William Montgomerie Fleming (19 May 1874 – 24 July 1961) was an Australian politician, who served in the

Australian House of Representatives The House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameral Parliament of Australia, the upper house being the Senate. Its composition and powers are established in Chapter I of the Constitution of Australia. The term of members of the ...

and the

New South Wales Legislative Assembly The New South Wales Legislative Assembly is the lower of the two houses of the Parliament of New South Wales, an Australian state. The upper house is the New South Wales Legislative Council. Both the Assembly and Council sit at Parliament Ho ...

Early life

Born in Avon Plains, Victoria to Scottish migrant and station manager John Fleming and his wife Helen (née Hastie), Fleming moved with his family to a farm near

Walgett, New South Wales Walgett is a town in northern New South Wales, Australia, and the seat of Walgett Shire. It is near the junctions of the Barwon and Namoi Rivers and the Kamilaroi and Castlereagh Highways. In 2016, Walgett had a population of 2,145. In the 2 ...

in 1882. Educated on the farm, private schools (including

Cooerwull Academy The Cooerwull Academy was an independent, Presbyterian, day and boarding school for boys, located in Bowenfels, a small town on the western outskirts of Lithgow, New South Wales, Australia. Cooerwull was founded in 1882University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD), also known as Sydney University, or informally Sydney Uni, is a public research university located in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and is one of the country's si ...

, Fleming worked on the family farm while also employed as a journalist for various local newspapers. A

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...

, Fleming married Caroline Benn in 1900; together they had one daughter and two sons.

Parliamentary career

Elected as an independent member for the electoral district of

Robertson Robertson may refer to: People * Robertson (surname) (includes a list of people with this name) * Robertson (given name) * Clan Robertson, a Scottish clan * Robertson, stage name of Belgian magician Étienne-Gaspard Robert (1763–1837) Places ...

as a 27-year-old in 1901, Fleming transferred to the seat of

Upper Hunter The Upper Hunter Shire is a local government area in the Upper Hunter Region of New South Wales, Australia. The Shire was formed in May 2004 from the Scone Shire and parts of Murrurundi and Merriwa shires. The Mayor of the Upper Hunter Shir ...

upon the abolition of Robertson in 1904. Fleming moved to Federal parliament in 1913 as the member for the

Division of Robertson The Division of Robertson is an Australian electoral division in the state of New South Wales. Geography Federal electoral division boundaries in Australia have been determined since 1984, at redistributions by a redistribution committee appo ...

, initially as a representative of the

Commonwealth Liberal Party The Liberal Party was a parliamentary party in Australian federal politics between 1909 and 1917. The party was founded under Alfred Deakin's leadership as a merger of the Protectionist Party and Anti-Socialist Party, an event known as the Fu ...

, then the Nationalist Party and later the Country Party. While a member of Federal parliament, Fleming joined the Australian Imperial Force on 6 October 1916 and served as a Driver in the Army Service Corps until his discharge in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

on 27 December 1918. He returned to parliament and served until his retirement from politics in 1922. Fleming became an orchardist in

Terrigal, New South Wales Terrigal is a coastal town in the Central Coast of New South Wales, Australia, located east of Gosford on the Pacific Ocean. It is part of the local government area. History Terrigal was first settled in 1826 by European Settler John Gray, ...

, where he died in 1961. He was the last surviving MP who served when Joseph Cook was Prime Minister, as well as the last who served during

Andrew Fisher Andrew Fisher (29 August 186222 October 1928) was an Australian politician who served three terms as prime minister of Australia – from 1908 to 1909, from 1910 to 1913, and from 1914 to 1915. He was the leader of the Australian Labor Party ...

's third tenure as PM. In addition to his parliamentary career, William Fleming wrote poetry, novels and books for children through his lifetime. His earliest poems appeared in ''The Queenslander'' and '' The Bulletin'' in 1896 and 1897, and his last children's book was published in 1939.Austlit – Will M. Fleming
/ref>

Bibliography

Novels

* ''Where Eagles Build'' (1925) * ''Broad Acres'' (1939)

Poetry collections

* ''War Verses'' (1915) * ''Australia in Peace and War'' (1917)

Children's

* ''Bunyip Says So : A Tale of the Australian Bush'' (1922) * ''Bunyip Told Me'' (1926) * ''The Hunted Piccaninnies'' (1927) * ''Jessie the Elephant : Her Life Story'' (1939)

References

1874 births 1961 deaths Members of the Australian House of Representatives Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Robertson Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly Commonwealth Liberal Party members of the Parliament of Australia Nationalist Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Australia National Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Australia Australian orchardists Australian male novelists Australian poets 20th-century Australian politicians Australian people of Scottish descent Australian military personnel of World War I {{Australia-National-politician-stub