Edward Joseph Ball (23 September 1827 – 4 November 1894) was an English-born politician tobacconist and hairdresser in New South Wales, Australia. He was born at

Lewisham Lewisham () is an area of southeast London, England, south of Charing Cross. It is the principal area of the London Borough of Lewisham, and was within the Historic counties of England, historic county of Kent until 1889. It is identified i ...

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

, the son of hairdresser Edward Ball. He arrived in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

around 1859 and soon moved to

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 ...

and then to

Goulburn Goulburn ( ) is a regional city in the Southern Tablelands of the Australian state of New South Wales, approximately south-west of Sydney, and north-east of Canberra. It was proclaimed as Australia's first inland city through letters pate ...

, where he worked as a tobacconist and hairdresser. On 23 April 1860 he married Jane Meldrum, with whom he had ten children. In 1876 he purchased St Clair, one of Goulburn's earliest houses, living there until around 1883. He was a Goulburn alderman for 15 years, twice serving as

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well a ...

in 1878 and 1880. His wife Jane died on 24 May 1885 and he retired from his business in December 1885. In 1885 he was an unsuccessful candidate for 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 ...

district of Argyle, which was the county surrounding Goulburn, but not the town itself which was in its own electorate. He stood again in 1887 and was elected as a

Free Trade Free trade is a trade policy that does not restrict imports or exports. It can also be understood as the free market idea applied to international trade. In government, free trade is predominantly advocated by political parties that hold econo ...

member. Re-elected in 1889, he was defeated in 1891. He was a candidate for Goulburn in 1894, but polled just 6% of the vote. Ball died at Goulburn on .

References

1827 births 1894 deaths Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly Free Trade Party politicians 19th-century Australian politicians {{Australia-FreeTrade-politician-stub