Reginald 'Rex' Colin Townley CMG (15 April 1904 – 3 May 1982) was an Australian politician who served as leader of the

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. For example, while the political systems ...

Tasmania Tasmania (; palawa kani: ''Lutruwita'') is an island States and territories of Australia, state of Australia. It is located to the south of the Mainland Australia, Australian mainland, and is separated from it by the Bass Strait. The sta ...

from 1950 to 1956. He also played

first-class cricket First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is of three or more days scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officially adju ...

for the Tasmanian cricket team in his younger years, dismissing

Donald Bradman Sir Donald George Bradman (27 August 1908 – 25 February 2001), nicknamed "The Don", was an Australian international cricketer, widely acknowledged as the greatest batsman of all time. His cricketing successes have been claimed by Shane ...

in the 1935 season.

Cricket career

As Tasmania didn't compete in the

Sheffield Shield The Sheffield Shield is the domestic first-class cricket competition of Australia. The tournament is contested between teams representing the six states of Australia. The Sheffield Shield is named after Henry Holroyd, 3rd Earl of Sheffield, Lor ...

at the time of his cricketing career, Townley's appearances for his state were limited to matches against touring sides such as the

Marylebone Cricket Club The Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) is a cricket club founded in 1787 and based since 1814 at Lord's, Lord's Cricket Ground, which it owns, in St John's Wood, London, England. The club was the governing body of cricket from 1788 to 1989 and retain ...

and

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

as well as out of season first-class fixtures against other Australian states. A legbreak bowler, Townley took 36 wickets at 35.52 in first-class matches. His claim to fame as a cricketer was dismissing

, caught and bowled for 369, in a first-class match against

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories by area, which in ...

, the legendary batsman's second highest ever score at that level. He also claimed in his career the wickets of English Test cricketer Ernest Tyldesley and South African Test player Bruce Mitchell.

Political career

Like his younger brother Athol, the Australian Minister for Defence from 1958 to 1963, Townley went into politics. He joined the

Tasmanian House of Assembly The House of Assembly, or Lower House, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of Tasmania in Australia. The other is the Tasmanian Legislative Council, Legislative Council or Upper House. It sits in Parliament House, Hobart, Parliament Hou ...

at the 1946 election as an Independent, representing Denison. The Liberal Party installed Townley as their leader for the 1950 election but lost to incumbent Premier Robert Cosgrove, despite achieving a 9.8% swing. With the Liberals regaining two seats which had been held by Independents since 1948, Labor stayed in power only thanks to the support of the remaining Independent, Bill Wedd. Townley also led the Liberals into the 1955 election and picked up a seat to leave the House of Assembly with a deadlock as both parties had 15 seats out of a possible 30 in the assembly. Cosgrove however remained as

Premier of Tasmania The premier of Tasmania is the head of the Government of Tasmania, executive government in the Australian state of Tasmania. By convention, the leader of the party or political grouping which has majority support in the Tasmanian House of Assem ...

. On 30 June 1965, Townley resigned from parliament, having never failed to defend his seat in an election.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Townley, Rex 1904 births 1982 deaths Australian cricketers Tasmania cricketers Liberal Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Tasmania Members of the Tasmanian House of Assembly Australian sportsperson-politicians Leaders of the opposition in Tasmania 20th-century Australian politicians Cricketers from Hobart 20th-century Australian sportsmen Companions_of_the_Order_of_St_Michael_and_St_George

Cricket career

Political career

See also

References

External links