Reginald Pole Blundell (4 February 1871 – 9 August 1945) 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 Legislative Council. It sits in Parliament House in the state capital, Adelaide. Overview The House of Assembly was creat ...

from 1907 to 1918 and 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 of the ...

from 1919 to 1922. Blundell was born in the

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 ...

suburb of Norwood and educated at Norwood Public School. He married Alice Clara Gates in 1894. He joined the Tobacco Twisters' Union and was its secretary for eight years. He became secretary of the

United Trades and Labour Council of South Australia SA Unions (originally the United Trades and Labour Council of South Australia) is the peak body for trade unions in South Australia. It coordinates political, social, economic, and industrial campaigns between its affiliate members and implements ...

and was its president in 1905. He was a Senate candidate in the 1906 federal election in South Australia, finishing a close 5th, missing out by less than 200 votes. Blundell successfully challenged the election, with the High Court in June 1907 declaring that the election of the third choice Senator

Joseph Vardon Joseph Vardon (27 July 1843 – 20 July 1913) was an Australian politician. Born in Adelaide, he received a primary education before becoming a farm worker and apprentice printer, running his own printing business by 1871. He sat on Hindmar ...

was void. Blundell did not personally benefit from that success as he had subsequently been successful at a by-election in January 1907 to the House of Assembly as one of four members for the seat of

, representing 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 ...

. At the 1915 election in

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 ...

's Labor government he became minister of industry, mines and marine. In 1917, he left the Labor Party in the 1917 Labor split over

conscription Conscription (also called the draft in the United States) is the state-mandated enlistment of people in a national service, mainly a military service. Conscription dates back to antiquity and it continues in some countries to the present day un ...

and joined the National Party. He was minister for repatriation, agriculture and industry in

Archibald Peake Archibald Henry Peake (15 January 1859 – 6 April 1920) was an Australian politician. He was Premier of South Australia on three occasions: from 1909 to 1910 for the Liberal and Democratic Union, and from 1912 to 1915 and 1917 to 1920 for its ...

's government until his defeat at the 1918 election. At the 1919 federal election, he was elected as a

Nationalist Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: The ...

to the federal seat of

, but was defeated at the 1922 election. Blundell returned to work for W.D. & H.O. Wills as a commercial traveller. He died of

pernicious anaemia Pernicious anemia is a type of Vitamin B12 deficiency, vitamin B12 deficiency anemia, a disease in which not enough red blood cells are produced due to the malabsorption of Vitamin B12, vitamin B12. Malabsorption in pernicious anemia results fr ...

in the Adelaide suburb of Glenelg survived by his wife, three daughters and three sons.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Blundell, Reginald Pole Nationalist Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Australia Members of the South Australian House of Assembly Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Adelaide Members of the Australian House of Representatives Australian trade unionists 1871 births 1945 deaths Deaths from pernicious anemia Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of South Australia 20th-century Australian politicians