{{Short description|Australian politician and vigneron}} {{more citations needed|date=January 2012}} {{Use dmy dates|date=September 2014}} {{Use Australian English|date=September 2014}} {{Infobox officeholder | honorific_prefix = | name = Hans Irvine | honorific_suffix = | image = Hans Irvine - Broothorne Studios.jpg | constituency_MP = Grampians | parliament = Australian | majority = | predecessor = Thomas Skene | successor = Edward Jolley | term_start = 12 December 1906 | term_end = 5 September 1914 | birth_date = {{birth date|df=yes|1856|8|2}} | birth_place = Melbourne, Victoria | death_date = {{death date and age|df=yes|1922|7|11|1856|8|2}} | death_place = London, England | spouse = Mary Jane Robinson | party = Anti-Socialist (1906–09) <br> Liberal (1909–14) | relations = | children = | alma_mater = | occupation = Vigneron | profession = | signature = | website = | footnotes = }} '''Hans William Henry Irvine''' (2 August 1856 – 11 July 1922) was an Australian vigneron, winemaker, and politician.<ref name="Dunstan">{{Australian Dictionary of Biography|last=Dunstan |first=David |authorlink=|year=1983|id=A090433b.htm|title= Irvine, Hans William Henry (1856 - 1922) |accessdate=2008-03-29}}</ref>
==Early life== Irvine was born in Melbourne on 2 August 1856 to flour-miller John William Henry Irvine and Mary, née Gray. His father was a flourmiller of Irish parentage who had a business at Learmonth, near Ballarat. Apprenticed to a printing firm in order to learn lithography, Hans was soon foreman and acquired a share in the business. He also joined the Australian Natives' Association. He married Mary Jane Robinson (died 1915) on 7 October 1885 at Ballarat East; the couple had no children.<ref name="Dunstan"/>
==Vigneron== Irvine's wealth grew as he invested in various enterprises, including land, mining, and viticulture. In 1888, having sold his interest in the printing trade, he purchased the Great Western vineyard of the late Joseph Best and some grazing land, and acquired more land near Arawatta. He was fortunate to obtain the services of the French winemaker, Charles Pierlot, a former employee of the Champagne house of Pommery & Greno. Irvine was well aware of the potential market in Victoria for quality Champagne method sparkling wine and became the leading Australian commercial producer. He traveled to Europe in 1891 to learn of French wine-making practices and the possibilities of a British export market.<ref name="Dunstan"/>
Irvine became influential in the wine business in the Great Western area, buying two thirds of local produce in the early 1890s and distilling a considerable amount into brandy. He had {{convert|250|acre|km2}} of storage under the Great Western vineyard as well as Melbourne cellars and a London depot.<ref name="Dunstan"/>
While Irvine's success grew, the Victorian wine industry was struggling. He suggested a conference in 1894 to discuss problems in the industry and supported moves to establish American root-stocks, which were resistant to phylloxera, into Victoria. In 1899 he won 1st prize at the Greater Britain Exhibition in London.<ref name="Medal">{{cite web|url=https://collections.museumsvictoria.com.au/items/274330|title=Medal - Greater Britain Exhibition, First Prize, Great Britain, 1899|accessdate=5 February 2019}}</ref> He was the first president of the Viticultural Society of Victoria in 1905; he also produced ''Report on the Australian Wine Trade'' in 1892 for the Victorian minister for agriculture.<ref name="Dunstan"/>
==Politics== In 1901, Irvine was elected to the Victorian Legislative Council, and became known as among the most liberal in the chamber. In 1906 he transferred to the Australian House of Representatives, representing the seat of Grampians as a member of the Anti-Socialist Party. He supported the Protectionist Alfred Deakin, and later joined Deakin's Commonwealth Liberal Party. He was defeated in 1914.<ref name="Dunstan"/>
Irvine sold his Great Western enterprise to Benno Seppelt, then head of the South Australian family wine business in 1918 and retired to South Yarra. Seppelt continued the production of sparkling and table wines at Great Western. In 1922 he travelled to England to seak treatment for a gastric ulcer. He died on 11 July of that year in London, following an operation; his body was returned to Australia and buried in Great Western cemetery.<ref name="Dunstan"/> His estate was valued for probate at £175,356 ({{inflation|AU|175356|1922|fmt=eq|r=-5}}).<ref>{{cite news|url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/140789662|title=Mr Hans Irvine's estates|newspaper=The Australasian|date=16 December 1922}}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}} David Dunstan, ''Better Than Pommard! A History of Wine in Victoria'', Australian Scholarly Publishing, 1994.
{{s-start}} {{s-par|au}} {{succession box | title=Member for Grampians | before= Thomas Skene | after= Edward Jolley | years=1906-1914}} {{s-end}} {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Irvine, Hans}} Category:1856 births Category:1922 deaths Category:Free Trade Party members of the Parliament of Australia Category:Commonwealth Liberal Party members of the Parliament of Australia Category:Members of the Australian House of Representatives Category:Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Grampians Category:Australian winemakers Category:Politicians from the Colony of Victoria Category:Australian MPs 1906–1910 Category:Australian MPs 1910–1913 Category:Australian MPs 1913–1914