Portrait of George Leake

Birthday profile

George Leake

George Leake, Australian politician, 3rd Premier of Western Australia (died 1902)

Born
December 3, 1856
Died
June 24, 1902
Zodiac sign
Sagittarius
Birth year
1856

About George Leake

George Leake (3 December 1856 – 24 June 1902) was the third Premier of Western Australia, serving from May to November 1901 and then again from December 1901 to his death. Leake was born in Perth, into a prominent local family. Studying law, he was called to the bar in 1880, and in 1883 was appointed Crown Solicitor and Public Prosecutor (the equivalent of solicitor-general). Leake first entered parliament in 1886, when he served briefly in the Legislative Council. He was again briefly a member of that body in 1888. In 1890, Leake was elected unopposed to the Legislative Assembly (representing the seat of Roebourne), but he resigned shortly after in order to continue as Crown Solicitor. In 1894, Leake re-entered the Legislative Assembly, representing the seat of Albany. An opponent of the government of John Forrest, he began to be regarded as the Leader of the Opposition, although that position was unofficial at the time. Forrest eventually resigned as premier in 1901 to enter federal politics, and was initially replaced by George Throssell. Throssell's government was short-lived, however, and he was replaced as premier by Leake, who also appointed himself attorney-general. Leake's first government lasted five months before being defeated on a no-confidence motion. Alf Morgans was appointed as his successor, but was unable to form a government, resulting in Leake being recommissioned as premier after just a month out of office. Leake's second government lasted until his sudden death from pneumonia in June 1902, aged 45. He is the only Premier of Western Australia to have died in office.

Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.

The world when George Leake was born

George Leake was born in 1856. The year snapshot below places that birthday in its cultural and historical setting: the music and films people were following, the headlines shaping public life, and the everyday prices families encountered.

Headlines and milestones

  • Top headlineRep. Brooks canes Sen. Sumner on Senate floor
  • Technology milestoneFirst synthetic dye (mauveine) discovered
  • World population~1.36B

United States snapshot

  • U.S. leaderFranklin Pierce
  • U.S. population27.1M

1856 versus 2026

These figures put everyday life in George Leake's birth year beside the site's latest United States snapshot.

Measure18562026
Population27.1M341 million

Sources and editorial standards

This profile combines a biographical source with structured birthday and historical context. Sources recorded for this profile: Wikipedia, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, National Library of Australia Trove, Wikidata. See our editorial policy for sourcing, corrections, and review standards.

Read the source biography on Wikipedia. Wikipedia text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.