SLNSW 44267 Secretary for Public Works Minister for Railways Richard T Ball lays the foundation stone Sydney Harbour Bridge 26 Mar 1925

Richard Thomas Ball (14 September 1857 – 30 October 1937) was a politician and engineer in New South Wales, Australia.

Early life

He was born in

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

to farmer George Ball and Ann, ''née'' Hooper. After attending primary school at Eastern Creek, he worked for several engineering companies and as a blacksmith. In 1880 he was charged with attempting to bribe

Henry Parkes Sir Henry Parkes, (27 May 1815 – 27 April 1896) was a colonial Australian politician and the longest-serving non-consecutive Premier of New South Wales, premier of the Colony of New South Wales, the present-day state of New South Wales in ...

, the Colonial Secretary, asking for employment and offering a bonus of £50. He pleaded guilty and was not convicted on entering his own recognisance of £80 to appear when called upon. He purchased Burn and Sons foundry at

Goulburn Goulburn ( ) is a regional city in the Southern Tablelands of New South Wales, Australia, approximately south-west of Sydney and north-east of Canberra. It was proclaimed as Australia's first inland city through letters patent by Queen Victor ...

in 1881. He established his own company in 1885, but was bankrupted in 1894. Ball served on Goulburn Council from 1887 to 1894, and was mayor from 1890 to 1891. After being discharged from bankruptcy he moved to

Albury Albury (; ) is a major regional city that is located in the Murray River, Murray region of New South Wales, Australia. It is part of the twin city of Albury–Wodonga, Albury-Wodonga and is located on the Hume Highway and the northern side of ...

to be involved in the building of the waterworks. In 1898, he moved to

, to practice as a mechanical engineer.

Political career

Ball was elected to 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 ...

as the representative for

in 1895 as a

Free Trade Free trade is a trade policy that does not restrict imports or exports. In government, free trade is predominantly advocated by political parties that hold Economic liberalism, economically liberal positions, while economic nationalist politica ...

member. He was defeated in 1898 by 39 votes (2.4%), largely due to his opposition to elements of the federation proposal. In 1904, Ball returned to the Legislative Assembly as a member for

Corowa Corowa is a town in the state of New South Wales in Australia. It is on the bank of the Murray River, the border between New South Wales and Victoria, opposite the Victorian town of Wahgunyah. It is the largest town in the Federation Counci ...

, initially as a

Liberal Reform Liberal Reform is an internal political group of members of the British Liberal Democrats (UK), Liberal Democrats. Membership of the group is open to any Liberal Democrat member, and is free of charge. It was launched on 13 February 2012, and de ...

member, switching to the party in 1913 before joining

William Holman William Arthur Holman (4 August 1871 – 5 June 1934) was an Australian politician who served as Premier of New South Wales from 1913 to 1920. He came to office as the leader of the Labor Party, but was expelled from the party in the split o ...

grand coalition A grand coalition is an arrangement in a multi-party parliamentary system in which the two largest political party, political parties of opposing political spectrum, political ideologies unite in a coalition government. Causes of a grand coali ...

which coalesced into the Nationalist Party in 1917. He served until the introduction of

proportional representation Proportional representation (PR) refers to any electoral system under which subgroups of an electorate are reflected proportionately in the elected body. The concept applies mainly to political divisions (Political party, political parties) amon ...

in 1920. Albury was merged into Murray and Ball was elected as one of three members. After single-member districts were re-introduced in 1927 he returned to his old seat of Corowa, He was a supporter of the Riverina new state movement. He joined 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 ...

in 1931 but the following year he defected to its

coalition A coalition is formed when two or more people or groups temporarily work together to achieve a common goal. The term is most frequently used to denote a formation of power in political, military, or economic spaces. Formation According to ''A G ...

partner, the Country Party. There were 2 Country Party candidates for the 1932 election for Corowa and Ball retained the seat by just 1 vote after 72% 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 ...

preferences went to the other Country Party candidate. In November 1916 Ball was appointed Secretary for Public Works and Minister for Railways in the second Holman ministry. He was briefly

Minister for Agriculture An agriculture ministry (also called an agriculture department, agriculture board, agriculture council, or agriculture agency, or ministry of rural development) is a ministry charged with agriculture. The ministry is often headed by a minister f ...

in the second Fuller ministry from April to June 1922 before resuming his old position as Secretary for Public Works, Minister for Railways and assuming additional responsibilities for State Industrial Enterprises and

Housing Housing refers to a property containing one or more Shelter (building), shelter as a living space. Housing spaces are inhabited either by individuals or a collective group of people. Housing is also referred to as a human need and right to ...

, in which he served until the government's defeat in 1925. He was responsible for passing through Parliament the Act authorising the construction of the

Sydney Harbour Bridge The Sydney Harbour Bridge is a steel through arch bridge in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, spanning Port Jackson, Sydney Harbour from the Sydney central business district, central business district (CBD) to the North Shore (Sydney), North ...

, and signing the contract for its erection.. In 1927 he was appointed Minister for Lands in the Bavin ministry.

Personal life and death

On 6 May 1880 Ball married Esther Arnold, with whom he had four children. Ester died on 27 August 1920 (aged 63). On 26 January 1926 he married Lillie May Hume. Ball died at

Marrickville Marrickville is a suburb in the Inner West of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Marrickville is located south-west of the Sydney central business district and is the largest suburb in the Inner West Council local government ...

on .

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ball, Richard 1857 births 1937 deaths Free Trade Party politicians Nationalist Party of Australia members of the Parliament of New South Wales National Party of Australia members of the Parliament of New South Wales Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly Politicians from Sydney Mayors of places in New South Wales New South Wales local councillors People from Albury Colony of New South Wales people Engineers from Sydney Ministers for agriculture (New South Wales)