William Turner (Australian politician)
William Turner (1837 – 24 April 1916) was an English-born politician and miner in Victoria and New South Wales, Australia.
Early life[]
Turner was born in Wickham in Durham to bootmaker William Turner and Ann née White. His date of birth is uncertain: his biographies list him as born in 1837,[1][2] which would make him aged 78–79 at his death, while the notice of his death lists his age as 82,[3] which would mean he was born in 1833/1834. He migrated to Victoria in 1857 and worked on the goldfields. On 15 February 1861 he married Margaret Elliott, with whom he had five children.[1] He became a temperance lecturer and Methodist preacher in the Ballarat and Scarsdale districts.[4]
Politics[]
He ran for the Victorian Legislative Assembly in 1871, contesting the district of Grenville but was narrowly defeated for the second seat by 13 votes (0.2%).[5]
Around 1873 moved to Wallsend where he was a foreman at one of the coal mines. He was elected to the New South Wales Legislative Assembly for Northumberland at the by-election in July 1877, comfortably defeating Thomas Hungerford with a margin of 1,077 votes (44.2%).[6] Members of parliament were unpaid at the time and Turner was supported by the local miners under the banner of the political reform league with funds raised by a subscription, said to be £0.08 per person.[7] He was considered to be the first direct representative of labour to sit in the Legislative Assembly.[4][7][8] He was defeated by Hungerford at the general election in October 1877, with a margin of 46 votes (1.4%).[6] Northumberland was expanded to two members in 1880 and Turner defeated Hungerford to win the second seat with a margin of 425 votes (8.0%).[6] He resigned from parliament in 1881.[1] Turner stated that he was unable to support himself as a member of parliament.[9] His obituaries stated that the miners had failed to renew their subscriptions,[4][7][8] while the Australian Dictionary of Biography states that Turner denied that the financial support of the miners had been promised before the 1880 election.[2]
He stood a final time as the Protectionist Party candidate at the 1889 election for The Hunter, but was defeated with a margin of 72 votes (6.4%).[10]
Later life and death[]
From 1882 to 1887 he was a school attendance officer, and he then worked as a florist and horticulturist at Belmore. Turner retired in 1903 and moved to Hurstville where he died in 1916.[1] He was survived by his wife Margaret, two daughters and three sons.[4]
References[]
- ^ a b c d "Mr William Turner (1837-1916)". Former Members of the Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 26 June 2019.
- ^ a b Edgar, Suzanne (1976). "Turner, William (1837–1916)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Melbourne University Press. ISSN 1833-7538 – via National Centre of Biography, Australian National University.
- ^ "Death: William Turner". The Propeller. 28 April 1916. p. 3. Retrieved 30 May 2021 – via Trove.
- ^ a b c d "Death of Mr W Turner: first labour member". The Sydney Morning Herald. 25 April 1916. p. 10. Retrieved 29 May 2021 – via Trove.
- ^ Carr, Adam. "1871 Victorian Legislative Assembly election". Psephos Adam Carr's Election Archive. Retrieved 29 May 2021.
- ^ a b c Green, Antony. "Elections for the District of Northumberland". New South Wales Election Results 1856-2007. Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 16 October 2020.
- ^ a b c "Death of Mr W Turner". Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners' Advocate. 26 April 1916. p. 9. Retrieved 29 May 2021 – via Trove.
- ^ a b "Death of Mr. W. Turner". The Propeller. 28 April 1916. p. 1. Retrieved 29 May 2021 – via Trove.
- ^ Turner, William (24 December 1881). "To the electors of Northumberland". Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners' Advocate. p. 5. Retrieved 30 May 2021 – via Trove.
- ^ Green, Antony. "1889 Hunter". New South Wales Election Results 1856-2007. Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 17 April 2020.
- 1837 births
- 1916 deaths
- Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly