William Henry Lamb (5 January 1889 – 8 January 1964) was an Australian politician. He was 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 1938 until 1962 and a member of the NSW Branch of the Labor Party and the Lang Labor Party. He was the

Speaker of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly The Speaker of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly is the presiding officer of the Legislative Assembly, New South Wales's lower chamber of Parliament. The current Speaker is Greg Piper, who was elected on 9 May 2023. Role The Speaker p ...

between 1947 and 1959.

Early life

Lamb was born in

Nyngan, New South Wales Nyngan () is a town in the centre of New South Wales, Australia, in the Bogan Shire Local government in Australia, local government area within the Orana (New South Wales), Orana Region of central New South Wales. At the 2016 Australian census, 2 ...

. The son of a coachbuilder, Lamb was educated to elementary level at state schools—including one at the oil shale mining village of Airly—and from the age of 12 he worked as a grocer's boy and then as a coalminer. At age 19 he became a teacher in NSW rural schools and studied accountancy in his spare time. He was an office manager after 1927. A protégé of Jack Lang, Lamb was an alderman on Auburn Municipal Council from 1932 and was the mayor in 1935. As mayor in 1935, he was awarded the

King George V Silver Jubilee Medal The King George V Silver Jubilee Medal is a commemorative medal, instituted to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the accession of King George V. Issue This medal was awarded as a personal souvenir by King George V to commemorate his Silver Ju ...

. In October 1939, having moved from Auburn to Granville, Lamb resigned as an alderman.

Political career

At the 1938 state election, Lamb was elected to the New South Wales Parliament as the Labor member for the new seat of Granville. He defeated the sitting

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, Claude Fleck. He was a supporter of Lang's

Australian Labor Party (Non-Communist) The Australian Labor Party (Non-Communist), which operated from 1940 to 1941, was a breakaway from the Australian Labor Party (ALP), and was associated with the Lang Labor faction and former New South Wales premier Jack Lang. History 1940–1 ...

during the party split of 1941 but did not support the later manifestations of

Lang Labor Lang Labor was a faction of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) consisting of the supporters of Jack Lang, who served two terms as Premier of New South Wales and was the party's state leader from 1923 to 1939. It controlled the New South Wale ...

Speaker of the Legislative Assembly

Lamb succeeded

Daniel Clyne Daniel Clyne (28 December 1879 – 28 August 1965) was an Australian politician. He was a member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly from 1927 until 1956 and, variously, a member of the Labor Party (ALP) and Lang Labor. He was the ...

as the

after the

1947 It was the first year of the Cold War, which would last until 1991, ending with the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Events January * January–February – Winter of 1946–47 in the United Kingdom: The worst snowfall in the country i ...

election and retained the position for twelve years. His time as speaker was characterised by his singular interpretation of standing orders and firm control, leading to frequent criticism from the opposition for inflexibility, unnecessary interjections from the chair and bias towards the government. Unusually for a serving speaker, Lamb often made contributions in committee stages of bills. Controversially he even opposed some of his government's legislation, including the '' Local Government (Areas)'' bill in 1948, calling it a "flagrant violation of the fundamental principles of the democratic system" which was a reference to the decision to amalgamate Granville Council into

Parramatta Parramatta (; ) is a suburb (Australia), suburb and major commercial centre in Greater Western Sydney. Parramatta is located approximately west of the Sydney central business district, Sydney CBD, on the banks of the Parramatta River. It is co ...

instead of the other way round. He received the

Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Medal The Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Medal () is a commemorative medal instituted to celebrate the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II on 2 June 1953. Award This medal was awarded as a personal souvenir from the Queen to members of the Royal Family ...

in 1953. Defeated in a caucus ballot for speaker in 1959, Lamb was granted retention of the "Honourable" title. Lamb retained his seat of Granville throughout his time in parliament but lost Labor Party pre-selection prior to the 1962 state election and retired. He did not live long outside of politics, dying on 8 January 1964, and was buried in

Rookwood Cemetery Rookwood Cemetery (officially named Rookwood Necropolis) is a heritage-listed cemetery in Rookwood, Sydney, Australia. It is the largest necropolis in the Southern Hemisphere and is the world's largest remaining operating cemetery from the ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lamb, Bill 1889 births 1964 deaths Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly Speakers of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly People from the Central West (New South Wales) Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of New South Wales 20th-century Australian politicians Australian schoolteachers Australian accountants Burials at Rookwood Cemetery Mayors of Auburn