Walter Hussey Vivian (6 November 1928) was an Australian politician.

Early life

Little is known of him outside of the period in which he was active in New South Wales politics and his parliamentary biography contains little detail. His death notice, inserted by five of his daughters, lists him as aged 77 at his death, which would mean he was born in . A biography published by the

Australian Town and Country Journal ''Australian Town and Country Journal'' was a weekly English language broadsheet newspaper published in Sydney, New South Wales, from 1870 to 1919. The paper was founded by Samuel Bennett with his intention for it to be "valuable to everybody ...

in 1890 states he was born in 1852, a member of the

Vivian family Vivian may refer to: *Vivian (name), a given name and also a surname Places * Vivian, Louisiana, U.S. * Vivian, South Dakota, U.S. * Vivian, West Virginia, U.S. * Vivian Island, Nunavut, Canada * Ballantrae, Ontario, a hamlet in Stouffville, On ...

, educated in England and Belgium, arriving in Australia in 1873 via Fiji. On 10 August 1876, he married Eliza Alison and his marriage announcement stated that he was the fourth son of William Vivian Esq of 15 Bolton Gardens, London. In 1880, he was a squatter on the

Bogan River Bogan River, a perennial river that is part of the Macquarie– Barwon catchment within the Murray–Darling basin, is located in the central west and Orana regions of New South Wales, Australia. From its origin near Parkes, the Bogan River ...

, before returning to Sydney in 1885, becoming an estate agent.

Parliamentary career

He was a regular

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 ...

candidate for a seat in 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 ...

, standing unsuccessfully for

Wollombi Wollombi ( ) is a small village in the Hunter Region of New South Wales, Australia. It is within the Cessnock City Council LGA, situated southwest of Cessnock and north of Sydney. To the south is the village of Laguna, to the east, the villa ...

1885 Events January * January 3– 4 – Sino-French War – Battle of Núi Bop: French troops under General Oscar de Négrier defeat a numerically superior Qing Chinese force, in northern Vietnam. * January 17 – Mahdist ...

and

1886 Events January * January 1 – Upper Burma is formally annexed to British rule in Burma, British Burma, following its conquest in the Third Anglo-Burmese War of November 1885. * January 5–January 9, 9 – Robert Louis Stevenson ...

, The Tumut and Glen Innes in 1889. In February 1890, he was elected an alderman for the Municipal District of Manly. He won a seat in the Legislative Assembly at the 1890 Hastings and Manning by-election. He was involved in an unruly scene in parliament involving his brother-in-law

William Alison William Pulteney Alison Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, FRSE FRCPE FSA (Scot), FSA (12 November 1790 – 22 September 1859) was a Scottish physician, social reformer and Philanthropy, philanthropist. He was a distinguished professor o ...

, described by

George Dibbs Sir George Richard Dibbs KCMG (12 October 1834 – 5 August 1904) was an Australian politician who was Premier of New South Wales on three occasions. Early years Dibbs was born in Sydney, son of Captain John Dibbs, who 'disappeared' in the ...

as a petty family strife. Each accused the other of having a pecuniary interest in relation to the Crown Rents Bill, due to William Alison senior owning the Canonbar station near

Nyngan Nyngan () is a town in the centre of New South Wales, Australia, in the Bogan Shire local government area within the Orana Region of central New South Wales. At the 2016 census, Nyngan had a population of 1,988 people. Nyngan is situated on th ...

. His parliamentary service lasted just over one year as he was defeated at The Hastings and Manning by just 5 votes. He lodged a petition against the election, however that was dismissed as frivolous and vexatious. He stood for The Hastings and Macleay at the

1894 Events January * January 4 – A military alliance is established between the French Third Republic and the Russian Empire. * January 7 – William Kennedy Dickson receives a patent for motion picture film in the United States. * Ja ...

and 1895 elections but was defeated on both occasions.

Colonial exhibitions

Vivian was one of the New South Wales commissioners to the

Colonial and Indian Exhibition The Colonial and Indian Exhibition of 1886 was held in South Kensington in London with the objective to (in the words of Edward VII of the United Kingdom, the then Prince of Wales) "stimulate commerce and strengthen the bonds of union now exis ...

of 1886 in London, in charge of the wool exhibits, the New South Wales Executive Commissioner for the Tasmanian International Exhibition of 1891–2 in Launceston, and one of the New South Wales commissioners to the

World's Columbian Exposition The World's Columbian Exposition, also known as the Chicago World's Fair, was a world's fair held in Chicago from May 5 to October 31, 1893, to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus's arrival in the New World in 1492. The ...

of 1893 in Chicago, on the committees for wool and silk, manufacturing and liberal arts, education and ethnology.

Later life and death

By 1891, Vivian had become a stock and share broker. Sometime in the early 1900s, Vivian left Australia for

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 ...

, and in 1903 announced the death of his fourth daughter, Edith, at Johannesburg. He also lived at

Durban Durban ( ; , from meaning "bay, lagoon") is the third-most populous city in South Africa, after Johannesburg and Cape Town, and the largest city in the Provinces of South Africa, province of KwaZulu-Natal. Situated on the east coast of South ...

before his death at Pinetown, Natal Province on 6 November 1928 (aged 77).

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vivian, Walter Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly Free Trade Party politicians 1850s births Year of birth uncertain 1928 deaths