William Joseph McCourt (1 March 1851 – 22 June 1913) was an Irish-born Australian politician. He was born in

County Monaghan County Monaghan ( ; ga, Contae Mhuineacháin) is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Ulster and is part of Border strategic planning area of the Northern and Western Region. It is named after the town of Monaghan. Monaghan County Cou ...

to shoemaker James McCourt and Bridget Smith. He arrived in New South Wales with his parents in 1852 and attended

Wollongong Wollongong ( ), colloquially referred to as The Gong, is a city located in the Illawarra region of New South Wales, Australia. The name is believed to originate from the Dharawal language, meaning either 'five islands/clouds', 'ground near wate ...

Public School. He was apprenticed to a printer after leaving school, and was also a successful land speculator. In 1882 he married Emily Elizabeth, with whom he had six children. He was elected 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 ...

in 1882 as the member for Camden. He lost his seat in 1885 but was re-elected in 1887. A

free trade Free trade is a trade policy that does not restrict imports or exports. It can also be understood as the free market idea applied to international trade. In government, free trade is predominantly advocated by political parties that hold econo ...

r, he transferred to

Bowral Bowral () is the largest town in the Southern Highlands of New South Wales, Australia, about ninety minutes southwest of Sydney. It is the main business and entertainment precinct of the Wingecarribee Shire and Highlands. Bowral once served ...

in 1894 and to

Wollondilly Wollondilly Shire is a periurban local government area adjacent to the south-western fringe of Sydney, parts of which fall into the Macarthur, Blue Mountains and Central Tablelands regions in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Wollon ...

in 1904. By this time a member of the Liberal Reform Party, he was elected

Speaker Speaker may refer to: Society and politics * Speaker (politics), the presiding officer in a legislative assembly * Public speaker, one who gives a speech or lecture * A person producing speech: the producer of a given utterance, especially: ** I ...

in 1900, serving until the election of a

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 ...

government in 1910. McCourt held his seat until his death at Berrima in 1913.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McCourt, William 1851 births 1913 deaths Free Trade Party politicians Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly Speakers of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly