Jacob Stumm

Who was Jacob Stumm?

Jacob Stumm was an Australian politician. Born in Frankfurt am Main in Germany, he migrated to Australia as a child and was educated at state schools in Toowoomba before becoming a Hansard reporter, a journalist and the proprietor of the Gympie Times. He also invested in dairying and gold mining. Stumm used his newspaper to campaign against the sitting member for Gympie, Andrew Fisher, accusing Fisher of being a dangerous revolutionary and an anti-Catholic. He defeated Fisher and in 1896 was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Queensland as the member for Gympie, a position he held until 1899. In 1913, he was elected to the Australian House of Representatives as the Liberal member for the new seat of Lilley. His retirement in 1917 was partly due to his German birth. After his retirement he invested in newspapers, mining and horse racing. Stumm died in 1921.