Drake was born on 26 April 1850 in London, England. He was the son of Ann (née Hyde) and Edward Drake, his father being a publican. He was educated at King's College School and then worked for merchant firms for several years.[1] Drake left London in October 1873 and arrived in Brisbane in January 1874. He sought work unsuccessfully in the tin mines at Stanthorpe before finding employment as a store clerk in Toowoomba, later returning to Brisbane. He also spent some time as a jackaroo in western Queensland.[2]
Journalism and legal career
In 1875, Drake began working as a journalist with the Bundaberg Star. He subsequently moved to the Daily Northern Argus (Rockhampton) and then returned to Brisbane to work on the Telegraph and Courier (as leader writer). For a brief period he moved to Melbourne and worked as a parliamentary reporter for the Argus.[2] Upon his return to Queensland he joined the staff of Hansard, making use of his shorthand skills in transcribing debates in the colonial parliament; he was president of the Queensland Shorthand Writers' Association.[1]
Drake began reading law in May 1881 and was admitted to the bar in June 1882. He established a "flourishing practice" in partnership with Magnus Jensen. His radical views led to a friendship with the utopian socialist William Lane, and in 1887 he became a shareholder, writer, and joint editor of Lane's weekly newspaper The Boomerang.[1]
Military service
Drake was commissioned as a lieutenant in the Queensland Defence Force in 1886, and promoted to captain in 1888 and major in 1900.[3][4][5]
Colonial politics
Drake was a member of the Legislative Assembly of Queensland for the Electoral district of Enoggera from 12 May 1888 to 7 December 1899. Following his period as an elected representative, he was appointed a life Member of the Legislative Council of Queensland on 7 December 1899, during which he was Postmaster-General and Secretary for Public Instruction in Queensland. Although membership of the Legislative Council was a life appointment, he resigned on 13 May 1901 in order to pursue a career in newly established federal parliament.[1][6]
Drake was tasked with establishing a national post and telegraph system from the six existing colonial systems. He secured the passage of the Post and Telegraph Act 1901, in his second reading speech expressing the need for non-discrimination in the provision of services and the advantages of a publicly owned telegraph service. He was generally regarded as a competent administrator,[2] although his appointment of Queenslander Robert Scott as the inaugural head of the Postmaster-General's Department led to accusation of state bias. Punch regarded him as "a plodder – thorough rather than brilliant".[1]
Following a reshuffle in August 1903, Drake replaced John Forrest as Minister for Defence. He held the position for only six weeks, as Attorney-General Alfred Deakin replaced Barton as prime minister the following month and appointed Drake as his successor. He presented the Commonwealth's arguments in D'Emden v Pedder, one of the first significant constitutional cases decided by the High Court of Australia.[1] Drake was a strong supporter of the White Australia policy. Days before the 1903 federal election, in response to the Petriana affair, he stated that its provisions should even extend to shipwrecked sailors. The Argus reported he had told an election meeting in Sydney:[7]
It was undesirable that educated gentlemen who had been in gaol, or coloured men who had been shipwrecked, should land in Australia in defiance of the law. They intended to keep their race pure, and make Australia a place worth living in.
Drake stood for the Queensland state seat of North Brisbane in 1907, but only gained 137 votes.[1] He was state crown prosecutor from 1910 to 1920 and in 1912 was appointed Acting Deputy Judge of the District Court of Queensland.[9]
Death
He died in Brisbane Hospital and was buried in Toowong Cemetery.[10] He was the last surviving member of the Barton, Reid and the first Deakin Cabinet. Drake was survived by four children from his marriage to Mary Street in 1897.[1]
^ abcdeDrinkwater, Derek (2000). "Drake, James George (1850–1941)". The Biographical Dictionary of the Australian Senate. Vol. 1. Retrieved 15 March 2020.
^Foster, Leonie (2014). "Shipwrecks and the White Australia policy". The Great Circle. 36 (2). The Australian Association for Maritime History: 74. JSTOR24583070.
^"TROUBLED TIMES". The Brisbane Courier. No. 22, 568. Queensland, Australia. 29 May 1930. p. 14. Retrieved 15 April 2023 – via National Library of Australia.