Charles William Frost (30 November 1882 – 22 July 1964) was an Australian politician.

Frost was born in Hobart

Hobart

Hobart is the state capital and most populous city of the Australian island state of Tasmania. Founded in 1804 as a penal colony,Hobart is Australia's second oldest capital city after Sydney. In 2009, the city had a greater area population of approximately 212,019. A resident of Hobart is known as...

, Tasmania and educated at Koonya and Margate

Margate, Tasmania

Margate is a small seaside town located on the Channel Highway between North-West Bay and the Snug Tiers, south of Kingston in Tasmania, Australia. At the 2006 census, Margate had a population of 1,368. Although more people live in the immediate region around the town...

 state schools, but left school at 13. He later worked at the Iron Blow mine near Queenstown

Queenstown, Tasmania

Queenstown is a town in the West Coast region of the island of Tasmania. It is located in a valley on western slopes of Mount Owen on the West Coast Range.It had a population of 5,119 people . At the 2006 census, Queenstown had a population of 2,117....

. He married Ruth Hornsey Young in October 1906 and they had four children (including Jack

Jack Frost (politician)

Stewart Charles Hilton "Jack" Frost was an Australian politician. The son of federal MP Charles Frost, he was born in Margate, Tasmania. After contesting the federal seat of Franklin unsuccessfully for the Australian Labor Party in 1949, 1951 and 1954, he was elected to the Tasmanian House of...

, who would sit in the Tasmanian House of Assembly

Tasmanian House of Assembly

The House of Assembly, or Lower House, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of Tasmania in Australia. The other is the Legislative Council or Upper House...

). He bought an orchard near Margate and in the late 1920s he was elected as a member of local Kingborough Council.

Political career

Frost ran unsuccessfully for the division of Franklin

Division of Franklin (state)

The Electoral Division of Franklin is one of the five electorates in the Tasmanian House of Assembly. The division is named after Sir John Franklin, the arctic explorer who was Lieutenant-Governor of Van Diemen's Land 1837-43...

 in the Tasmanian Legislative Assembly in 1928. He won a by-election in 1929 for the Australian House of Representatives

Australian House of Representatives

The House of Representatives is one of the two houses of the Parliament of Australia; it is the lower house; the upper house is the Senate. Members of Parliament serve for terms of approximately three years....

 seat of Franklin

Division of Franklin

The Division of Franklin is an Australian Electoral Division in Tasmania. The division was created in 1903 and is named for Sir John Franklin, the polar explorer who was Lt Governor of Van Diemen's Land 1843-46. It is located in southern Tasmania, including the Hobart suburbs of Bridgewater,...

 for the Australian Labor Party

Australian Labor Party

The Australian Labor Party is an Australian political party. It has been the governing party of the Commonwealth of Australia since the 2007 federal election. Julia Gillard is the party's federal parliamentary leader and Prime Minister of Australia...

. He lost the seat at the 1931 election

Australian federal election, 1931

Federal elections were held in Australia on 19 December 1931. All 75 seats in the House of Representatives, and 18 of the 36 seats in the Senate were up for election...

, but won it back in the 1934 election

Australian federal election, 1934

Federal elections were held in Australia on 15 September 1934. All 74 seats in the House of Representatives, and 18 of the 36 seats in the Senate were up for election. The incumbent United Australia Party led by Prime Minister of Australia Joseph Lyons with coalition partner the Country Party led...

. When John Curtin

John Curtin

John Joseph Curtin , Australian politician, served as the 14th Prime Minister of Australia. Labor under Curtin formed a minority government in 1941 after the crossbench consisting of two independent MPs crossed the floor in the House of Representatives, bringing down the Coalition minority...

 came to power in 1941, he was appointed Minister for Repatriation

Minister for Veterans' Affairs (Australia)

The Australian Minister for Veterans' Affairs oversees income support, compensation, care and commemoration programs for more than 400,000 veterans and their widows, widowers and dependants....

 and Minister in charge of War Service Homes

Minister for Veterans' Affairs (Australia)

The Australian Minister for Veterans' Affairs oversees income support, compensation, care and commemoration programs for more than 400,000 veterans and their widows, widowers and dependants....

. He narrowly lost his seat at the 1946 election

Australian federal election, 1946

Federal elections were held in Australia on 28 September 1946. All 74 seats in the House of Representatives, and 19 of the 36 seats in the Senate were up for election...

.

In 1948 Frost became Australian high commissioner

High Commissioner

High Commissioner is the title of various high-ranking, special executive positions held by a commission of appointment.The English term is also used to render various equivalent titles in other languages.-Bilateral diplomacy:...

 to Ceylon

Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is a country off the southern coast of the Indian subcontinent. Known until 1972 as Ceylon , Sri Lanka is an island surrounded by the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait, and lies in the vicinity of India and the...

, but this appointment was terminated in 1950 by the Menzies

Robert Menzies

Sir Robert Gordon Menzies, , Australian politician, was the 12th and longest-serving Prime Minister of Australia....

government. He died in St John's Hospital, Hobart, survived by his wife, two sons and a daughter.