William Hedges (Australian politician)

William Hedges
Member of the Australian Parliament
for Fremantle
In office
12 December 1906 – 31 May 1913
Preceded byWilliam Carpenter
Succeeded byReginald Burchell
Personal details
Born(1856-07-16)16 July 1856
Hertfordshire, England
Died21 November 1935(1935-11-21) (aged 79)
Perth, Western Australia[1]
NationalityEnglish Australian
Political partyWA Party (1906–09)
Liberal (1909–13)
OccupationContractor, company director

William Noah Hedges (16 July 1856 – 21 November 1935) was an Australian politician. Born in Hertfordshire in England, he received a primary education before his migration to Australia in 1878, where he became a public works contractor. He moved to Western Australia in 1893, where he became a company director. In 1906, he was elected to the Australian House of Representatives as the member for Fremantle, representing the Western Australian Party as its only representative (John Forrest was nominally the leader but in practice did not involve himself in the party). Hedges sat effectively as an independent until 1909, when he joined the newly formed Commonwealth Liberal Party. He held the seat until his defeat in 1913. In 1929, he was appointed President of the Western Australian Employers Federation; he remained in this position until his death in 1935.[2][3]

He built Highland Valley Homestead in Burekup as a private residence.[4]

  1. ^ "Family Notices". The Chronicle. Adelaide: National Library of Australia. 28 November 1935. p. 25. Retrieved 27 May 2013.
  2. ^ Carr, Adam (2008). "Australian Election Archive". Psephos, Adam Carr's Election Archive. Retrieved 28 July 2008.
  3. ^ "William Hedges: Member for Fremantle 1906-1913". John Curtin Prime Ministerial Library. Retrieved 4 August 2023.
  4. ^ "Highland Valley Homestead". Heritage Council of Western Australia. Retrieved 4 August 2023.