William Traylen (25 February 1843 – 27 December 1926) was an Australian

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's ...

minister and politician who served in 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 1890 to 1897. He was the first Methodist minister ordained in Western Australia. Traylen was born in Chesterton,

Huntingdonshire Huntingdonshire (; abbreviated Hunts) is a non-metropolitan district of Cambridgeshire and a historic county of England. The district council is based in Huntingdon. Other towns include St Ives, Godmanchester, St Neots and Ramsey. The popu ...

, England. He arrived in Western Australia in 1857, but later turned to England for a year to train for the ministry. He returned to Australia in 1867, ministering at

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for three years before being fully ordained at Wesley Church, Perth, in 1870. Traylen ministered at

Geraldton Geraldton ( Wajarri: ''Jambinu'', Wilunyu: ''Jambinbirri'') is a coastal city in the Mid West region of the Australian state of Western Australia, north of the state capital, Perth. At June 2018, Geraldton had an urban population of 37,648. ...

from 1870 to 1873, then returned to York from 1873 to 1878, and was finally

superintendent Superintendent may refer to: *Superintendent (police), Superintendent of Police (SP), or Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP), a police rank *Prison warden or Superintendent, a prison administrator *Superintendent (ecclesiastical), a church exec ...

in Perth from 1878 to 1879. He left the ministry in 1879 to establish a

printing works Printing is a process for mass reproducing text and images using a master form or template. The earliest non-paper products involving printing include cylinder seals and objects such as the Cyrus Cylinder and the Cylinders of Nabonidus. The ea ...

in Perth.William Traylen
– Biographical Register of Members of the Parliament of Western Australia. Retrieved 8 June 2016. In 1886, Traylen unsuccessfully ran for the Legislative Council, losing a by-election for the seat of Perth to Edward Scott. He eventually entered parliament at the 1890 general election (the first to be held for the Legislative Assembly), winning the seat of Greenough. In the same year, Traylen was also elected to the Perth City Council. He served on the council until 1897, and contested the mayoral election in 1892, but lost to Stephen Henry Parker. Traylen was re-elected to the Legislative Assembly at the 1894 election, and was subsequently appointed chairman of committees. Traylen lost his seat to Richard Pennefather at the 1897 election, and after leaving parliament was appointed chairman of the Perth Water Board, serving in that position from 1898 to 1904. He eventually retired to Guildford, and was elected to the Guildford Municipal Council, serving as mayor from 1914 to 1918. Traylen died in Guildford in 1926, aged 83.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Traylen, William 1843 births 1926 deaths Australian Methodist ministers Chairmen of Committees of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly English emigrants to Australia Mayors of places in Western Australia Members of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly People from Huntingdonshire Settlers of Western Australia Western Australian local councillors 19th-century Australian Methodist ministers 20th-century Australian Methodist ministers 19th-century Australian politicians 20th-century Australian politicians