George Reid

Reid was born in Scotland in 1845 and arrived in Australia young enough to grow up colonial: dropped out of school at 13 in Sydney, clerked his way into the civil service, taught himself law, and got admitted to the bar in 1879. He entered the New South Wales parliament in 1880, became premier in 1894, and held the job five years without ever winning a majority - passing civil service reforms and helping draft the federal constitution while nursing a personal grudge against Henry Parkes. After federation in 1901 he led the Free Trade opposition until the musical chairs of minority governments landed him the prime ministership in August 1904. His cabinet included rivals, his tenure lasted eleven months, and he left behind the Commonwealth Conciliation and Arbitration Act before losing confidence in 1905. He refused to merge his party with the Protectionists in 1908, accepted the new high commissioner post in London in 1910, then won a seat in the British Parliament in 1916 and died in office two years later.