Editing Geoff Gallop (section)

==Early life, education and pioneer family==
Gallop was born and educated in [[Geraldton, Western Australia|Geraldton]]. He then entered The [[University of Western Australia]] (UWA) in 1969 to study economics. He joined the [[Australian Labor Party (Western Australian Branch)|Labor Party]] in 1971,<ref name="DrWho"/> and was awarded a [[Rhodes Scholarship]] in 1972.<ref name="NewBalance"/> In 1974 he studied [[Philosophy, Politics, and Economics]]<ref>{{cite news
 | first = Luke
 | last = McIlveen
 | title = Gallop's act of public service&nbsp;– Praise from former premier
 | work = [[The Daily Telegraph (Sydney)|The Daily Telegraph]]
 | publisher = News Limited
 | page = 2
 | date = 17 January 2006
 | quote = Awarded Rhodes Scholarship in 1972 and graduated in philosophy, politics and economics at Oxford in 1974
 }}
</ref>
at [[St John's College, Oxford]] where he met and became close friends with [[Tony Blair]].<ref>{{cite news
 | author = Staff writer
 | title = Is Tony Blair hoping to clear out one of the dustier corners of Whitehall before he gallops into the sunset?
 | work = [[The Evening Standard]]
 | publisher = Associated Newspapers
 | date = 8 January 2007
 | quote = ...Geoff Gallop, former Premier of Western Australia and one of Blair's oldest friends from St John's College, Oxford...
 }}
</ref>
Blair is the [[godparent|godfather]] of Gallop's son Tom,<ref name="DrWho">{{cite news
 | first = Norman
 | last = Aisbett
 | title = Dr Who?
 | work = [[The West Australian]]
 | publisher = West Australian Newspapers Limited
 | page = 1
 | date = 13 January 2001
 }}
</ref>
and Gallop was a [[groomsman]] at Blair's 1980 wedding.<ref>{{cite news
 | first = Tim
 | last = Clarke
 | title = WA: From marxist to premier, smiling Gallop reveals a dark side
 | work = General News
 | publisher = Australian Associated Press
 | date = 16 January 2006
 | quote = Dr Gallop was even a groomsman at the Blairs' wedding in 1980, and Mr Blair is godfather to Dr Gallop's son Tom.
 }}
</ref>
He is also a long-time friend of former federal Labor Leader [[Kim Beazley]].<ref>{{cite news
 | author = Staff writer
 | title = Everyone Is Connected in Western Australia
 | work = [[Canberra Times]]
 | page = 11
 | date = 16 April 1999
 | quote = State Opposition leader Geoff Gallop, one-time Murdoch University and Oxford University mate and best buddy of Beazley, Jr...
 }}
</ref> Gallop subsequently received a [[doctorate of philosophy]] (DPhil) from Oxford in 1983.<ref>[http://www.ccentre.wa.gov.au/ExhibitionsOnline/GovernorsAndPremiers/Premiers/Pages/GeoffGallop.aspx Premiers of Western Australia: Dr Geoff Gallop (Labor)] – The Constitutional Centre of Western Australia. Retrieved 11 May 2013.</ref><ref>[http://john.curtin.edu.au/gallop/biography.html Geoff Gallop: A Brief Biography] – John Curtin College of the Arts. Retrieved 11 May 2013.</ref>

Before entering state politics, Gallop worked as a tutor and lecturer at both [[Murdoch University]] and The University of Western Australia, and was a City Councillor at [[Fremantle]] from 1983 to 1986.<ref name="BrokenBurden"/>

Gallop's family was among the first pioneer settlers to the new [[Swan River Colony]] now known as Perth in Western Australia. His great-great-grandfather,{{disputed inline|Relationship to Richard Gallop|date=June 2014}} James Gallop arrived in the Swan River Colony in 1829 the year of the colony's founding. At the age of 18 James, along with two brothers – 20-year-old [[Richard Gallop|Richard]] and 15-year-old Edward – left a Thakeham, West Sussex [[workhouse]]. The Gallop brothers left the small village of [[Thakeham]] in West Sussex along with several other families from Thakeham and the nearby villages of Sullington and Storrington. Several of these migrants later inter-married: James' son also named James married Emma Woods daughter of George Woods who also came out from Thakeham with his brother John and nephew Jesse Woods.  Edward Gallop later drowned but James and Richard became pioneering market gardeners and vignerons. Two homes, Gallop House and Dalkeith House, are heritage-listed legacies of the family's prominence.<ref>{{cite news |work=Sydney Morning Herald |date=2006-07-08 }}</ref>{{full citation needed |date=February 2021}} The brothers were part of a clearing-out of the parishes in the aftermath of the Napoleonic wars.  As Greenfield wrote "The 1820s were very difficult years for agricultural workers and great poverty prevailed, owing partly to the demobilization of soldiers following the end of the Napoleonic Wars, and partly to the high cost of bread due to the [[Corn Laws]]. Sullington seems to have been particularly hard hit. ... Emigration was encouraged throughout West Sussex to relieve the parishes of the burden of excessive poor relief."<ref name="gre72">{{cite book |title=Round About Old Storrington |first=Florence M. |last=Greenfield |year=1972 |publisher=Norbertine Press |location=School Lane, Storrington |oclc=503962367 }}</ref>{{rp|57}} The Gallop brothers were among those who chose Australia instead of America:  "West Australia was still very much in the pioneering stage.  Letters from emigrants to their friends and relations in this neighbourhood give the impression that those who sailed to America, provided they were not afraid to work, had an easier life than those who took the greater risk and went to Australia".<ref name="gre72" />{{rp|58}}