Richard Buzacott (7 September 1867 – 10 January 1933),

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politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

, was a Member of the

Australian Senate The Senate is the upper house of the Bicameralism, bicameral Parliament of Australia, the lower house being the House of Representatives (Australia), House of Representatives. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Chapter ...

from 1910 to 1923. Commonly known as Dick Buzacott, he was born at ''Emu Flat'',

Clare Clare may refer to: Places Antarctica * Clare Range, a mountain range in Victoria Land Australia * Clare, South Australia, a town in the Clare Valley * Clare Valley, South Australia Canada * Clare (electoral district), an electoral district * Cl ...

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 ...

on 7 September 1867. The son of a farmer of the same name, he was educated at Stanley Flat Primary School, and Clare High School, then worked as an agricultural labourer. From 1891 to 1898 he was a

miner A miner is a person who extracts ore, coal, chalk, clay, or other minerals from the earth through mining. There are two senses in which the term is used. In its narrowest sense, a miner is someone who works at the rock face; cutting, blasting, ...

Broken Hill Broken Hill is an inland mining city in the far west of outback New South Wales, Australia. It is near the border with South Australia on the crossing of the Barrier Highway (A32) and the Silver City Highway (B79), in the Barrier Range. It is ...

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 ...

, and from 1899 to 1900 he was in

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

. In 1900 Buzacott migrated to the

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

goldfields Goldfield or Goldfields may refer to: Places * Goldfield, Arizona, the former name of Youngberg, Arizona, a populated place in the United States * Goldfield, Colorado, a community in the United States * Goldfield, Iowa, a city in the United State ...

, mining on the Goongarrie fields near

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 ...

. He became active in the Labor movement, becoming president of the Menzies branch of the Amalgamated Workers' Union in 1901, and of the Amalgamated Miners' Association in 1903. From 1904 he was President of the

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. In the elections of 28 June 1904 and 27 October 1905, he contested the

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seat of Menzies as a

Labor Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

candidate, but was defeated on both occasions by the incumbent Henry Gregory. From 1906 to 1907 he was secretary of the Menzies Miners' Institute. On 31 March 1908, Richard Buzacott married Mary Lucy Marshall. They had one son, Richard Norman Buzacott. On 11 September 1908, Buzacott defeated Gregory for the seat of Menzies in a general election. Gregory then disputed the result with the Court of Disputed Returns, retaining his seat while the matter was under its consideration. Ultimately, the election was declared void, and a

by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election (Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election used to f ...

was held on 20 November, which Gregory won by 56 votes. On 13 April 1910, Buzacott was elected to the

on a Labor ticket. He took his seat on 1 July, serving as a Labor member until the

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 ...

crisis of 1917, when he was expelled from the party as a pro-conscriptionist, and joined the

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. Over the next five years he served as a member of the Federal Parliamentary Recruiting Committee to Inquire into the Effect of Liquor on Australian Soldiers (1917–18); the Joint Committee of Public Accounts (1920–22); and the Royal Commission on War Service Homes (1922). He retained his seat until 30 June 1923, having lost it in the election of 14 December the previous year. Buzacott lived 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 ...

from around 1912. Very little is known of his life after politics. His wife died on 10 January 1976 aged 88, and he had pre-deceased her at

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, on 10 January 1933 aged 65. One of Richard Buzacott's brothers

Nicholas Nicholas is a male given name and a surname. The Eastern Orthodox Church, the Roman Catholic Church, and the Anglicanism, Anglican Churches celebrate Saint Nicholas every year on December 6, which is the name day for "Nicholas". In Greece, the n ...

was a Member of the

New South Wales Legislative Council The New South Wales Legislative Council, often referred to as the upper house, is one of the two chambers of the parliament of the Australian state of New South Wales. The other is the Legislative Assembly. Both sit at Parliament House in th ...

from 1899 to 1933. Another brother, Roderick Buzacott was a major South Australian Farm Implement Manufacturer in the town of Blyth, located near Clare, where they were born and raised.Another brother, Alexander Herbert Stanley Buzacott also went to Western Australia (Kalgoolie and then Perth)- some of his descendants have now returned to Adelaide, South Australia

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Buzacott, Richard 1867 births 1933 deaths Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Australia Nationalist Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Australia Members of the Australian Senate Members of the Australian Senate for Western Australia People from Clare, South Australia Australian miners National Labor Party members of the Parliament of Australia 20th-century Australian politicians