RASON, Sir Cornthwaite Hector (1858-1927)

premier of Western Australia

the son of a navy surgeon, was born in Somerset, England, on 18 June 1858. He was educated at Brighton and Reading and arrived at Perth in 1882. He became a member of the firm of Rason Webster and Company, storekeepers, but retired from the firm in 1891. He had been elected a member of the legislative council in 1889 but entered the assembly when responsible government was established. He was minister for works in the second Leake (q.v.) ministry from December 1901 to July 1902, and minister for works and railways in the James ministry, between July 1902 and August 1904. He was also treasurer for a few weeks in 1904. In August 1905 he became premier, treasurer, and minister for justice, but resigned in May 1906 to become agent-general for Western Australia at London. Three years later he resigned the agent-generalship and became a director of public companies. He was afterwards appointed secretary of Bovril's Limited, and was still in that position when he died at London on 15 March 1927. He married in 1884, Mary E. Terry. He was knighted in 1909. He was president of the royal commissions on mining (1898) and immigration (1905), and showed ability as an administrator.

The Times, 16 March 1927; Who's Who, 1927.