David Morley Charleston (27 May 1848 – 20 June 1934) was an Cornish

Cornish people

The Cornish are a people associated with Cornwall, a county and Duchy in the south-west of the United Kingdom that is seen in some respects as distinct from England, having more in common with the other Celtic parts of the United Kingdom such as Wales, as well as with other Celtic nations in Europe...

-born Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

n politician. Born in Cornwall

Cornwall

Cornwall is a unitary authority and ceremonial county of England, within the United Kingdom. It is bordered to the north and west by the Celtic Sea, to the south by the English Channel, and to the east by the county of Devon, over the River Tamar. Cornwall has a population of , and covers an area of...

, he received a primary education before becoming an apprentice engineer, and later an engineering unionist and marine engineer. Migrating to Australia in 1884, he continued his engineering work with the Adelaide Steamship Company

Adelaide Steamship Company

The Adelaide Steamship Company was formed by a group of South Australian businessmen in 1875. Their aim was to control the transport of goods between Adelaide and Melbourne and profit from the need for an efficient and comfortable passenger service...

 but resigned in 1887 after labour troubles. He subsequently became President of the Adelaide Trades and Labour Council

United Trades and Labour Council of South Australia

The United Trades and Labour Council of South Australia, also known as SA Unions, is a representative body of trade union organisations, known as a Labour council, in the State of South Australia...

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In 1891 he was elected to the South Australian Legislative Council

South Australian Legislative Council

The Legislative Council, or upper house, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of South Australia. Its central purpose is to act as a house of review for legislation passed through the lower house, the House of Assembly...

 as a Labor

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...

 member, but he left the Labor Party in 1897. Leaving the Council in 1901, he was elected to the Australian Senate

Australian Senate

The Senate is the upper house of the bicameral Parliament of Australia, the lower house being the House of Representatives. Senators are popularly elected under a system of proportional representation. Senators are elected for a term that is usually six years; after a double dissolution, however,...

 as a Free Trade

Free Trade Party

The Free Trade Party which was officially known as the Australian Free Trade and Liberal Association, also referred to as the Revenue Tariff Party in some states and renamed the Anti-Socialist Party in 1906, was an Australian political party, formally organised between 1889 and 1909...

r. He was defeated in 1903, and was later General Secretary of the Farmers' and Producers' Political Union. Several attempts to re-enter the Senate were unsuccessful. Charleston died in 1934.

Charleston's sister was the suffragist Nellie Martel

Nellie Martel

Ellen Alma "Nellie" Martel, née Charleston was an English-Australian suffragist and elocutionist.-Life:...

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