Richard George Ardagh (26 July 1871 – 31 July 1931) was an Australian trade unionist and politician who served in the Legislative Council of

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 ...

from 1912 to 1924, representing North-East Province.

Early life

Ardagh was born in Red Jacket,

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

, a small settlement on the

Jordan River The Jordan River or River Jordan ( ar, نَهْر الْأُرْدُنّ, ''Nahr al-ʾUrdunn'', he, נְהַר הַיַּרְדֵּן, ''Nəhar hayYardēn''; syc, ܢܗܪܐ ܕܝܘܪܕܢܢ ''Nahrāʾ Yurdnan''), also known as ''Nahr Al-Shariea ...

south of

Woods Point Woods Point is a small town in Victoria, Australia, Victoria, Australia and is located on the banks of the Goulburn River. At the , Woods Point and the surrounding area had a population of 37, down from 94 in 2006. History The town began as a g ...

.Richard George Ardagh
– Biographical Register of Members of the Parliament of Western Australia. Retrieved 13 January 2017. He left school at the age of fourteen, and at the age of eighteen began working in the mines at Walhalla. He later lived in

Charters Towers, Queensland Charters Towers is a rural town in the Charters Towers Region, Queensland, Australia. It is by road south-west from Townsville on the Flinders Highway. During the last quarter of the 19th century, the town boomed as the rich gold deposits under ...

, for a period. Ardagh moved to Western Australia in 1895, during the

gold rush A gold rush or gold fever is a discovery of gold—sometimes accompanied by other precious metals and rare-earth minerals—that brings an onrush of miners seeking their fortune. Major gold rushes took place in the 19th century in Australia, New Z ...

, and began working as an engine driver at

Kalgoorlie Kalgoorlie is a city in the Goldfields–Esperance region of Western Australia, located east-northeast of Perth at the end of the Great Eastern Highway. It is sometimes referred to as Kalgoorlie–Boulder, as the surrounding urban area includ ...

. He was an official of the Goldfields Trades and Labour Council from 1902 to 1912, and was also involved in the ''

Westralian Worker The ''Westralian Worker'' was a newspaper established in Kalgoorlie, Western Australia in 1900 and published until its demise in 1951 in Perth, Western Australia. History It was established as the ''Official organ of the Western Australian L ...

'', initially as managing editor and later as business manager."Richard George Ardagh: A Leading Laborite."
''Westralian Worker'', 3 February 1911.

Politics

Ardagh served on the Kalgoorlie Municipal Council from 1903 to 1912. He was an unsuccessful candidate for Labor

preselection Preselection is the process by which a candidate is selected, usually by a political party, to contest an election for political office. It is also referred to as candidate selection. It is a fundamental function of political parties. The presele ...

at the 1910 federal election (standing for the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

) and 1911 state election (standing in Yilgarn). Ardagh eventually entered parliament at the 1912 Legislative Council election, winning a seat in North-East Province for the Labor Party. He joined the new

National Labor Party The National Labor Party was formed by Australian Prime Minister Billy Hughes in 1916, following the 1916 Labor split on the issue of World War I conscription in Australia. Hughes had taken over as leader of the Australian Labor Party and Pri ...

after the Labor Party split of 1916, as one of only three MLCs to defect to the new party (along with

James Cornell James Cornell (23 December 1874 – 25 November 1946) was an Australian politician who served as a member of the Legislative Council of Western Australia from 1912 until his death. He was elected President of the Legislative Council in July 19 ...

and

Jabez Dodd Jabez Edward Dodd (14 June 1867 - 2 January 1928) was an Australian politician. He was a member of the Western Australian Legislative Council from 1910 until his death, representing South Province. He was elected as a member of the Australian Lab ...

). At the 1924 election, Ardagh was defeated by

John Brown John Brown most often refers to: *John Brown (abolitionist) (1800–1859), American who led an anti-slavery raid in Harpers Ferry, Virginia in 1859 John Brown or Johnny Brown may also refer to: Academia * John Brown (educator) (1763–1842), Ir ...

of the Labor Party. He attempted to re-enter parliament at the 1927 state election, standing for the Nationalist Party in the seat of Menzies. He lost to Labor's

Alexander Panton Alexander Hugh Panton (20 March 1877 – 25 December 1951) was an Australian politician. He was a Labor member of the Western Australian Legislative Council from 1919 to 1922, before entering the Western Australian Legislative Assembly in 1924, ...

, but stood again in 1930, in the metropolitan seat of Middle Swan. He was defeated by

James Hegney James Hegney (27 September 1891 – 5 May 1970) was an Australian politician who was a Labor Party member of the Legislative Assembly of Western Australia from 1930 to 1947 and again from 1950 to 1968. He served as Speaker of the Legislative ...

, a future

Speaker of the Legislative Assembly Speaker of the Legislative Assembly is a title commonly held by presiding officers of parliamentary bodies styled legislative assemblies. The office is most widely used in state and territorial legislatures in Australia, and in provincial and ter ...

Later life

After leaving parliament, Ardagh lived in Perth and again worked as a union official. He served on the

Bayswater Road Board The City of Bayswater is a local government area in the Western Australian capital city of Perth, about northeast of Perth's central business district. The City covers an area of and has a population of 69,283 as at the 2021 Census. The Ci ...

in the 1920s, including as

chairman The chairperson, also chairman, chairwoman or chair, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the grou ...

for several terms. Ardagh died in

Bayswater Bayswater is an area within the City of Westminster in West London. It is a built-up district with a population density of 17,500 per square kilometre, and is located between Kensington Gardens to the south, Paddington to the north-east, and ...

in July 1931, aged 60. He had been married three times, firstly to Ellen Wilson in 1893, with whom he had four children. His first wife died in childbirth in 1899, and he remarried in 1903 to Maud Eman, with whom he had another five children. Ardagh was widowed again in 1914, and had one more child with his third wife, Jean Hamilton Chaplin, whom he married in 1916.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ardagh, Dick 1871 births 1931 deaths Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Western Australia Mayors of places in Western Australia Members of the Western Australian Legislative Council National Labor Party members of the Parliament of Western Australia Nationalist Party (Australia) politicians People from Victoria (state) Trade unionists from Western Australia Western Australian local councillors Westralian Worker