William Carpenter | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Member of theAustralian Parliament forFremantle | |
| In office 16 December 1903 – 12 December 1906 | |
| Preceded by | Elias Solomon |
| Succeeded by | William Hedges |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1863-04-05)5 April 1863 |
| Died | 11 September 1930(1930-09-11) (aged 67) |
| Nationality | English Australian |
| Party | Australian Labor Party |
| Spouse | Alice Catherine Ross |
| Occupation | Foreman |
William Henry Carpenter (5 April 1863 – 11 September 1930) was an Australian politician. He held seats in three parliaments: theSouth Australian Legislative Assembly, theAustralian House of Representatives and theWestern Australian Legislative Assembly.
Carpenter was born inStratton,Wiltshire,England in 1863. He was educated atSwindon, and it was there that he took an apprenticeship as aboilermaker on theGreat Western Railway. In 1886, he emigrated toVictoria, Australia, where he found work inlocomotive construction at thePhoenix Foundry inBallarat. On 3 April 1889, he married Alice Catherine Ross.
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In 1891, Carpenter moved toGawler,South Australia, where he spent the next five years as foreman of Jas Martin & Co. During this time he developed an interest in public affairs, becoming active in theBarossa Reform League, which agitated forland reform. In 1896, he was elected to the South Australian House of Assemblyseat of Encounter Bay. Two years later he was Chairman of theRoyal Commission on Old Age Pensions. He held the seat of Encounter Bay until the election of 1902,[1] at which he unsuccessfully contested theseat of Alexandra.
Carpenter moved toFremantle,Western Australia in 1903. He became a member of theFremantle Trades Hall Association, and president of theTranscontinental Railway League. In December 1903, he was elected to the Australian House of Representativesseat of Fremantle as aLabor candidate.[2] He would hold the seat until his defeat in the election of December 1906.[3] After his defeat he moved into asecretarial and agency business, and was also ajournalist, working as editor of the briefly-reestablishedFremantle Herald.[4]
After losing his federal seat, Carpenter turned to state politics, standing unsuccessfully for theWestern Australian Legislative Councilseat of West Province in May 1908. He stood once again for the federal seat of Fremantle in the election of April 1910, but was again unsuccessful.[5] In October 1911, however, he won the Western Australian Legislative Assemblyseat of Fremantle.[6] In 1917 he joinedJohn Scaddan in leaving the anti-conscription Labor party for the pro-conscriptionNational Labor movement. He contested the election of September 1917 under this banner, and was defeated by the new Labor candidate. He then left politics, going toMelbourne and thenSydney.[citation needed]
On 11 September 1930, his dead body was found floating in theHacking River atSutherland,New South Wales. He was buried atRookwood Cemetery.[6]
| South Australian House of Assembly | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Member forEncounter Bay 1896–1902 With:King O'Malley /Charles Tucker | District abolished |
| Australian House of Representatives | ||
| Preceded by | Member forFremantle 1903–1906 | Succeeded by |
| Western Australian Legislative Assembly | ||
| Preceded by | Member forFremantle 1911–1917 | Succeeded by |