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William Fleming (Australian politician)

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Preceded by
  
Religion
  
Presbyterian

Resigned
  
December 16, 1922

Occupation
  
Farmer

Succeeded by
  
Spouse(s)
  
Caroline Benn

Role
  
Australian Politician

Nationality
  
Australian

Name
  
William Fleming


William Fleming (Australian politician)

Born
  
19 May 1874Avon Plains, Victoria (
1874-05-19
)

Died
  
July 24, 1961, Terrigal, Australia

Political party
  
Commonwealth Liberal Party (1901–1917)

William Montgomerie Fleming (19 May 1874 – 24 July 1961) was an Australian politician, who served in the Australian House of Representatives and the New South Wales Legislative Assembly.

Contents

Early life

Born in Avon Plains, Victoria to Scottish migrant and station manager John Fleming and his wife Helen (née Hastie), Fleming moved with his family to a farm near Walgett, New South Wales in 1882. Educated on the farm, private schools and at the University of Sydney, Fleming worked on the family farm while also employed as a journalist for various local newspapers. A Presbyterian, Fleming married Caroline Benn in 1900; together they had one daughter and two sons.

Parliamentary career

Elected as an independent member for the electoral district of Robertson as a 27-year-old in 1901, Fleming transferred to the seat of Upper Hunter upon the abolishing of Robertson in 1904.

Fleming moved to Federal parliament in 1913 as the member for the Division of Robertson, initially as a representative of the Commonwealth Liberal Party, then the Nationalist Party and later the Country Party.

While a member of Federal parliament, Fleming joined the Australian Imperial Force on 6 October 1916 and served as a Driver in the Army Service Corps until his discharge in England on 27 December 1918. He returned to parliament and served until his retirement from politics in 1922. Fleming became an orchardist in Terrigal, New South Wales, where he died in 1961. He was the last surviving MP who served when Joseph Cook was Prime Minister, as well as the last who served during Andrew Fisher's third tenure as PM.

In addition to his parliamentary career, William Fleming wrote poetry, novels and books for children through his lifetime. His earliest poems appeared in The Queenslander and The Bulletin in 1896 and 1897, and his last children's book was published in 1939.

References

William Fleming (Australian politician) Wikipedia


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