Charles Nathan

(1868-1936)

Sir Charles Samuel Nathan was knighted in 1928 for his service as a member of The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research. He was a brilliant salesman, worked tirelessly for the community and served four years as a councillor on the East Fremantle Council.

Charles was born in Emerald Hill, Victoria in 1868 but his family moved to Christchurch, New Zealand soon after and Charles completed his education there. He trained to be a solicitor but didn’t proceed into that career and instead became a commercial traveller (salesman) in Dunedin. Charles returned to Australia in 1890 - first to Sydney then across to Western Australia in 1894. (reference). 

In 1898, at her sister’s home in Fremantle, Charles married Bessie Lichenstein from Dunedin. (reference). They settled in Canning Road, Richmond (reference) and their three children Doris (1901), Bernard (1905) and Lawrence (1906) were born there.

1901 GIRL young, wanted for light housework, Apply Mrs. Nathan, Canning road, Richmond  (reference)

Like many others in the area, the family had problems with the stock yards still operating in the area. In 1899, Charles wrote to the East Fremantle Board of Health bringing this matter to their attention and approached them with a deputation to air their grievances:

“At last night's meeting of the East Fremantle Board of Health, a letter was read from Mr. Chas. Nathan, a resident of Richmond, in which he drew attention to the stock-yard adjoining W. D. Moore's paddock, Canning-road. He stated that the stench from the yard was becoming unbearable, and that the overwhelming dust which arose in clouds from the drafting yards, and the enormous quantity of flies were viewed with feelings of apprehension by the neighbors,there being a large number of residences in close proximity to the yards.The letter also stated that on several occasions sheep had been slaughtered in the yards, and that the matter required immediate attention...Mr. C. Nathan, in handing a petition to the acting Mayor (Cr. F. M'Donald), said that the petitioners had experienced the nuisance from the stockyard for some considerable time. It was a constant source of danger to the petitioners and their families. The smells were abominable in the extreme. In addition to the state of the yards, pigs had been kept there for the past six days, which was entirely contrary to the Act. The yards also depreciated the property in the neighborhood. The petitioners considered themselves entitled to ask the board to do everything in its power for the safety of the health of the neighborhood.” (reference)

Charles went into business with Francis Ross and Emile Marie to form the business Ross & Co. which made sauces and jams (reference). The partnership dissolved in 1901 (reference) and Charles joined Charles Atkins & Co. W.A. Ltd - a South Australian company with a branch in Fremantle that sold equipment for gold mining (reference)

Charles was very involved in the community. In 1899, he was elected to the East Fremantle Council representing the East Ward (reference) In 1904, Mr Nathan was elected for a position on the Fremantle Tramways and Electric Lighting Board representing East Fremantle Owners (reference). In 1905, he ran for Mayor of East Fremantle but was defeated by Mr. Angwin (reference). In 1906, he was elected to the Fremantle Hospital Board (reference) and in the same year, he became a Justice of the Peace for the Fremantle district (reference).

Sir Charles eventually bought the Western Australian Branch of Charles Atkins & Co and transferred operations to Perth. The company also changed its focus to electrical equipment. Under his leadership and a name change, Atkins Pty Ltd (W.A.) became a very successful business and the family eventually moved to West Perth c.1911 (reference). 

In 1915, their only daughter passed away suddenly from pneumonia at the age of 14 years. (reference) Mr Nathan was in Collie at the time as a delegate  for the Perth Chamber of Commerce to the Furtherance of Primary Industries conference which he left when he received the news of his daughter’s illness. (reference)

The Australian Dictionary of Biography states Charles Nathan served as mayor of Perth in 1914, but this is contradicted by sources showing that Prowse was succeeded directly by Nicholson. However during the first world war, he was actively involved in a number of organisations supporting the troops among which were The Red Cross, The YMCA, and the Trench Comforts Fund. (reference). He was very active in promoting Western Australia. In 1920, Nathan was appointed chairman of the West Australian Council of Industrial Development then in 1921 he was appointed chairman of State trade delegation to Malaya and Java and on returning from that he became a representative on the Council of Science and Industry as well as being appointed to the executive committee of the Commonwealth Forests Products Laboratory. From 1923 until 1925 he was in England as Federal Commissioner at the Empire Exhibition. He was greatly praised for his role in promoting the value of Australian products.

On returning to Australia, Charles took on the role of Vice Chairman of the Development and Migration Commission and was awarded the Commander of the British Empire in 1927 for his work in that role. The next year, he was knighted for his service as a member of The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research. (reference)
In 1930, Sir Charles, a member of the National Party,  was elected into the Legislative Council representing the Metropolitan-Suburban Province. Being an outspoken anti-secessionist, he wasn’t popular with everyone. Citing that he could not give enough time for this role, he retired in 1934. However, he had become ill with cerebrovascular disease in 1933 and it was the cause of his death in 1936. (reference)

Throughout his life, Charles was very involved with the Jewish community first as a member of the Fremantle Synagogue and then with the Perth Hebrew Congregation where he did a considerable amount of fundraising for which his name was inscribed in The Golden Book of the National Jewish Fund. (reference)

Sir Charles Nathan was  survived by Lady Bessie Nathan (died in 1948- reference) and two sons Bernard and Lawrence Nathan.