William Dickson (Australian politician)

William Edward Dickson (26 April 1893 – 22 May 1966) was an English-born Australian politician.

William Dickson
12th President of the New South Wales Legislative Council
In office 18 August 1952 – 22 May 1966
Deputy	Thomas Steele Ernest Gerard Wright
Preceded by	Ernest Farrar
Succeeded by	Harry Budd
NSW Minister for Building Materials
In office 9 March 1948 – 15 August 1952
Premier	Jim McGirr Joseph Cahill
Preceded by	Claude Matthews
Succeeded by	Portfolio abolished
NSW Minister for Secondary Industries
In office 30 June 1950 – 15 August 1952
Premier	Jim McGirr Joseph Cahill
Preceded by	Portfolio created
Succeeded by	Portfolio abolished
NSW Secretary for Mines
In office 21 September 1949 – 30 June 1950
Premier	Jim McGirr
Preceded by	Jim McGirr
Succeeded by	Joshua Arthur
Member of the New South Wales Legislative Council
In office 23 December 1925 – 22 April 1934
Appointed by	Sir Dudley de Chair
In office 23 April 1934 – 22 May 1966
Succeeded by	Norman Boland
Personal details
Born	(1893-04-26)26 April 1893 Widnes, Lancashire, England
Died	22 May 1966(1966-05-22) (aged 73) Vaucluse, New South Wales, Australia
Political party	NSW Labor Lang Labor Industrial Labor Party
Education	Farnworth Grammar

Early life

Dickson was born at Widnes in Lancashire to alkali labourer Edward Dickson and Bertha Stancliffe. He migrated to Australia in 1913 and worked as an accountant for a mine in Broken Hill. He lost his job after opposing conscription during World War I, and worked as a labourer and then as manager of the Barrier Daily Truth. On 22 October 1922 he married Alice Celia Cogan, with whom he had five children.

Political career

He then moved to Sydney, and from 1925 to 1934 was a Labor member of the New South Wales Legislative Council. Involved in Bob Heffron's Industrial Labor Party, he soon returned to the ALP and was general secretary from 1940 to 1941 and campaign director from 1940 to 1952. He returned to the Legislative Council in 1940, where he would remain until his death. He was an assistant minister from 1941 to 1948, and from 1948 to 1952 was Minister for Building Materials, with his title changed to include additional responsibilities as Minister for Secondary Industries from 1950. In 1949 he was appointed Secretary for Mines in addition to his previous portfolios. He resigned from the ministry in 1952 when he was elected President of the Legislative Council. He retained the presidency until his death at Vaucluse in 1966.