Ernest Albert Buttenshaw (23 May 187626 June 1950) was an Australian politician and 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 1917 until 1932. He was a member of the

Nationalist Party of Australia The Nationalist Party, also known as the National Party, was an Australian political party. It was formed on 17 February 1917 from a merger between the Commonwealth Liberal Party and the National Labor Party, the latter formed by Prime Min ...

until 1920, when he helped to establish the

Progressive Party Progressive Party may refer to: Active parties * Progressive Party, Brazil * Progressive Party (Chile) * Progressive Party of Working People, Cyprus * Dominica Progressive Party * Progressive Party (Iceland) * Progressive Party (Sardinia), Ita ...

. After 1925 he was a member of its successor, the Country Party. He was the party leader between 1925 and 1932 and held a number of government ministries. Buttenshaw was born in

Young, New South Wales Young is a town in the South West Slopes region of New South Wales, Australia and the largest town in the Hilltops Region. The "Lambing Flat" Post Office opened on 1 March 1861 and was renamed "Young" in 1863. Young is marketed as the Cherry Ca ...

. His father, was a blacksmith and he was educated to elementary level at Young Superior School. He initially worked as a delivery boy for the Post Office and later became a farmer. He was active in farmer's political groups and was the Shire President of

Bland Shire Bland Shire is a local government area in the Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia. it covers an area of . As at the the population was 5,995. It is a member of the League of Extraordinary Communities which was established by Dull, Per ...

in 1914-1918. Buttenshaw was elected as the Nationalist member for Lachlan at the 1917 NSW state election. With the introduction of proportional representation in multi-member seats he became the member for Murrumbidgee between 1920 and 1927. When single member electorates were restored in 1927, he again became the member for Lachlan until his retirement in 1938. With

Michael Bruxner Lieutenant Colonel Sir Michael Frederick Bruxner (25 March 1882 – 28 March 1970) was an Australian politician and soldier, serving for many years as leader of the Country Party (and its predecessors) in New South Wales. Born in the north o ...

he was one of the 'true blue' progressives who refused to support a coalition government with George Fuller's Nationalists. Bruxner's faction became the Country Party with Bruxner as the leader and Buttenshaw the deputy leader. Bruxner resigned the leadership for family reasons in late 1925 and was succeeded by Buttenshaw. After the 1927 election of the Nationalist/Country coalition government led by

Thomas Bavin Sir Thomas Rainsford Bavin, (5 May 1874 – 31 August 1941) was an Australian lawyer and politician who served as Premier of New South Wales from 1927 to 1930. He was born in New Zealand and arrived in Australia at the age of 15, where he stud ...

, Buttenshaw became the Minister for Railways (1927–1929) and Secretary for Public Works (1927–1930). He was the Acting Premier while Bavin was on a loan raising trip to the United Kingdom between April and August 1929. In 1932, Buttenshaw stood down in favour of Bruxner and became deputy leader again. He held the position of Secretary for Lands in the government of Bertram Stevens. He was a keen tennis player and coached Harry Hopman. Buttenshaw retired at the 1938 election and died at his home in Ashfield on .

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Buttenshaw, Ernest 1875 births 1950 deaths Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly National Party of Australia members of the Parliament of New South Wales People from Young, New South Wales