William Paul Crockett (c. 1864 – 25 July 1932) was an Australian politician. He was born in

Mansfield Mansfield is a market town and the administrative centre of Mansfield District in Nottinghamshire, England. It is the largest town in the wider Mansfield Urban Area (followed by Sutton-in-Ashfield). It gained the Royal Charter of a market tow ...

to farmer Anthony Forrest Crockett and Annie McDermott. He attended state schools and worked on farms before becoming a carpenter. In 1888 he moved to

Mildura Mildura is a regional city in north-west Victoria, Australia. Located on the Victorian side of the Murray River, Mildura had a population of 34,565 in 2021. When nearby Wentworth, Irymple, Nichols Point and Merbein are included, the area had ...

, eventually becoming an orchardist. On 15 April 1891 he married Jessie Clark McMillan, with whom he had seven children. He served on Mildura Shire Council from 1908 to 1918 and was president from 1914 to 1917. In 1919 he won a by-election for the

Victorian Legislative Council The Victorian Legislative Council (VLC) is the upper house of the bicameral Parliament of Victoria, Australia, the lower house being the Legislative Assembly. Both houses sit at Parliament House in Spring Street, Melbourne. The Legislative Co ...

's North Western Province, representing the

Victorian Farmers' Union The Victorian Farmers' Union (VFU) was an association of farmers and primary producers formed in 1914 in the Australian state of Victoria. Although initially formed as an "absolutely non-political" entity, the VFU became a political party in 1916 ...

. From that year he 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 ...

. Involved in the formation of the Country Party, he was a minister without portfolio from September 1923 to March 1924 and from November 1924 to June 1925, when he resigned over dried fruit rates and the wheat pool. In 1926 he joined the Country Progressive Party, remaining a member of the Council until his resignation in 1928. Crockett died in

Kew Kew () is a district in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. Its population at the 2011 census was 11,436. Kew is the location of the Royal Botanic Gardens ("Kew Gardens"), now a World Heritage Site, which includes Kew Palace. Kew is a ...

in 1932.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Crockett, William 1860s births 1932 deaths National Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Victoria Country Progressive Party members of the Parliament of Victoria Members of the Victorian Legislative Council