John Gray

John Proctor Gray (1 December 1840 – 20 April 1914) was an Australian businessman and politician. He served as a Senator for New South Wales from 1904 to 1910, representing the Free Trade Party and Liberal Party. Prior to his election to parliament he was active in the federation movement and was a senior manager for Lever Brothers.

Early life Gray was born on 1 December 1840 at Stonegate, York, England. He was the son of Mary (née Proctor) and Henry Gray. His father worked as a joiner and cabinetmaker.

After leaving school Gray "followed commercial pursuits". According to one source he was also active in the cooperative movement in England. In the mid-1880s Gray became associated with the newly created Lever Brothers firm and its Sunlight Soap brand. He managed several branches of Lever Brothers in England, then in 1888 moved to Sydney to establish an Australian division of the company.

Politics Gray was active in the movement for the federation of the Australian colonies in the 1890s. He was a member of the Australasian Federation League of New South Wales and served as vice-chairman of the league's United Federal Executive, which managed the campaign for the "Yes" vote at the 1899 New South Wales referendum on federation. Outside of the federation movement, Gray supported free trade and was a "close personal acquaintance" of George Reid, the leader of the Free Trade Party. It has been suggested that his political views "may have been influenced by extensive travel throughout Australasia, and by his position as chairman of a British subsidiary company in which he had to cope with the morass of intercolonial duties, customs and tariffs". He subsequently stood in Balmain South at the 1901 New South Wales state election, but was defeated by the incumbent Australian Labor Party (ALP) MP Sydney Law. He was also a candidate for the casual vacancy in the Senate caused by the resignation of Richard O'Connor. He unsuccessfully sought re-election as a Liberal candidate at the 1910 federal election.

He made soap, was a Freetrader with a leaning to Protection for soap; and was, for a short time, a Senator for N.S.W. in the soap interest.

Personal life In 1865, Gray married Elizabeth Dunning, with whom he had six children. He died at his home in Ashfield, New South Wales, on 18 April 1914,

Gray was active in the Yorkshire Society of New South Wales and served a term as president.