William Trezise Eddy (1864 – 11 February 1926) was an Australian businessman and politician who was a 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 1905 to 1908, representing the seat of Coolgardie. Eddy was born in

Clunes, Victoria Clunes is a town in Victoria, Australia, 36 kilometres north of Ballarat, in the Shire of Hepburn. At the 2016 census it had a population of 1,728. History Pre-colonial The Djadja Wurrung people were the first inhabitants of the region ...

, to Elizabeth Jane (née Tresize) and Andrew Eddy. He moved to

Coolgardie, Western Australia Coolgardie is a small town in Western Australia, east of the state capital, Perth. It has a population of approximately 850 people. Although Coolgardie is now known to most Western Australians as a tourist town and a mining ghost town, it ...

, in 1894, in the early days of the

gold rush A gold rush or gold fever is a discovery of gold—sometimes accompanied by other precious metals and rare-earth minerals—that brings an onrush of miners seeking their fortune. Major gold rushes took place in the 19th century in Australia, New ...

, and set up as a storekeeper. Eddy served on the Coolgardie Municipal Council from 1901 to 1903.William Tresize Eddy
– Biographical Register of Members of the Parliament of Western Australia. Retrieved 5 January 2017. He first stood for parliament at the 1901 Coolgardie by-election, a

ministerial by-election A ministerial by-election is a by-election to fill a vacancy triggered by the appointment of the sitting member of parliament (MP) as a minister in the cabinet. The requirement for new ministers to stand for re-election was introduced in the Ho ...

caused by the appointment of

Alf Morgans Alfred Edward Morgans (17 February 1850 – 10 August 1933) was the fourth Premier of Western Australia, serving for just over a month, from 21 November to 23 December 1901. Born in Wales, Morgans trained as an engineer, and supervised mining ...

as premier. He also stood unsuccessfully at the 1904 state election, losing to

Henry Ellis Henry Ellis may refer to: * Henry Augustus Ellis (1861–1939), Irish Australian physician and federalist * Henry Ellis (diplomat) (1788–1855), British diplomat * Henry Ellis (governor) (1721–1806), explorer, author, and second colonial Gover ...

. At the 1905 state election, Eddy was elected to Coolgardie with a 23-vote margin, standing as a Ministerialist. However, the election was declared void in May 1906, due to voting irregularities."COOLGARDIE ELECTION PETITION"
'' The Daily News'', 31 May 1906. A by-election was held in July 1906, at which Eddy increased his margin to 100 votes. His opponent at the by-election, Charles McDowall of the Labor Party, recontested the seat at the 1908 state election and was elected, defeating Eddy by 340 votes. After leaving politics, Eddy worked as an auctioneer, initially in Coolgardie and then from 1913 based in Merredin. He died in Perth in February 1926, aged 61.

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Eddy, William 1864 births Date of birth missing 1926 deaths Australian people of Cornish descent Members of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly People from Clunes, Victoria Western Australian local councillors