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Henry McDicken

Australian politician (1874–1944)

Correspondence, annotated notebooks and portrait silhouettes prepared for research
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Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionJan 19, 2022
Entity authorityQ5725676 ↗
Source-derived summary

Henry James McDicken (27 September 1874 – 20 October 1944) was an Australian politician, elected as a member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly.

Early years

Born, Henry James Argue McDicken in Newcastle, New South Wales, he was the third child of Isabella Agnes Argue, an emigrant from Ireland, and Hugh McDicken, a compositor from India, who had been engaged by Sir Henry Parkes when he founded The Empire newspaper in 1850.

In 1900, Henry McDicken married Lydia Gillard, with whom he had 4 children. He is survived by one grandson. A builder by trade, McDicken served in the First Australian Imperial Force 9th Field Coy Engineers during World War I. From 1908 to 1914 and from 1920 to 1928, he was an alderman on the Drummoyne Council, serving as Mayor in 1913 and 1920.

Political career

He was a Labor Member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly, representing the seat of Ryde, from 1927 to 1930 and the seat of Concord from 1930 to 1932. He also stood as the Labor candidate for the seat of Martin in the 1925 and 1934 Federal elections.

He died in the Sydney suburb of Ashfield.

Editorial summary

The public source identifies “Henry McDicken” as australian politician (1874–1944). This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Henry, McDicken and Australian.

Editorial reviewStrongest as a route into the people, institutions and dated events that shaped the subject’s public record. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1874, 1944, 1850, 1900—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1874-09-27. Its value is orientation rather than verdict, with Henry, McDicken and Australian providing the first useful test.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Henry McDicken”, the useful work is to connect “australian politician (1874–1944)” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.

Evidence profile

The entry’s evidential value lies in the named roles, institutions and publications that can be tested against primary documentation. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jan 19, 2022. The linked authority identifier is Q5725676. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1874, 1944, 1850 and 1900.

Critical limits

Later biographies can compress uncertainty and repeat inherited reputations, so apparently settled claims may still require comparison. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Read biographical claims against dates, named institutions and the cited references. Distinguish a subject’s later reputation from evidence produced during their lifetime.

Best used for
  • Establishing names and roles
  • Building a first chronology
  • Locating cited institutions
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Personal papers, civil or court records, institutional files and the scholarship cited by the source.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Henry McDicken”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Henry McDicken primary sources, Henry McDicken archive and Henry research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Henry McDicken”?
  2. Which primary records establish identity, chronology and institutional ties?
  3. Which claims depend on a single source or contested interpretation?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Henry McDicken” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.