William Brownbill (19 January 1864 – 29 April 1938) was an Australian politician. He was a member of the Victorian Legislative Assembly on two occasions from 1920 to 1932, then from 1935 until his death in 1938. He represented the electoral district of Geelong for the Labor Party. Upon his death, he was succeeded as member for Geelong by his second wife, Fanny.Thomas, Joanne W.: Brownbill, William (1864–1938), Australian Dictionary of Biography.
Family William Brownbill was born in Newtown, a suburb of Geelong on 19 January 1864.Births Deaths and Marriages Victoria Births Registration no.2443/1864. His parents were William Brownbill (1824—1863),Births Deaths and Marriages Victoria Deaths Registration no.6407/1863. an Irish emigrant shopkeeper, and Margaret Brownbill (1828—1903), née Tattersall from the Isle of Man.Town Talk, The Geelong Advertiser, (Wednesday, 30 September 1903), p. 2. Brownbill worked initially in his brother's jewellery shop, but became a baker's apprentice and by around 1895 was a master baker. His first wife was Margaret Murray whom he married in 1887 and with whom he had three sons and a daughter. Margaret died in 1913, and in 1920 he married his housekeeper, Fanny Alford, with whom he had a son and a daughter.
Politics In 1896, Brownbill was elected to the Geelong City Council, and served as Mayor of Geelong from 1914 to 1915. In 1920, he ran for election to state parliament, winning the seat of Geelong for the Labor Party. In 1932, he was defeated in the election by Edward Austin, but re-contested and regained the seat in 1935.
Death Brownbill died in 1938, and the ensuing by-election saw his widow, Fanny Brownbill, elected as his replacementNew Woman M.L.A.: Labour wins Geelong, The Argus, (Monday, 6 June 1938), p. 1. the first woman representing the Labor Party to be elected to a parliamentary seat in Victoria.State Parliament loses only woman Member, The Argus, (Monday, 11 October 1948), p. 7.
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