William Shiels (3 December 1848 – 17 December 1904) was an

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n colonial-era politician, serving as the 16th

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Biography

Shiels was born in

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, a town in the centre of

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in the north of Ireland. He was born into an Ulster-Scots

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family and arrived in

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as a child in 1853. He was educated at Scotch College and the

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, where he graduated in law and arts, gaining a master's degree in law in 1885. He was called to the Melbourne bar in 1872 and was also active in public life, being a noted campaigner for

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reform. Shiels was elected to the

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for Normanby in 1880, as a moderate liberal, holding that seat throughout his career. He was

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and Minister for Railways in the government of James Munro from 1890 to 1892. During this time Shiels was one of the few politicians to warn against the excesses of the Land Boom which swept

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between 1887 and 1891. As a result, when Munro suddenly resigned in the face of imminent bankruptcy in February 1892, the liberals turned to Shiels as a "clean" new leader, and he became Premier. The Shiels government responded to the financial disaster of the 1892 crash in the orthodox fashion of the time, cutting spending and increasing taxation to balance the budget – measures which only made the situation worse. The conservatives who had supported the coalition governments of

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and Munro opposed increased taxation, and during 1892 they deserted Shiels. In January 1893 the conservative leader

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moved a successful no-confidence motion, and Shiels resigned. Shiels stayed in politics and kept his reputation for integrity. He was Treasurer under Allan McLean (1899–1900) and William Irvine (1902–1903) and Minister for Railways (1903–1904). In 1904, however, his health broke down and he retired to rural South Australia shortly before his death, aged only 56. Shiels is buried at Struan House which is located on the Dukes HWY 10 km out of Naracoorte in South Australia's South East.

References

;Notes ;Bibliography *Geoff Browne, ''A Biographical Register of the Victorian Parliament, 1900–84'', Government Printer, Melbourne, 1985 *Don Garden, ''Victoria: A History'', Thomas Nelson, Melbourne, 1984 *Kathleen Thompson and Geoffrey Serle, ''A Biographical Register of the Victorian Parliament, 1856–1900'', Australian National University Press, Canberra, 1972 * Raymond Wright, ''A People's Counsel. A History of the Parliament of Victoria, 1856–1990'', Oxford University Press, Melbourne, 1992 * {{DEFAULTSORT:Shiels, William 1848 births 1904 deaths 19th-century Irish people People from County Londonderry Premiers of Victoria Melbourne Law School alumni Victoria (Australia) state politicians People educated at Scotch College, Melbourne Attorneys-General of the Colony of Victoria 19th-century Australian politicians Irish emigrants to colonial Australia 19th-century Australian lawyers