William George Ashford (9 August 1874 – 23 March 1925) was an Australian politician.

Early life

Born at Sparks Creek near

Scone A scone is a baked good, usually made of either wheat or oatmeal with baking powder as a leavening agent, and baked on sheet pans. A scone is often slightly sweetened and occasionally glazed with egg wash. The scone is a basic component of th ...

to selector John Ashford and Rebecca Bell, he attended Sparks Creek Public School before starting work on his father's farm. He later bought a farm on the

Hawkesbury River The Hawkesbury River, or Hawkesbury-Nepean River, is a river located northwest of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The Hawkesbury River and its associated main tributary, the Nepean River, almost encircle the metropolitan region of Sydney. ...

, but sold it to return to Sparks Creek. Around 1904 he married Lily Charlotte Keys Brecht, with whom he had four sons.

Parliamentary career

He stood for election to 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 ...

as the candidate for

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 ...

at the 1907 election, but was unsuccessful. In 1910 the sitting member William Fleming () resigned to unsuccessfully contest a federal seat at the 1910 election and Ashford won the April 1910 by-election. He was defeated 6 months later at the general election in October. In 1911 a vacancy arose at

Liverpool Plains The Liverpool Plains are an extensive agricultural area covering about of the north-western slopes of New South Wales in Australia. These plains are a region of prime agricultural land bounded to the east by the Great Dividing Range, to the s ...

due to the resignation of Henry Horne (Labor). Ashford was defeated at the by-election in August 1911 with a margin of 3 votes and 91 informal votes. He challenged the result before the Elections and Qualifications Committee, which declared the election void. Ashford comfortably won the subsequent by-election in October 1911. Ashford was a minister in the

Holman Labor ministry Holman may refer to: People * Holman (surname), including people with the name * Holman (given name), a list of people with the name Places United States * Holman, Missouri, a former town * Holman, Texas, a settlement * Holman, Washington, a s ...

, being

Minister of Agriculture An agriculture ministry (also called an) agriculture department, agriculture board, agriculture council, or agriculture agency, or ministry of rural development) is a ministry charged with agriculture. The ministry is often headed by a minister f ...

from 29 January 1914 until 23 February 1915 and again from 15 March to 1 June 1915, and Secretary for Lands from 12 January 1915. He was expelled from Labor on 7 November 1916, along with Holman and 21 others, for defying party policy and supporting conscription. He joined Holman's

grand coalition A grand coalition is an arrangement in a multi-party parliamentary system in which the two largest political parties of opposing political ideologies unite in a coalition government. The term is most commonly used in countries where there are t ...

with the members of the various conservative parties,
which by 1917 had coalesced into the Nationalist Party. In the Second Holman ministry he retained the office of Secretary for Lands, but added a new role as

Minister for Forests Minister may refer to: * Minister (Christianity), a Christian cleric ** Minister (Catholic Church) * Minister (government), a member of government who heads a ministry (government department) ** Minister without portfolio, a member of government w ...

. Ashford acted as Minister of Agriculture from October 1919 and was appointed to the role on 9 February 1920, holding the 3 ministries until the defeat of the Nationalist government at the April 1920 election. In 1920, with the introduction of proportional representation, he was the only Nationalist member for the 3 member district of Wammerawa. He stood as an

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

at the 1922 election and the returning officer declared that Ashford had been re-elected. The result was overturned by the Elections and Qualifications Committee who declared that Joseph Clark had been elected instead.

Death

Ashford died at

Mosman Mosman is a suburb on the Lower North Shore region of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Mosman is located 8 kilometres north-east of the Sydney central business district and is the administrative centre for the local governm ...

on .

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ashford, William 1874 births 1925 deaths Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of New South Wales Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly Nationalist Party of Australia members of the Parliament of New South Wales