William Raymond Read (21 July 1882 – 29 April 1974) was an Australian politician who was an independent member of the Legislative Assembly of

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

from 1945 to 1953. He also served on the

Perth City Council Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

from 1926 to 1965.

Early life

Read was born in

Lilydale, Victoria Lilydale is a town and outer suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 34 km north-east from Melbourne's central business district, located within the Shire of Yarra Ranges local government area. Lilydale recorded a population of 17,348 at ...

, to Henrietta (née Raymond) and Alfred Read. He attended high school in

Bendigo Bendigo ( ) is a city in Victoria, Australia, located in the Bendigo Valley near the geographical centre of the state and approximately north-west of Melbourne, the state capital. As of 2019, Bendigo had an urban population of 100,991, makin ...

, and then moved to Western Australia to attend

Perth Technical College Central Institute of Technology was a Technical and Further Education (TAFE) institution based in Perth, Western Australia until 2016 when it became a part of North Metropolitan TAFE. It was the equal oldest post-secondary educational institution ...

, graduating as a pharmacist in 1902. Read eventually established his own pharmacy in

Victoria Park Victoria Park may refer to: Places Australia * Victoria Park Nature Reserve, a protected area in Northern Rivers region, New South Wales * Victoria Park, Adelaide, a park and racecourse * Victoria Park, Brisbane, a public park and former golf ...

. He served on the board of

Karrakatta Cemetery Karrakatta Cemetery is a metropolitan cemetery in the suburb of Karrakatta in Perth, Western Australia. Karrakatta Cemetery first opened for burials in 1899, the first being that of wheelwright Robert Creighton. Managed by the Metropolitan Ce ...

, and was also involved with the

Ugly Men's Association The Ugly Men's Voluntary Worker's Association of Western Australia Inc., generally shortened to the Ugly Men's Association or Ugly Men was a uniquely Western Australian fund-raising and charitable organisation established in 1917. Previously ...

, a prominent charity.William Raymond Read
Biographical Register of Members of the Parliament of Western Australia. Retrieved 5 January 2017.

Politics and later life

In 1926, at the age of 44, Read was elected to the

, representing the Victoria Park ward. He served as a councillor until his retirement in May 1965, aged 82. Read entered parliament at the 1945 Victoria Park by-election, caused by the death of

Howard Raphael Howard Stirling "Mick" Raphael (13 June 1900 – 9 December 1944) was an Australian politician who was a Labor Party member of the Legislative Assembly of Western Australia from 1930 until his death, representing the seat of Victoria Park. Ou ...

. He polled 56.7 percent of the

two-candidate-preferred In Australian politics, the two-party-preferred vote (TPP or 2PP) is the result of an election or opinion poll after preferences have been distributed to the highest two candidates, who in some cases can be independents. For the purposes of TPP, ...

vote, defeating

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 ...

and

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

candidates as well as several other independents. Read was re-elected at the 1947 state election, which resulted in a

hung parliament A hung parliament is a term used in legislatures primarily under the Westminster system to describe a situation in which no single political party or pre-existing coalition (also known as an alliance or bloc) has an absolute majority of legisl ...

. He and another independent,

Harry Shearn Harry Vivian Shearn (28 April 1892 – 21 January 1951) was an Australian politician who was an independent member of the Legislative Assembly of Western Australia from 1936 until his death, representing the seat of Maylands. Shearn was born ...

, elected to support

Ross McLarty Sir Duncan Ross McLarty, (17 March 1891 – 22 December 1962) was an Australian politician and the 17th Premier of Western Australia. Early life McLarty was born in Pinjarra, Western Australia, the youngest of seven children of Edward McLarty, ...

premier Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier. A premier will normally be a head of governm ...

, allowing the formation of a Liberal government. This arrangement continued after the 1950 election (which resulted in another hung parliament), with the additional support of a third independent,

David Grayden David Grayden ( Ives; 25 May 1924 – 9 June 2003) was an Australian politician who was a member of the Legislative Assembly of Western Australia from 1950 to 1953, representing the seat of Nedlands. Grayden was born in Perth to Ethel May (n� ...

. Read did not stand for re-election in 1953. He was made a

Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(MBE) in 1965,READ, William Raymond
It's An Honour. Retrieved 17 January 2017. and died in 1974, aged 91. Read had married Florence Matilda Mills in 1903, with whom he had four children.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Read, William 1882 births 1974 deaths Australian Members of the Order of the British Empire Australian pharmacists Independent members of the Parliament of Western Australia Members of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly Politicians from Perth, Western Australia Perth City Councillors People from Lilydale, Victoria Politicians from Melbourne

Early life

Politics and later life

See also

References