Arthur John Leonard Williams (17 December 1888 – 30 September 1968) was an Australian politician and a member of the

New South Wales Legislative Assembly The New South Wales Legislative Assembly is the lower of the two houses of the Parliament of New South Wales, an Australian state. The upper house is the New South Wales Legislative Council. Both the Assembly and Council sit at Parliament House ...

from 1940 until 1956. He was a member of the Labor Party (ALP). Williams was born in

Paddington, New South Wales Paddington is a suburb of Sydney in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Located east of the Sydney central business district, Paddington lies across two Local government in Australia, local government areas. The portion south of Oxford St ...

and was the son of a hotel broker. He was educated at the Marist Brothers' School, Paddington and qualified as an accountant, opening his own accountancy company and specialising in the auditing of trade unions. Williams was elected to the parliament as the Labor member for

Ryde Ryde is an English seaside town and civil parish on the north-east coast of the Isle of Wight. The built-up area had a population of 24,096 according to the 2021 Census. Its growth as a seaside resort came after the villages of Upper Ryde and ...

at the 1940 by-election caused by the resignation of the

United Australia Party The United Australia Party (UAP) was an Australian political party that was founded in 1931 and dissolved in 1945. The party won four Elections in Australia, federal elections in that time, usually governing Coalition (Australia), in coalition ...

member,

Eric Spooner Eric Sydney Spooner (2 March 1891 – 3 June 1952) was an Australian politician. Early life Spooner was born in the Sydney suburb of Waterloo and educated at Christ Church St Laurence School. At 14 he became a telegraph messenger and studie ...

who successfully contested the seat of

Robertson Robertson may refer to: People * Robertson (surname) (includes a list of people with this name) * Robertson (given name) * Clan Robertson, a Scottish clan * Robertson, stage name of Belgian magician Étienne-Gaspard Robert (1763–1837) Plac ...

at the

1940 A calendar from 1940 according to the Gregorian calendar, factoring in the dates of Easter and related holidays, cannot be used again until the year 5280. Events Below, events related to World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January *Janu ...

federal election. He defeated the UAP candidate by 220 votes. At the

1941 The Correlates of War project estimates this to be the deadliest year in human history in terms of conflict deaths, placing the death toll at 3.49 million. However, the Uppsala Conflict Data Program estimates that the subsequent year, 1942, wa ...

election, following an unfavourable redistribution Williams chose to contest the safer seat of

Georges River The Georges River, also known as Tucoerah River, is an intermediate tide-dominated Ria, drowned valley estuary, that is located in Sydney, Australia. The Georges River is located south and south-west from the Sydney central business district, w ...

. He defeated the sitting UAP member Cecil Monro and held the seat until the

1953 Events January * January 6 – The Asian Socialist Conference opens in Rangoon, Burma. * January 12 – Estonian émigrés found a Estonian government-in-exile, government-in-exile in Oslo. * January 14 ** Marshal Josip Broz Tito ...

election when, after a further redistribution, he successfully contested the new seat of East Hills. Williams retired from public life at the next election in

1956 Events January * January 1 – The Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, Anglo-Egyptian Condominium ends in Sudan after 57 years. * January 8 – Operation Auca: Five U.S. evangelical Christian Missionary, missionaries, Nate Saint, Roger Youderian, E ...

. He did not hold party, parliamentary or ministerial office.

References

1888 births 1968 deaths Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of New South Wales 20th-century Australian politicians {{Australia-Labor-NewSouthWales-MP-stub