William Haslem Edgar (21 January 1858 – 6 June 1948) was an Australian politician. He was born at St Arnaud to Irish-born engineer Edward Edgar and Mary, ''née'' Haslem. He attended St Arnaud Public School and Stawell Grammar School before working in a

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 ...

warehouse for five years. He married his first wife, Elizabeth Cecelia Bingley, around 1887. He worked as a draper in Dunolly and served on the borough council from 1885 to 1886 before moving to Melbourne in around 1888 to work as an estate agent. In 1902 he was elected to Malvern City Council, serving as mayor from 1906 to 1907 and leaving the council in 1909. He was elected to 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 ...

in 1904 as the non-

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 ...

member for Melbourne West, holding the seat until his defeat in 1913. During this period he was minister without portfolio from 1909 to 1912 and Minister for Public Works and Health from 1912 to 1913. After running unsuccessfully in a Legislative Council by-election for East Yarra in 1913, for the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

in 1914 and for

Gippsland Gippsland is a rural region that makes up the southeastern part of Victoria, Australia, mostly comprising the coastal plains to the rainward (southern) side of the Victorian Alps (the southernmost section of the Great Dividing Range). It covers ...

in 1916, he returned to the Council in 1917 after winning another by-election for East Yarra. He served until his death in 1948.

References

1858 births 1948 deaths Members of the Victorian Legislative Council Nationalist Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Victoria United Australia Party members of the Parliament of Victoria Liberal Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Victoria Australian people of Irish descent {{Australia-Liberal-politician-stub