Alan Ridge Cobcroft (died 5 September 1955) was a Western Samoan planter and politician.

Biography

Cobcroft was the son of parents from the

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

suburb of Summer Hill.Samoan elections
'' Pacific Islands Monthly'', December 1932, pp38–39 He attended

Sydney Grammar School (Praise be to God) , established = , type = Independent, day school , gender = Boys , religious_affiliation = None , slogan = , headmaster = R. B. Malpass , founder = Laurence Hynes Halloran , chairman = ...

and represented the school in

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

, rowing and running. He also played for Newtown in the Sydney Rugby Premiership as a full-back. After leaving school, he moved to Fiji in 1907 to work on the sugar plantations of C.S.R. He moved to Western Samoa in 1911 to manage Papaseea Plantations, and became manager of the Mulifanua Coconut Plantation during World War I. After a brief stint working in the Territory of New Guinea, he returned to Western Samoa and established his own cocoa plantation. He became President of the Planters Association and Vice President of Apia Turf Club. Cobcroft contested the 1932 elections to the Legislative Council with the support of the Chamber of Commerce and the Planters' Association. He was elected alongside his brother-in-law

Irving Carruthers Irving Hetherington Carruthers (27 October 1884 – 5 July 1974) was a Western Samoan businessman and politician. Biography Carruthers was born in Samoa in 1884, one of five children of Richard and Matua Carruthers. His father was a Scottish so ...

. He unexpectedly lost his seat in the

1935 elections The following elections occurred in the year 1935. Asia * 1935 Philippine legislative election * 1935 Philippine presidential election Europe * 1935 Czechoslovakian parliamentary election * 1935 Czechoslovak presidential election * 1935 Danish Fo ...

, receiving the fewest votes of the four candidates running for the two seats. The following year he was amongst the founders of the United Progressive Party, becoming its first chairman. He died on 5 September 1955 in Auckland at the age of 70.Deaths of islands people
''Pacific Islands Monthly'', September 1955, p141

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cobcroft, Alan Politicians from Sydney People educated at Sydney Grammar School Australian emigrants to Samoa 20th-century Samoan businesspeople Members of the Legislative Council of Samoa 1955 deaths