John Hart

10th Premier of South Australia

John Hart spent his early life at sea, travelling between England, Australia and New Zealand. Hart was involved in whaling, flour milling, and copper mining prior to being a member of the part-elective Legislative Council in 1851. He was elected to be a member for Port Adelaide in the first House of Assembly in 1857. Hart served three terms as premier: October 1865 to March 1866, September to October 1868, and May 1870 to November 1871. He started his political career as a moderate conservative, but developed into a tough politician who advocated a very limited role of government.