William Francis Stephen (23 July 1921 – 5 April 2013) was an Australian politician. He was born in

Fremantle Fremantle () () is a port city in Western Australia, located at the mouth of the Swan River in the metropolitan area of Perth, the state capital. Fremantle Harbour serves as the port of Perth. The Western Australian vernacular diminutive for ...

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

to blacksmith William Stephen and Vera May Pyke. He attended local state schools and became a timber worker and locomotive engineman before serving in the

Royal Australian Air Force "Through Adversity to the Stars" , colours = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = RAAF Anniversary Commemoration ...

from 1942 to 1946. He was a traffic officer from 1946 to 1947 and a dairy farmer in 1948 before moving to Pakenham, where he was the foreman at a food factory from 1950 to 1952. In 1953 he was granted land at Meredith as a soldier settler, and he became a small seeds producer. He was active in the local Primary Producers' Union and in the local

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 ...

. In 1964 he was elected to the

Victorian Legislative Assembly The Victorian Legislative Assembly is the lower house of the bicameral Parliament of Victoria in Australia; the upper house being the Victorian Legislative Council. Both houses sit at Parliament House in Spring Street, Melbourne. The presiding ...

for Ballarat South. From 1973 he was Temporary Chairman of Committees, a position he held until his retirement in 1979. He remained active in the local community and was appointed a

Member of the Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on the advice of the Australian Gove ...

in 1999. Stephen died at

East Melbourne East Melbourne is an inner-city suburb in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, east of Melbourne's Melbourne central business district, Central Business District, located within the City of Melbourne Local government areas of ...

in 2013.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stephen, Bill 1921 births 2013 deaths Liberal Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Victoria Members of the Victorian Legislative Assembly Members of the Order of Australia Royal Australian Air Force personnel of World War II