Robert Officer Blackwood (24 June 1861 – 22 September 1940) was an Australian politician, businessman and pastoralist. He was briefly a member of the

Australian House of Representatives The House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameral Parliament of Australia, the upper house being the Senate. Its composition and powers are established in Chapter I of the Constitution of Australia. The term of members of ...

for the

Division of Riverina The Division of Riverina is an Australian electoral division in the state of New South Wales. Geography Since 1984, federal electoral division boundaries in Australia have been determined at redistributions by a redistribution committee appoi ...

. Blackwood was born in 1861 at Crowlands in

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

, the son of Richard Blackwood (d. 1881) and Isabella, née Officer. He attended Melbourne Church of England Grammar School (1878–79), where he gained a reputation as an athlete. He was admitted to

Trinity Hall, Cambridge Trinity Hall (formally The College or Hall of the Holy Trinity in the University of Cambridge) is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. It is the fifth-oldest surviving college of the university, having been founded in 1350 by ...

in 1882, where he began

boxing Boxing (also known as "Western boxing" or "pugilism") is a combat sport in which two people, usually wearing protective gloves and other protective equipment such as hand wraps and mouthguards, throw punches at each other for a predetermined ...

– he later became the runner-up in the amateur light-weight boxing championship in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

. He returned to Australia in 1889, taking over his father's property in partnership with his brothers. An active community member around

Deniliquin Deniliquin () is a town in the Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia, close to the border with Victoria. It is the largest town in the Edward River Council local government area. Deniliquin is located at the intersection of the Riverina ...

, Blackwood was a member of the Pastoralists' Association of Victoria and Southern Riverina. A supporter of Sir

George Reid Sir George Houston Reid, (25 February 1845 – 12 September 1918) was an Australian politician who led the Reid Government as the fourth Prime Minister of Australia from 1904 to 1905, having previously been Premier of New South Wales fr ...

, he was elected to the House of Representatives for

Riverina The Riverina is an agricultural region of south-western New South Wales, Australia. The Riverina is distinguished from other Australian regions by the combination of flat plains, warm to hot climate and an ample supply of water for irrigation ...

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

in 1903 by only five votes, representing the

Free Trade Party The Free Trade Party which was officially known as the Australian Free Trade and Liberal Association, also referred to as the Revenue Tariff Party in some states, was an Australian political party, formally organised in 1887 in New South Wales, ...

. On petition by the former member,

John Chanter John Moore Chanter (11 February 1845 – 9 March 1931) was an Australian politician, farmer and commission agent. He was a member of the Protectionist Party, as well as the Australian Labor Party and the Nationalist Party of Australia. Ear ...

, however, the result was declared void on the grounds of electoral irregularities.; ; and . Blackwood, who lost the subsequent

by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election ( Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election used to ...

, was cleared of all charges but never stood for parliament again. Blackwood continued to be active in rural affairs, becoming vice-president of the Pastoralists' Union of Southern Riverina in 1906. He was president of the Conargo Shire in 1907, and represented many companies; he became chairman of Dalgety & Co. and Australian Farms Ltd, and president of the Victorian Employers' Association and the Registered Clubs' Association of Victoria from 1916–30. He also became vice-president of the Royal Agricultural Society from 1920–1938. Blackwood married Constance Ferrier Mailton on 23 July 1895 at

St Paul's Cathedral, Melbourne St Paul's Cathedral is an Anglican cathedral in Melbourne, Australia. It is the cathedral church of the Diocese of Melbourne and the seat of the Archbishop of Melbourne, who is also the metropolitan archbishop of the Province of Victoria. ...

. Despite his deteriorating health he maintained contact with his business affairs until his death on 22 September 1940 at St Kilda; he was survived by his wife. He had no children.

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Blackwood, Robert 1861 births 1940 deaths Free Trade Party members of the Parliament of Australia Members of the Australian House of Representatives Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Riverina People from Deniliquin Alumni of Trinity Hall, Cambridge 20th-century Australian politicians