible. Kingston was a member of the first Federal Parliament, serving as Minister for Trade and Customs. He resigned from this post over his controversial Conciliation and Arbitration Bill.

Kingston was re-elected to the seat of Adelaide in the Commonwealth Government in December 1903 and 1906 elections but was often too ill to attend to his parliamentary duties, although he continued to undertake some legal work in Adelaide. Kingston's state funeral on 13 May 1908 was one of the largest attended in South Australia.

1873: Admitted to the Bar

1880-1908: President of South Adelaide Football Club

1881-1900: Member of the South Australian House of Assembly

June 1884-June 1885 and June 1887-June 1889: Held post of South Australian attorney-general

1888: Appointed as Queen's Counsel (QC)

1893-1899: Premier of South Australia

1897: Appointed to the Privy Council and awarded honorary Doctor of Civil Law (DCL) from Oxford University while on a visit to England for Queen Victoria's diamond jubilee celebrations

1900: Oversaw the passing of the Commonwealth of Australia Bill in the UK parliament

1901-1903: Minister for Trade and Customs in the first Federal Parliament

Kingston became premier of South Australia while under an order to keep the peace which came into effect after he challenged his political enemy Richard Baker to a duel with pistols in Victoria Square.

Explore: Did you know?: Kingston, Charles Cameron

Crisp, LF. Federation fathers, Carlton, Vic: Melbourne University Press, 1990

Glass, Margaret. Charles Cameron Kingston: federation father, Carlton, Vic: Melbourne University Press, 1997

Australian Dictionary of Biography Online: Search for Charles Cameron Kingston