Frederick William Coneybeer (27 September 1859 – 30 May 1950) was an Australian politician. He was a member of the

South Australian House of Assembly The House of Assembly, or lower house, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of South Australia. The other is the South Australian Legislative Council, Legislative Council. It sits in Parliament House, Adelaide, Parliament House in the st ...

from 1893 to 1921 and from 1924 to 1930, representing the electorates of

East Torrens East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the fac ...

(1893–1902, 1915–1921, 1924–1930) and Torrens (1902–1915). Coneybeer was born in Clifton in

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

, England. His family migrated to Sydney, thence to Orange, New South Wales in 1865, where he was educated, then learned the trade of collar maker from his father and for around ten years followed this trade. In 1880 he moved to Melbourne, where he worked for a while, then to Adelaide, South Australia in 1881, where he found employment with J. A. Holden & Co. He was an active member of the Saddlers' Trade Society, and filled most positions in that Union. Coneybeer was elected as a member of the

United Labor Party The South Australian Labor Party, officially known as the Australian Labor Party (South Australian Branch) and commonly referred to simply as South Australian Labor, is the South Australian Branch of the Australian Labor Party, originally formed ...

in 1893, and served as state Minister for Education under Thomas Price (1908–1909) and

John Verran John Verran (9 July 1856 – 7 June 1932) was an Australian politician and trade unionist. He served as premier of South Australia from 1910 to 1912, the second member of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) to hold the position. Verran was b ...

(1910–1912). In 1915, when Labor regained office under

Crawford Vaughan Crawford Vaughan (14 July 1874 – 15 December 1947) was an Australian politician, and the Premier of South Australia from 1915 to 1917. He was a member of the South Australian House of Assembly from 1905 to 1918, representing Torrens (19 ...

, he was made Speaker of the House of Assembly. In 1917, the Labor Party split over conscription, and Coneybeer followed Vaughan and Verran into the new National Party. The Vaughan government soon fell, and the National Party immediately entered into a coalition government with their former rivals, the Liberal Union, with the National Party as junior partner. Coneybeer remained Speaker throughout, only losing office when lost his seat in 1921, as the coalition split and the National Party was resoundingly defeated statewide. The Liberal and National parties merged to form the

Liberal Federation The Liberal Federation was a South Australian political party from 16 October 1923 to 1932. It came into existence as a merger between the rival Liberal Union and National Party, to oppose Labor. Encouraged by the overwhelming success of the ...

in 1923, and Coneybeer was elected to his old seat as a Liberal at the 1924 election. He was re-elected in 1927, but lost his seat to a Labor candidate in 1930.

References

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Coneybeer, Frederick William 1859 births 1950 deaths Members of the South Australian House of Assembly Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of South Australia Speakers of the South Australian House of Assembly