Benjamin Cochrane Doig (17 May 1904 – 16 November 1980) was an Australian politician. He was a member of the

New South Wales Legislative Assembly The New South Wales Legislative Assembly is the lower of the two houses of the Parliament of New South Wales, an Australian state. The upper house is the New South Wales Legislative Council. Both the Assembly and Council sit at Parliament Ho ...

from 1957 to 1965, representing the electorate of Burwood. He was a member of the

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a li ...

prior to 1964, but resigned to sit as an independent for his final year in parliament after losing preselection to recontest his seat. Doig was born in

Paddington Paddington is an area within the City of Westminster, in Central London. First a medieval parish then a metropolitan borough, it was integrated with Westminster and Greater London in 1965. Three important landmarks of the district are Paddi ...

, and was educated at Paddington Public School and

Fort Street Boys High School Fort Street High School (FSHS) is a Education in Australia#Government schools, government-funded Mixed-sex school, co-educational Selective school (New South Wales), academically selective secondary school, secondary day school, located in Petersh ...

before studying psychology at the

University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD), also known as Sydney University, or informally Sydney Uni, is a public research university located in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and is one of the country's si ...

. He worked as an industrial psychologist for Bonds Limited from 1926 to 1927 and as manager for an advertising agency from 1928 to 1932. From 1932 onwards, he worked as an insurance executive for the Mutual Life and Citizens Assurance Company. Doig was a Liberal candidate for safe Labor seat of

Waverley Waverley may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Waverley'' (novel), by Sir Walter Scott ** ''Waverley'' Overture, a work by Hector Berlioz inspired by Scott's novel * Waverley Harrison, a character in the New Zealand soap opera ''Shortland Stree ...

at the

1953 Events January * January 6 – The Asian Socialist Conference opens in Rangoon, Burma. * January 12 – Estonian émigrés found a Estonian government-in-exile, government-in-exile in Oslo. * January 14 ** Marshal Josip Broz Tito i ...

, and

1953 by-election Events January * January 6 – The Asian Socialist Conference opens in Rangoon, Burma. * January 12 – Estonian émigrés found a government-in-exile in Oslo. * January 14 ** Marshal Josip Broz Tito is chosen President of Yugoslav ...

. He was elected to the Legislative Assembly for the safe Liberal seat of Burwood at the

1957 by-election 1957 (Roman numerals, MCMLVII) was a Common year starting on Wednesday, common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1957th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 957th year of the 2nd millennium, t ...

following the death of incumbent MP Leslie Parr. He was re-elected at the in

1959 Events January * January 1 - Cuba: Fulgencio Batista flees Havana when the forces of Fidel Castro advance. * January 2 - Lunar probe Luna 1 was the first man-made object to attain escape velocity from Earth. It reached the vicinity of E ...

, and

1962 Events January * January 1 – Western Samoa becomes independent from New Zealand. * January 3 – Pope John XXIII excommunicates Fidel Castro for preaching communism. * January 8 – Harmelen train disaster: 93 die in the wors ...

elections. Doig had narrowly survived a preselection ballot in 1961 but was again challenged for preselection for the 1965 election by opponents of his stance on state aid to church schools. Doig had been among the most ardent supporters of the policy in the Liberal Party, and was defeated by challenger John Jackett. Doig resigned from the Liberal Party after his loss, and contested the 1965 election as an independent, but was defeated by Jackett. He subsequently returned to his prior role as an insurance executive. He stood as an independent candidate for Burwood at the

1968 The year was highlighted by protests and other unrests that occurred worldwide. Events January–February * January 5 – "Prague Spring": Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia. * Januar ...

, and

1971 * The year 1971 had three partial solar eclipses ( February 25, July 22 and August 20) and two total lunar eclipses (February 10, and August 6). The world population increased by 2.1% this year, the highest increase in history. Events Ja ...

elections, but was unsuccessful. Doig died in November 1980 at Strathfield .

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Doig, Ben 1904 births 1980 deaths Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly Liberal Party of Australia members of the Parliament of New South Wales 20th-century Australian politicians