William Hill (Australian politician)

The Honourable
William Hill
Member of the Australian Parliament
for Echuca
In office
20 September 1919  7 August 1934
Preceded by Albert Palmer
Succeeded by John McEwen
Personal details
Born (1866-04-14)14 April 1866
Dunolly, Victoria
Died 15 November 1939(1939-11-15) (aged 73)
Nar Nar Goon, Victoria
Nationality Australian
Political party Australian Country Party
Occupation Farmer
Religion Anglican

William Caldwell Hill (14 April 1866 15 November 1939), was a long serving member of the Australian House of Representatives.

Born at Burnt Creek, near Dunolly, Victoria, Hill was educated at state schools before working as a railwayman, station master and wheat farmer. On 20 September 1919, at the by-election caused by the death of Albert Palmer, he won the House of Representatives Division of Echuca as a Victorian Farmers' Union candidate. In 1920 he helped form the Country Party. From 8 August 1924 to 29 November 1928 he was Minister for Works and Railways in the Bruce–Page government. During his period of office he commenced the standardisation of the railway gauges by the construction of the North Coast railway line from Kyogle, to South Brisbane, the construction of the rail line from Oodnadatta, South Australia, to Alice Springs by Commonwealth Railways, the introduction of a Federal aid road scheme—which provided funding to the states for road construction—and the building of the Hume Dam, which he promoted as president of the inter-governmental River Murray Water Commission. He retired from Parliament on 7 August 1934, because he was unwilling to sign a pledge to vote in parliament as instructed by his party, and he was succeeded as the member for Echuca by John McEwen, future leader of the Federal Country Party.[1]

Hill died at Nar Nar Goon, survived by his wife Bella and by six children.

Notes

  1. Lomas, L. (1983). "Hill, William Caldwell (1866 - 1939". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Canberra: Australian National University. Retrieved 2007-11-04.
Political offices
Preceded by
Percy Stewart
Minister for Works and Railways
1924–1928
Succeeded by
William Gibson
Parliament of Australia
Preceded by
Albert Palmer
Member for Echuca
1919 – 1934
Succeeded by
John McEwen


This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Sunday, February 21, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.