The members of the Australian Parliament assembled for the first time in Melbourne on 9 May 1901. One hundred and eleven members, comprising 36 senators and 75 members of the House of Representatives, had been elected in polls held in all states on the 29th or 30th March.
111 First Australian Parliament Geocache series. BYO PEN
Littleton Groom was born in Toowoomba, Queensland and was the third son of William Henry Groom, first federal member for Darling Downs. Groom was educated in Toowoomba and later at the University of Melbourne and practised as a barrister in Brisbane from 1891 to 1901. In 1900 he was appointed a deputy District Court judge.
Groom became the member for Darling Downs at a by-election held as a result of his father’s death in August 1901. On entering federal politics he soon made himself known by his radical protectionist views and for his strong belief that people should show their loyalties to the Commonwealth rather than to the states. He was a minister in the Deakin, Cook, Hughes and Bruce-Page ministries and was Speaker of the House of Representatives from 1926 until 1929, when he was refused Nationalist Party endorsement and was defeated in the election. He was re-elected as an Independent in 1931 and joined the United Australia Party in 1933. He died in office in 1936.
Groom was appointed King’s Counsel in 1923 and was knighted in 1924.