William James Blacker (30 May 1843 – 22 November 1913) was an Australian politician who represented 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 ...

multi-member An electoral system or voting system is a set of rules that determine how elections and referendums are conducted and how their results are determined. Electoral systems are used in politics to elect governments, while non-political elections ma ...

seats of Noarlunga from 1892 to 1902 and

Alexandra Alexandra () is the feminine form of the given name Alexander (, ). Etymologically, the name is a compound of the Greek verb (; meaning 'to defend') and (; GEN , ; meaning 'man'). Thus it may be roughly translated as "defender of man" or "prot ...

from 1902 to 1913, representing the

Liberal and Democratic Union The Liberal and Democratic Union (LDU) was a South Australian political party formed by early liberals, as opposed to the conservatives. It was formed in 1906 when liberal party structures were becoming more solid. Its leader, Archibald Peake, s ...

from 1906 to 1910 and the Liberal Union from 1910 to 1913. He was colloquially known as "Old Bill Blacker". Blacker was born at

Radstock Radstock is a town and civil parish on the northern slope of the Mendip Hills in Somerset, England, about south-west of Bath and north-west of Frome. It is within the area of the unitary authority of Bath and North East Somerset. The Radstoc ...

Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lord_ ...

in the United Kingdom, and migrated to South Australia with his family in 1855. His family settled at Yankalilla, where he was educated. He farmed at Yankalilla for 16 years, and in 1871 took up his own farm at Willunga, which he held for the rest of his life. He also operated an auctioneering business for around thirty years, which he later sold to Bagot, Shakes & Lewis. He married Elizabeth Pomeroy in 1872, and had five sons and three daughters. He was heavily involved in Freemasonry: he was a member of the Order of Foresters from age 18 until his death, was the secretary of Court Aldinga for 28 years until his retirement in 1909, and was involved in various capacities with the Loyal Willunga Lodge and Manchester Unity. In public life, he was a member of the volunteer force at Yankalilla until its disbandment, was secretary of the local agricultural and horticultural society for more than twenty years, was a justice of the piece for thirty years, secretary to the agricultural bureau for six years, and was chairman of the Willunga School Board of Advice for eleven years. He was also active in local government, serving variously as councillor, auditor and clerk of the

District Council of Willunga The District Council of Willunga, was a local government area in South Australia seated at Willunga from 1853 until 1997. History The District Council of Willunga was established on 18 August 1853 to govern the Hundred of Willunga and the southe ...

. He was elected to the House of Assembly in an 1892 by-election, and was re-elected in that seat three times, topping the poll on each occasion. When that seat was amalgamated with two others in 1902, he contested and won

and held it until his death. He was described as a "staunch liberal" and a member of the country grouping of members with Richard Butler and

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 ...

. In parliament, he was a leading advocate of the construction of the

Willunga railway line The Willunga railway line ran through the southern Adelaide suburbs from Adelaide railway station to Willunga, over long (longer than the current Gawler line, ). The line was opened in Willunga by the Governor of South Australia Sir Henry Gal ...

. He died in office while visiting McLaren Flat in 1913, having been in poor health for some time. He was buried in the Willunga Anglican Cemetery. Upon his death, '' The Chronicle'' stated of Blacker that there were "few centres in the country in which Mr. Blacker was not well known and popular". The newspaper described Blacker as having "a ragged speaking style, and made no attempt at rhetoric, but he had a spontaneous eloquence which always ensured a hearing, and his utterances in the House were greatly enjoyed".

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Blacker, William James 1843 births 1913 deaths Members of the South Australian House of Assembly British emigrants to Australia