James Henry Scullin was born in Trawalla, Victoria, the fifth of nine children born to John Scullin and his wife Ann (nee Logan). He was educated at the Trawalla and Mount Rowan state schools, near Ballarat. Known as Jim, Scullin worked as a grocer for ten years. About 1903 he became active in the Political Labor Council and from 1906 to 1910 worked as a full time organizer for the Australian Workers' Union. In 1906 he unsuccessfully contested the federal seat of Ballaarat, held by the Prime Minister Alfred Deakin. The following year he married Sarah Maria McNamara (CP 923) in Ballarat.

In 1910 Scullin was elected to the House of Representatives as the Member for the south-west Victorian seat of Corangamite in the Fisher Government. He was defeated at the 1913 election and subsequently became editor of the Ballarat Labor paper "The Evening Echo", through which he supported anti-conscription in 1916-1917. In 1918 he again unsuccessfully contested the seat of Corangamite and, two years later, made an unsuccessful attempt to enter Victorian state politics.

Scullin re-entered Federal politics in 1922 through a by-election, as Member for Yarra, and held this seat through 10 general elections until his retirement in 1949. He began to play an influential role in the federal Labor Party, becoming Deputy Leader of the Opposition in 1927 and Leader of the Opposition in 1928. Following the defeat of the Bruce Government in October 1929, Scullin became Australia's ninth Prime Minister. He was the first Catholic and first Australian-born Labor politician to hold the office. During his term as Prime Minister he also held the portfolios of External Affairs, Industry and Treasury, and obtained the appointment of the first Australian-born Governor General (Sir Isaac Isaacs). Scullin was made a Privy Councillor in 1930, was Australia's representative at the 1930 Imperial Conference in London and attended the 11th Assembly of the League of Nations in Geneva the same year.

Respected for his political oratory, sincerity and integrity Scullin's term of office as Prime Minister was, nevertheless, greatly affected by the Great Depression, lack of a Government majority in the Senate, ministerial inexperience, party factionalism (culminating in the Lang Labor Split) and the Theodore Affair. Scullin's support of Theodore resulted in the resignation of Joseph Lyons from Cabinet and the establishment of the United Australia Party (UAP). Lyons successfully led the UAP into government at the December 1931 election and Scullin resumed the Leadership of the Opposition. He retired from this position in October 1935, after which he retained a low profile in politics.

Considered a Labor elder statesman, Scullin was a valued adviser to the Curtin Government during World War II. In this period he was a member of a Parliamentary Joint Committee investigating uniform taxation, Chairman of the Advisory Committee on Censorship and a member of the Commonwealth Literary Fund Committee. He retired from politics a few weeks prior to the December 1949 general election.

Scullin died in Melbourne in 1953, aged 76, and is buried in the Melbourne General Cemetery.
Sources

Australian Dictionary of Biography, Vol 11 (1891-1939, Nes-Smi)
Commonwealth Parliamentary Handbook, 1931-1935 (8th ed), 1938-1945 (10th ed) and 1988 (24th ed)
Molony, John, 'James Henry Scullin' in M Grattan (ed), Australian Prime Ministers, New Holland, Sydney, 2000, pp. 140-151
Who's Who in Australia 1935 (1st ed) and 1950 (14th ed)