Background
McColl was born in South Shields, Tyne and Wear, England, the son of Hugh McColl, and migrated with his family to Australia in 1853, but his mother died before they landed in Melbourne.
McColl was born in South Shields, Tyne and Wear, England, the son of Hugh McColl, and migrated with his family to Australia in 1853, but his mother died before they landed in Melbourne.
McColl was educated at the Model School, Sandhurst and for a time at Scotch College, Melbourne. He was Minister of Mines and of Water Supply from January 1893 to September 1894 and President of the Board of Land and Works, Commissioner Crown Lands and Survey and Minister Forests from December 1899 to November 1900. As minister, he was responsible for the first purchase of large estates so that they could be sub-divided for closer settlement.
At the 1906 election, he moved to the Senate, his term commencing on 1 January 1907.
He was the first person to have served in both houses of the federal parliament. He was appointed Vice-President of the Executive Council in the Cook Ministry from June 1913 to September 1914.
He was defeated at the 1914 election. McColl bought an irrigation farm at Gunbower (near Cohuna), but later retired to the Melbourne suburb of Deepdene.