William Walker (New South Wales politician)

William Walker (26 February 1828 – 12 June 1908) was a politician and solicitor in colonial New South Wales.[1]

William Walker, MLC

Early life

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Walker was born in Glasgow, Scotland, and arrived in Sydney with his parents in 1837.[1][2] His father was a Presbyterian school teacher who had been recruited by Rev J D Lang and opened a school at Windsor. He was admitted as a solicitor in 1852 and practised at Windsor until his death in 1908.[3]

Politics

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He was member of the Anti-Transportation League who had campaigned for John Darvall at the 1856 election for Cumberland North Riding and for Thomas Smith at the 1857 Cumberland North Riding by-election.[3] He was elected as member for Windsor in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly at the 1860 by-election, holding the seat in 1860 and 1864, before being defeated at the 1869 election.[4] In parliament he was a strong supporter of James Martin and his biography attributes his defeat to his support for Martin's land legislation which was unpopular with his squatting friends.[3]

He contested the seat in 1872, 1874 and at the 1880 by-election but was unsuccessful.[4] He also contested the 1872 election for Narellan, but achieved less than 1% of the vote.[5]

On 8 February 1888 Walker was appointed to the New South Wales Legislative Council, serving until his death at Windsor on 12 June 1908(1908-06-12) (aged 80).[1]

References

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  1. ^ a b c "Mr William Walker (2) (1828-1908)". Former members of the Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 12 April 2019.
  2. ^ Digby, Everard, ed. (1889). Australian men of mark (PDF). Vol. 1. Sydney: Charles F Maxwell. pp. 225–227. Retrieved 28 September 2022.
  3. ^ a b c Crew, Vernon (1976). "Walker, William (1828–1908)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Vol. 6. Canberra: National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. ISBN 978-0-522-84459-7. ISSN 1833-7538. OCLC 70677943. Retrieved 5 January 2021.
  4. ^ a b Green, Antony. "Elections for the District of Windsor". New South Wales Election Results 1856-2007. Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 5 January 2021.
  5. ^ Green, Antony. "1872 Narellan". New South Wales Election Results 1856-2007. Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 5 January 2021.

 

New South Wales Legislative Assembly
Preceded by Member for Windsor
1860–1869
Succeeded by