Arthur Groom (politician)


Arthur Champion Groom was an Australian politician and land agent.

Early life

Groom was born at 'Harefield' in St Marys, Tasmania, the fifth son of Francis Groom and Matilda Emma, née Minnett. He attended Horton College at Ross before arriving in Victoria in 1872. He married Gertrude Rudge, with whom he had a daughter and three sons, at Geelong on 8 January 1877, at which time he was managing a nearby station. He continued in the stock and land management business for many years.

State politics

As principal of the firm Hamilton, Groom & Co., Groom became associated with the Gippsland area. He was elected to the Victorian Legislative Assembly for the seat of Gippsland South in March 1886, and transferred to Gippsland West in 1889, but lost his seat in 1892. He continued to be active in the local area; he became a member of the Railway Standing Committee in 1890 and was a member of the royal commission on the Victorian coal industry in 1889.

Federal politics

Groom was elected to the seat of Flinders in the Australian House of Representatives at the inaugural federal election in 1901, representing the Free Trade Party. He was rarely present at Parliament as he continued his work as a stock agent, and retired from the House in 1903.

Later life

After leaving parliament, he bought a property, Kyogle, in northern New South Wales, an extremely successful venture which turned Groom's interest further north. In 1910 he moved to Queensland, where he lived until his death on 22 March 1922 at Cloncurry. He was survived by his second wife Eva Rosabel, and their three daughters and four sons, together with a daughter of his first marriage.