Colin Rankin Colin Dunlop Wilson Rankin ( 20 January 1869 , Galston , Ayrshire , Scotland – 2 November 1940 , Brisbane , Queensland , Australia ) was a soldier , politician , cane farmer and company director . Early life . The second son of William Rankin , colliery manager , and his wife Jane , née Anderson , he was educated at Galston Public School and Kilmarnock Academy . Colin Rankin accompanied his family to Queensland when his father became manager of Queensland Collieries Co . Ltd . at Howard ( near Maryborough ) in 1884 . Rankin joined its staff and from 1886 the Queensland Defence Force . By 1890 he was assistant company manager , grew sugar at Tigh - na - Bienne at Isis , Queensland ( near Bundaberg , north of Howard ) , and became a clerk and valuator with the Isis Divisional Board ( 1890 – 1899 ) . Family life . He married Annabelle Davidson Thomson on 5 September 1906 at Maryborough ; they settled on his plantation . They had two daughters , Annabelle ( born 1908 ) and Jean . The family lived in Brooklyn House in Howard ( now heritage - listed ) . Rankin died in a private hospital in Brisbane on 2 November 1940 , survived by his wife and two daughters , and was buried with Anglican rites in Howard Cemetery . His daughter , Annabelle , became the first woman to enter the Federal parliament from Queensland . Boer War . A major when the South African War broke out , Rankin volunteered for service and on 13 January 1900 sailed with the Second Queensland Contingent . He was appointed second - in - command of the First Australian Regiment of Mounted Infantry and saw action at Diamond Hill , Riet Vlei and elsewhere . Invalided to England , Rankin returned to Queensland in March 1901 . In 1903 he was promoted lieutenant - colonel of the Wide Bay Infantry Regiment , assuming command in 1906 . Public office . He had been chairman of the Howard Shire Council since its formation in 1903 , and in 1905 successfully contested the seat of Burrum in the Queensland Legislative Assembly after unsuccessful attempts to gain it in 1899 and 1904 . Rankin promoted rural interests during his thirteen years in parliament . He became a council - member of the Australian Sugar Producers ' Union . His membership of the Farmers ' Parliamentary Union ( Country Liberal Party from 1913 ) , however , exacerbated disunity among government ranks . After unsuccessfully challenging Denham ' s leadership , Rankin was secretary for railways briefly in 1915 , then became deputy leader of the Liberal Opposition when Labor won the May election . World War 1 . During World War I Rankin served briefly in 1915 with the Australian Imperial Force in Egypt before appointment to command the 11th Brigade in the newly formed 3rd Division , as temporary brigadier general from 1 May 1916 . On Salisbury Plain in England , he was dismissed by Major General Sir John Monash as " incapable " . He returned home in November , and retired with the honorary rank of colonel in February 1917 . Later life . He failed to hold Burrum in the 1918 election . Next year when his brother , William Charles Rankin , died he succeeded him as general manager of Queensland Collieries Co . Ltd . As managing director in 1924 - 1940 , Rankin continued a tradition of paternal despotism . He had found the company in poor shape with a falling output and inadequate coal reserves ; charges have also been made of ' intense exploitation , sub - standard conditions and hard - fistedness ' . He courageously took out new leases in the Burrum district and opened new mines which helped the company to weather the Depression of the 1930s .