His parents were from Cornwall and had moved to Moonta to work in the large copper mines. They later moved to Eaglehawk, near Bendigo where Scaddan worked in the gold mines and studied to be an engine driver. In 1896 he moved to the Western Australian goldfields. He was elected to parliament in 1904 where he became famous for his long speeches, some going for me than three hours. He became premier when the Labor Party won the 1911 election. He believed that the government should own and control businesses and he set up state owned shipping lines, brickworks, sawmills, trams, abattoirs, fishing, quarries and even a hotel. While many of these were well run, many were not, and a costly failure at the Wyndham freezing works led to a loss of support. At the next election he only won by two seats. When one ALP member disappeared, and another resigned in 1916, the Country Party were able to form a new government with help from the Liberal Party.