Elliot Johnson (politician) took which position before Mar 1907?
Elliot Johnson ( politician ) Sir William Elliot Johnson KCMG ( 10 April 18628 December 1932 ) was an Australian politician . He was a long-serving member of the House of Representatives ( 1903–1928 ) and served non-consecutive terms as Speaker of the House ( 1913–1914 , 1917–1923 ) , the first person to do so . He began his career in the Australian Labor Party ( ALP ) during the early 1890s , but was a member of the anti-Labor parties throughout his tenure in parliament . Early life . Johnson was born at Newcastle upon Tyne , England , the son of a scene-painter . He ran away from home at 13 , worked in the telegraph office at London , and afterwards assisted his father scene-painting at Covent Garden theatre . He was then apprenticed on a sailing-ship and after obtaining his second mates certificate , settled in Sydney in 1883 . He took much interest in the free-trade movement and was also a follower of Henry George . Johnson was an early member of the Labor Electoral League of New South Wales and served as president of its Newtown branch . He was also a contributor to the Labour Defence Journal . At the 1894 general election he was an unsuccessful candidate for the seat of Marrickville . Johnson later left the party on the grounds that it had turned wrongly towards socialism and state interference . He was subsequently honorary secretary of the Free Trade and Liberal Association of New South Wales . Politics . In December 1903 he was elected a member of the federal House of Representatives for Lang . He was from 1910 to 1913 whip and secretary to the Liberal Party and was a member of the panel of Deputy Chairmen of Committees . He took much interest in the selection of the site for the federal capital , and nominated the Yass-Canberra site which was eventually chosen . In 1911 he was one of the Australian parliamentary representatives at the coronation of King George V . He was elected Speaker of the House in 1913 and held this position until after the 1914 election . He was again Speaker from June 1917 to February 1923 , when William Watt was chosen for the position . Johnson was a man of great industry who made it his business to be thoroughly acquainted with the subjects under debate . He was particularly interested in the question of immigration . As Speaker he was quietly dignified , courteous and efficient . He was defeated at the 1928 general election . Personal life . Johnson died at Geelong , Victoria , in 1932 . He married , but his wife died before him . He was survived by a daughter . He was created a Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George ( KCMG ) in 1920 . In private life his hobby was painting and etching . A set of his etchings is at the National Library of Australia , Canberra .