Bartholomew James Stubbs (31 May 1872 – 26 September 1917) was the first sitting member of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly to be killed in action while on military service for his country.

[4] After finishing school, Stubbs served an apprenticeship as a tailor in Victoria and was introduced to the Labor Party in 1890 when he first joined a trade union.

He was joined there later by younger brother Francis Michael Stubbs, an iron moulder who settled in the south-west township of Tambellup.

Stubbs ran a tailor shop in Subiaco, where he soon met Alice Rewell, a young widow to the infamous surveyor-turned-swindler William Goodwin Geddes Junior.

For several years in the mid-1900s, Stubbs worked in Kalgoorlie and represented the tailors union on the Eastern Goldfields Trades and Labor Council.

[13] According to the Speaker of the House, Michael Troy, Stubbs soon proved to be "an able, earnest and conscientious parliamentarian", who among other things had fought to promote humanitarian social measures.

[21] He was also a member of the Hibernian Australasian Catholic Benefit Society,[22] and he and his wife Alice were lauded as generous benefactors to numerous local charities and welfare organisations, such as the Silver Chain, the Prison Gate Committee (a half-way house for prisoners), the Oddfellow's Orphanage, and St. Vincent's Foundling Home.

But hear Stubbs orate In the heat of debate, And you’re bound to confess that what's crammed in his plate Would amaze the most erudite folk.

He's there with a quip and a jest When members are feeling depressed, And the hours flit away Nimble-footed and gay, When the House is entranced with Bartholomew J.

Why each of 'em squirms in his seat, When Bartholomew jumps to his feet; His satirical style, His acidulous smile, And the scorpion-like lash that he wields all the while Beats them all—with his epigrams neat.

For always their feelings he rubs, Till they gall at his barb-headed snubs; Just ruffle his ire And the fat's in the fire, And you'll never again want a chance to admire The iridescent genius of Stubbs.

Stubbs understood the unwritten code that a young married man with children could be spared the sacrifice of war if another member of the family went in his place.

During the proceedings, the Premier, "Happy Jack" Scaddan, lauded Stubbs for his "energy, ability and loyalty" and promised him the warmest of welcomes when he came back.

[34] Stubbs said he found himself in a dilemma: no one had a right to gain financially when the nation was facing a crisis like the Great War, but he could not refuse his parliamentary salary because it was something which democrats had fought hard to obtain.

[35] The seasoned legislator began his military training at Blackboy Hill in Western Australia as a private but was soon promoted to the rank of sergeant.

Another state election was due on 29 September 1917, and there was keen interest back home to find out whether he would contest his seat again from afar.

[41] With the election controversy resolved, Stubbs readied himself for front line action in Flanders and was soon in active combat in the Battle of Polygon Wood, about 800 metres south of the Belgian village of Zonnebeke (to the east of Ypres).

[42] His Duntroon classmate Lieutenant J. V. Barnes, who had accompanied Stubbs throughout his time on the Western Front, described him as "a brave, capable and conscientious officer", adding that "the services he rendered during the battle were invaluable, as he was constantly collecting his men and leading them on".

[43] Nineteen years later, his troops were still talking about what happened next:[44] There is some hearty cursing and a flow of real good Aussie language.

The loss of a favourite officer was always sufficient to stir somebody up.A cablegram from Sir Newton Moore, Agent-General, delivered the news to Australia:[45] Mr. Stubbs was so familiarly and popularly known.

In Parliament he was esteemed by members of the Labor Party as a loyal adherent to the cause in which he had laboured for so many years, and by his political opponents as a clean and manly fighter.

His removal from the public life will leave the community poorer, but he has died as he lived—working and fighting in the interests of his fellows.Condolences were also offered in the Western Australian Parliament by the Premier, the Hon.