 1842 - 1894 (~ 52 years)
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| Name |
Bray, John Cox |
| Birth |
May 1842 |
| Gender |
Male |
| _UID |
97DA457C8C4147F2B5D6616780BDE397424A |
| Death |
12 Jun 1894 |
'SS Oceana' at sea between Suez & Ceylon  |
| Burial |
13 Jun 1894 |
At Sea |
| Notes |
- John Cox Bray (1842-1894) was born in May 1842 in East Adelaide. He remained in Adelaide when the family returned to live in England. Educated at St Peter's College, Adelaide and in England, Bray read law in South Australia. He married Alice Maude Hornabrook (1850-1935) in January 1870 at St Michael's, Mitcham.
He was called to the South Australian Bar in November 1870. However he practised law only briefly, as a solicitor, before being elected to the South Australian House of Assembly as M.P. for East Adelaide in December 1871, a constituency he was to hold until his retirement from politics in January 1892.
Bray served as Minister of Justice and Minister of Education in 1875, and as Attorney-General (1876-1877), when he introduced an "Act to provide for the formation and registration of trades unions", the first such legislation in Australia. He was Leader of the Opposition (1877-1881), and Premier & Chief Secretary of South Australia (1881-1884). He visited England and the United States from 1884 to 1885, returning to serve as Chief Secretary of South Australia (1885-1887), and Treasurer (1886-1887). He was acting Premier during Downer's absence in England during 1887. Bray was elected Speaker (1888-1890), then was Chief Secretary again until 1892, when he left politics.
John C Bray attended the Sydney Intercolonial Conference in 1883, and was one of the South Australian representatives at the first Federal Convention in Sydney in 1891. He was appointed Agent General for South Australia in London (1892-1894), but resigned early because of ill health. He was created a Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George by Queen Victoria in the New Year's Honours List for 1890.
The Honourable Sir John Cox Bray, KCMG, JP was the first native-born Premier of South Australia. He was also the first South Australian-born man to serve as Speaker, and Agent-General for the State. Sir John died on 12 June 1894 aboard the S.S. "Oceana" at sea between Suez & Ceylon bound for South Australia from England. He was buried at sea on the following day. His wife Alice, Lady Bray, survived him until 1935.
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| Person ID |
I1010 |
'City of Adelaide' |
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