The Honourable Sir Frederick William Holder KCMG (12 May 1850 - 23 July 1909) was the 19th Premier of South Australia and prominent member of the inaugural Australian commonwealth parliament.

Born in Happy Valley, South Australia, Holder was educated at St Peter's College, Adelaide before first becoming a teacher, schoolmaster, and Methodist preacher, and later the editor and proprietor of the Burra Record. Holder was elected to the South Australian Legislative Assembly in 1887 as the member for Burra, and soon gained a sound reputation in parliament. As a result, he served as Treasurer from 1889-90, and Leader of the Opposition from 1890-92, before his election as Premier in June 1892. Unfortunately for Holder, South Australia was then facing a severe drought which greatly affected its finances and Holder was forced out as Premier after just four months.

Holder then served as Commissioner of Public Works in Charles Kingston’s government from 1893-94, followed by a third stint as Treasurer from 1894 until his re-election as Premier and Treasurer in late 1899. As Premier, his most notable innovation was to introduce one standard time zone throughout South Australia, while he also played a prominent role in the movement towards a federal union, and, as such, was a member of the convention that framed the Commonwealth constitution in 1897-98.

As Premier, Holder considered himself to be the logical choice for a ministerial position in the new federal cabinet, and was offered a cabinet position by William Lyne after Lyne's invitation to form a cabinet by the Governor-General, Lord Houptoun. Holder initially accepted and was in Melbourne enroute to Sydney to officially accept his ministry when he was convinced by Alfred Deakin to refuse Lyne and instead support Edmund Barton's claim to become the inaugural Prime Minister of Australia. Believing that Barton would invite him to join the ministry, Holder was embarrassed and angry when Barton instead chose Kingston. Nonetheless, Holder resigned as Premier to successfully contest the 1901 federal election and entered the new federal parliament as one of the members for South Australia. Elected Speaker of the Australian House of Representatives, Holder was re-elected to parliament in the 1903 and 1906 elections in the Division of Wakefield.

Holder married in 1877 and his wife, Julia Maria, would prove to be a great boon to his career, providing political advice and serving as South Australian President of the influential Women’s Christian Temperance Union.

Knighted in 1902, Holder served as Speaker until 1909, when he collapsed in the Speaker’s Chair while Parliament was in session and died from a cerebral hemorrhage. He was given a state funeral in Adelaide.

The Canberra suburb of Holder was named in his honour when gazetted in 1970.

Premiers of South Australia | Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Wakefield | 1850 births | 1909 deaths