Horace Keyworth Nock (26 October 1879 – 2 August 1958) was an Australian politician, farmer and company director.

Early years and background

He was born at

Salisbury Salisbury ( ) is a cathedral city in Wiltshire, England with a population of 41,820, at the confluence of the rivers Avon, Nadder and Bourne. The city is approximately from Southampton and from Bath. Salisbury is in the southeast of ...

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

to Joseph Nock and his second wife Eliza, née Keyworth. Nock attended Tarlee State School and

Prince Alfred College , motto_translation = Do Brave Deeds and Endure , established = 1869 , type = Independent, single-sex, day & boarding , headmaster = David Roberts , chaplain = Reverend ...

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

, and joined his father's store and wheat buying business, which he ran from his father's death in 1904 until 1914, when he relocated to a grazing property, Nelungaloo, near

Parkes Parkes may refer to: * Sir Henry Parkes (1815–1896), Australian politician, one of the earliest and most prominent advocates for Australian federation Named for Henry Parkes * Parkes, New South Wales, a regional town * Parkes Observatory, a radi ...

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

. Here, he established a prosperous mixed farm. He was president of the Farmers and Settlers' Association of New South Wales from 1928–1932, and was treasurer from 1938–1958.

Political career

Nock was elected to the

Australian House of Representatives The House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameral Parliament of Australia, the upper house being the Senate. Its composition and powers are established in Chapter I of the Constitution of Australia. The term of members o ...

for the

Division of Riverina The Division of Riverina is an Australian electoral division in the state of New South Wales. Geography Since 1984, federal electoral division boundaries in Australia have been determined at redistributions by a redistribution committee appoi ...

in 1931, representing the Country Party. He was temporary chairman of committees (1935–37) and then secretary and whip of the party in 1937. Nock was appointed Minister without portfolio administering External Territories in 1940, when

Archie Cameron Archie Galbraith Cameron (22 March 18959 August 1956) was an Australian politician. He was a government minister under Joseph Lyons and Robert Menzies, leader of the Country Party from 1939 to 1940, and finally Speaker of the House of Represe ...

led the Country Party into the

Menzies Menzies is a Scottish surname, with Gaelic forms being Méinnearach and Méinn, and other variant forms being Menigees, Mennes, Mengzes, Menzeys, Mengies, and Minges. Derivation and history The name and its Gaelic form are probably derived f ...

ministry. Later that year, he was defeated in his own electorate, and his campaign for the Senate in 1943 was unsuccessful.

Business career

A well-known representative of rural interests, Nock was known as the " Cockies' Patron Saint", and was a vigorous watchdog over

tariff A tariff is a tax imposed by the government of a country or by a supranational union on imports or exports of goods. Besides being a source of revenue for the government, import duties can also be a form of regulation of foreign trade and pol ...

s. After leaving parliament, he remained closely involved with the Farmers and Settlers' Association, and also became involved with the Australian Wheatgrowers' Federation, Australian Pastoral Research Trust (of which he was a director), the

Australian Wool Board The Australian Wool Board was an Australian Government statutory board that existed in its first phase between May 1936 and January 1945; in its second phase between June 1945 and June 1953; and in its third and final phase, between May 1963 and ...

and the Australian Wool Council, and was Australia's representative at the

International Wool Secretariat The International Wool Secretariat (IWS) was formed in 1937 to promote the sale of wool on behalf of woolgrowers and review research carried out by independent bodies such as the Wool Industries' Research Association at Torridon, Headingley Lane, L ...

of 1948. In 1946 Nelungaloo Pty Ltd, Nock's company, challenged the Commonwealth's power of compulsory acquisition of wheat crops in the High Court of Australia. The case did not succeed, although it provided inspiration for the Commonwealth and State wheat industry stabilisation Acts of 1954. Nock was known as a nonconformist when it came to

religion Religion is usually defined as a social- cultural system of designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relates humanity to supernatural, ...

, and was always an active, vigorous and philanthropic man. He died in Sydney on 2 August 1958, having collapsed on his way to a meeting of the Farmers and Settlers' Association, and was given a state funeral.

Personal

On 19 February 1908 Nock married Marcia Nessie Clarke at Tarlee, South Australia. She died in 1956, and Nock was survived by two sons and a daughter.

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Nock, Horace Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Riverina Members of the Australian House of Representatives Members of the Cabinet of Australia National Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Australia People educated at Prince Alfred College 1879 births 1958 deaths 20th-century Australian politicians