Image: Wikimedia Commons

Hal Colebatch

Former Premier and politician from Western Australia

PersonDied aged 80humanQ5640733

Also known as Harry Pateshall Colebatch · Sir Harry Colebatch · Sir Hal Colebatch · Premier Colebatch · Sir Harry Pateshall Colebatch

Born: March 29, 1872
1
Sources
1.Stated in SNACRetrieved 2017-10-09
View statement on Wikidata ↗
Died: February 12, 1953
1
Sources
1.Stated in SNACRetrieved 2017-10-09
View statement on Wikidata ↗
Birthplace: Wolferlow
Place of death: Perth
Citizenship: British Empire
Occupation: politician
1
Sources
1.Stated in Integrated Authority FileRetrieved 2026-04-20
View statement on Wikidata ↗
, journalist
1
Sources
1.Stated in Integrated Authority FileRetrieved 2026-04-20
View statement on Wikidata ↗
Positions held: Member of the Western Australian Legislative Council(1940–1948)
, member of the Australian Senate(1929–1933)
, Premier of Western Australia(1919–1919)
+1 more
Employer: Kalgoorlie Miner
, Daily News
, Financial Times
+1 more

Overview

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia · Read full article · Text CC BY-SA 4.0

Sir Harry Pateshall Colebatch was a long-serving figure in Western Australian politics. He was a member of the Western Australian Legislative Council for nearly 20 years, the twelfth Premier of Western Australia for a month in 1919, agent-general in London for five years, and a senator for four years. He was known for supporting free trade, federalism and Western Australian secessionism, and for opposing communism, socialism and fascism. Born in England, his family migrated to South Australia when Colebatch was four years old. He left school aged 11 and worked for several newspapers in South Australia before moving to Broken Hill in New South Wales in 1888 to work as a reporter for the Silver Age. In 1894, he moved to the Western Australian Goldfields following the gold rush there, working for the Golden Age in Coolgardie and the Kalgoorlie Miner in Kalgoorlie. Two years later, he moved to Perth to join the Morning Herald, but after that newspaper collapsed, he moved to Northam where he started The Northam Advertiser. He also became friends with local bank manager James Mitchell and convinced Mitchell to run for state parliament. Colebatch was the mayor of Northam between 1909 and 1912.

Overview

Life at a glance

Positions, education, employers and awards over time

Spans and dates from Wikidata qualifiers (start/end/point in time). Hover for details; click to open.

All data

51 statements · 18% with external sources · numbers in brackets are citations

Member of political party: Nationalist Party of Australia(since 1917)
Western Australian Liberal Party (1911–1917)(1911–1917)
Liberal Party of Australia (Western Australian Division)
Sex or gender: male
1
Sources
1.Stated in Integrated Authority FileRetrieved 2026-04-20
View statement on Wikidata ↗
Awards: Knight Bachelor(January 1, 1927)
Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George(January 1, 1923)
Given name: Harry
Family name: Colebatch
Child: Hal Colebatch
Writing language: English
Place of burial: Karrakatta Cemetery
Nickname: Hal
Date of burial or cremation: February 13, 1953
Number of children: 3
Owner of: The Northam Advertiser

On other databases

18 identifiers linking Hal Colebatch across the web's reference databases

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statements

18%

externally sourced

Source last edited September 6, 2026. AIDB refreshes this page daily.

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AIDB. (2026). Hal Colebatch (Q5640733). Retrieved from https://aidb.si/e/hal-colebatch-Q5640733