Charles Cameron Kingston: Federation Father

Charles Cameron Kingston was a leading player in Australia's Federation. Highly intelligent, hard working and politically honest, he was also a formidable bully with a short fuse. He was dearly loved by some and vehemently hated by others.He became Premier of South Australia in 1893, yet Kingston cared little for the norms of the polite, colonial society of late nineteenth-century Adelaide and, together with his wife Lucy, was ostracized accordingly. His alcoholic elder brother was gaoled for shooting a cabman; Charles was accused of adultery and subsequently adopted an illegitimate child; he challenged a political opponent to a duel; he brawled in the street. The notorious Adelaide Hospital dispute haunted the later years of his political career.Yet he introduced radical and progressive legislation on industrial conciliation and arbitration, on the creation of the State Bank of South Australia, and on trade and tariff reforms. Thanks to him, South Australia led the world on the enfranchisement of women. And Kingston's commitment and contribution to the cause and creation of Australian federalism was beyond question.What was the source of these contradictory traits? And why - until now - has his contribution to Australian Federation never been adequately acknowledged?In this lively and meticulously researched biography, Margaret Glass seeks answers to this...