Groom, L. E. (Littleton Ernest), 1867-1936

Sir Littleton Ernest Groom was the Federal Member for Darling Downs and member of the first Federal Session. Benjamin Glennie (1812-1900) came to Brisbane as a Church of England clergyman in 1848 and worked for many years on the Darling Downs. He was Archdeacon of Brisbane (1863-1886) and had Glennie Memorial School in Toowoomba named in memory of him.

Won the first Federal by-election in 1901. Member for the Darling Downs electorate 1901-1929 and 1931-1936. He held various ministerial posts 1905-1925, represented Australia at the 5th Assembly of the League of Nations and was speaker of the House 1926-1929.

Australian barrister and politician. Littleton Groom was MHR for the seat of Darling Downs between 1901-1925 and 1931-1936. He held a number of ministerial positions: in the Deakin Ministry as Minister for Home Affairs (1905-1906), Attorney General (1906-1908) and Minister for External Affairs (1909-1910); in the Cook Ministry as Minister for Trade and Customs (1913-1914); in the Hughes Ministry, he was Vice-President of the Executive Council (1917-1918), Minister for Works and Railways (1918-1921) and Attorney-General (1921-1923); and in the Bruce-Page Ministry as Attorney-General (1923-1925). Groom was appointed KCMG in 1924. Lady Jessie Groom married Sir Littleton Groom in 1894. She was inaugural President of the Toowoomba Literary Society and was an active member of the Queensland Electoral League. After Sir Littleton's death, Lady Groom published a biography of her late husband and edited works by a number of contributing authors titled, Nation building in Australia : the life and work of Sir Littleton Groom (Angus & Robertson, 1941).