Sir Littleton Groom | |
|---|---|
.jpg) | |
| 6th Speaker of the Australian House of Representatives | |
| In office 13 January 1926 – 11 October 1929 | |
| Preceded by | William Watt |
| Succeeded by | Norman Makin |
| Attorney-General of Australia | |
| In office 21 December 1921 – 18 December 1925 | |
| Prime Minister | Billy Hughes Stanley Bruce |
| Preceded by | Billy Hughes |
| Succeeded by | John Latham |
| Minister for Works and Railways | |
| In office 27 March 1918 – 21 December 1921 | |
| Prime Minister | Billy Hughes |
| Preceded by | William Watt |
| Succeeded by | Richard Foster |
| Minister for Trade and Customs | |
| In office 24 June 1913 – 17 September 1914 | |
| Prime Minister | Joseph Cook |
| Preceded by | Frank Tudor |
| Succeeded by | Frank Tudor |
| Minister for External Affairs | |
| In office 2 June 1909 – 29 April 1910 | |
| Prime Minister | Alfred Deakin |
| Preceded by | Lee Batchelor |
| Succeeded by | Lee Batchelor |
| Attorney-General of Australia | |
| In office 12 October 1906 – 13 November 1908 | |
| Prime Minister | Alfred Deakin |
| Preceded by | Isaac Isaacs |
| Succeeded by | Billy Hughes |
| Minister for Home Affairs | |
| In office 5 July 1905 – 12 October 1906 | |
| Prime Minister | Alfred Deakin |
| Preceded by | Dugald Thomson |
| Succeeded by | Thomas Ewing |
| Member of the Australian Parliament for Darling Downs | |
| In office 19 December 1931 – 6 November 1936 | |
| Preceded by | Arthur Morgan |
| Succeeded by | Arthur Fadden |
| In office 14 September 1901 – 12 October 1929 | |
| Preceded by | William Henry Groom |
| Succeeded by | Arthur Morgan |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 22 April 1867 Toowoomba, Queensland, Australia |
| Died | 6 November 1936 (aged 69) Canberra, Australia |
| Political party | Protectionist (1901–09) Fusion (1909–17) Nationalist (1917–29) Independent (1929–33) UAP (1933–36) |
| Spouse |
Jessie Bell (m. 1894) |
| Alma mater | University of Melbourne |
| Occupation | Lawyer |
Sir Littleton Ernest Groom KCMG KC (22 April 1867 – 6 November 1936) was an Australian politician. He held ministerial office under four prime ministers between 1905 and 1925, and subsequently served as Speaker of the House of Representatives from 1926 to 1929.
Groom was the son of William Henry Groom, who had arrived in Australia as a convict but became a prominent public figure in the Colony of Queensland. He was a lawyer by profession, entering federal parliament at the 1901 Darling Downs by-election following his father's death. Groom was first appointed to cabinet by Alfred Deakin in 1905. Over the following two decades he served as Minister for Home Affairs (1905–1906), Attorney-General (1906–1908), External Affairs (1909–1910), Trade and Customs (1913–1914), Vice-President of the Executive Council (1917–1918), Works and Railways (1918–1921), and Attorney-General (1921–1925).
A political liberal and anti-socialist, Groom was initially affiliated with Deakin's Protectionists, who were later superseded by the Liberals (1909) and Nationalists (1917). He came into conflict with Prime Minister Stanley Bruce during the 1920s, and as speaker in 1929 refused to use his casting vote to save the government on a confidence motion. He was expelled from the Nationalists and lost his seat at the resulting election, but was re-elected in 1931 as an independent. He joined the United Australia Party (UAP) in 1933 and continued as a backbencher until his death in 1936.