Samuel Robert Nicholls (15 May 1885 – 26 September 1939) was an Australian politician. He was an Australian Labor Party member of the Australian House of Representatives from 1917 to 1922, representing the electorate of

Macquarie Macquarie may refer to: People * Lachlan Macquarie, Governor of the British colony of New South Wales from 1810 to 1821. * Elizabeth Macquarie Campbell, Lachlan Macquarie's second wife Locations * Division of Macquarie, an electoral district in th ...

. Born in Mudgee, New South Wales, he was educated at public schools and became a clerk and cement worker. He was a trade unionist in the cement works at

Portland Portland most commonly refers to: * Portland, Oregon, the largest city in the state of Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States * Portland, Maine, the largest city in the state of Maine, in the New England region of the northeas ...

for several years, serving as president of the Portland branch of the United Labourers Protective Society from 1910 and secretary of the Portland Cement Workers' Union from 1912. In 1917, he defeated

Ernest Carr Ernest Shoebridge Carr (28 September 1875 – 17 September 1956) was an Australian politician. He was a member of the Australian House of Representatives from 1906 until 1917 for the electorate of Macquarie, representing the Australian Labor Pa ...

, a Labor turned Nationalist MP, to win the Australian House of Representatives seat of

for Labor by nine votes. He refused to recruit for service during World War I, stating that he would not ask others to do what he was not prepared to do himself. One repeated concern of Nicholls in parliament was the fate of workers at the

Lithgow Small Arms Factory The Lithgow Small Arms Factory, or Lithgow Arms, is an Australian small arms manufacturing factory located in the town of Lithgow, New South Wales. It was created by the Australian Government in 1912 to ease reliance on the British for the s ...

. He held the seat until his unexpected defeat in 1922 by Nationalist Arthur Manning after a redistribution weakened his margin; he alleged irregularities with the result, but nothing further occurred. Nicholls worked as an insurance agent after his political defeat. In October 1923, he was sued for not repaying a loan, and was declared bankrupt in February 1924, a situation which he attributed to having himself loaned money that had not been repaid. He was involved in a serious car crash in 1924 and was struck by lightning in 1926, but escaped with a "few bruises" and "severe shock" respectively. Nicholls nominated for Labor preselection at the 1925 federal election and 1927 state election; the first was rejected by the party as "not in order", and he was soundly defeated for the latter. He died at Wagga Wagga Base Hospital in 1939 after a long illness, aged 54, and was buried in the Church of England portion of the Wagga Wagga Cemetery.

References

Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Australia Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Macquarie Members of the Australian House of Representatives 1885 births 1939 deaths 20th-century Australian politicians {{Australia-Labor-representative-stub