Bill Lamb

William Henry Lamb (5 January 1889 – 8 January 1964) was an Australian politician. He was a member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly from 1938 until 1962 and a member of the NSW Branch of the Labor Party and the Lang Labor Party. He was the Speaker of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly between 1947 and 1959.

For other people with similar names, see William Lamb (disambiguation).

The Honourable
Bill Lamb
21st Speaker of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly
In office
28 May 1947 – 20 April 1959
PremierJames McGirr
Joseph Cahill
DeputyGeorge Booth
Preceded byDaniel Clyne
Succeeded byRay Maher
18th Mayor of Auburn
In office
10 December 1934 – 16 December 1935
DeputyPeter Herlihy
Preceded byTom Cheetham
Succeeded byPeter Herlihy
Alderman of the Auburn Municipal Council
In office
2 January 1932 – 16 October 1939
Succeeded byThomas Ryan
Personal details
Born(1889-01-05)5 January 1889
Nyngan, Colony of New South Wales
Died8 January 1964(1964-01-08) (aged 75)
Burwood, New South Wales, Australia
Political partyAustralian Labor Party (New South Wales Branch), Australian Labor Party (Non-Communist)

Early life

Lamb was born in Nyngan, New South Wales. The son of a coachbuilder, Lamb was educated to elementary level at state schools—including one at the oil shale mining village of Airly—and from the age of 12 he worked as a grocer's boy and then as a coalminer. At age 19 he became a teacher in NSW rural schools and studied accountancy in his spare time. He was an office manager after 1927. A protégé of Jack Lang, Lamb was an alderman on Auburn Municipal Council from 1932 and was the mayor in 1935.[1][2][3][4][5][6] As mayor in 1935, he was awarded the King George V Silver Jubilee Medal.[7] In October 1939, having moved from Auburn to Granville, Lamb resigned as an alderman.[8][9]

Political career

At the 1938 state election, Lamb was elected to the New South Wales Parliament as the Labor member for the new seat of Granville. He defeated the sitting United Australia Party member, Claude Fleck. He was a supporter of Lang's Australian Labor Party (Non-Communist) during the party split of 1941 but did not support the later manifestations of Lang Labor.[5]

Speaker of the Legislative Assembly

Lamb succeeded Daniel Clyne as the Speaker of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly after the 1947 election and retained the position for twelve years. His time as speaker was characterised by his singular interpretation of standing orders and firm control, leading to frequent criticism from the opposition for inflexibility, unnecessary interjections from the chair and bias towards the government.[5] Unusually for a serving speaker, Lamb often made contributions in committee stages of bills. Controversially he even opposed some of his government's legislation, including the Local Government (Areas) bill in 1948, calling it a "flagrant violation of the fundamental principles of the democratic system" which was a reference to the decision to amalgamate Granville Council into Parramatta instead of the other way round.[10]

Defeated in a caucus ballot for speaker in 1959, Lamb was granted retention of the "Honourable" title.[11][12] Lamb retained his seat of Granville throughout his time in parliament but lost Labor Party pre-selection prior to the 1962 state election and retired.[5] He did not live long outside of politics, dying on 8 January 1964, and was buried in Rookwood Cemetery.[13]

References
  1. "Advertising". The Cumberland Argus And Fruitgrowers Advocate. Vol. LXV, no. 3810. New South Wales, Australia. 7 January 1932. p. 3. Retrieved 29 April 2018 – via Trove.
  2. "NEW MAYOR". The Cumberland Argus And Fruitgrowers Advocate. Vol. LXV, no. 3810. New South Wales, Australia. 7 January 1932. p. 5. Retrieved 29 April 2018 – via Trove.
  3. "ALDERMAN W. H. LAMB". The Cumberland Argus And Fruitgrowers Advocate. No. 4385. New South Wales, Australia. 25 November 1937. p. 13. Retrieved 29 April 2018 – via Trove.
  4. "MAYOR'S ELECTED". The Biz. New South Wales, Australia. 14 December 1934. p. 5. Retrieved 14 November 2017 – via Trove.
  5. "The Hon. William Henry Lamb (1889–1964)". Former members of the Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 30 April 2019.
  6. "Lamb– the pit boy who became Mr. Speaker". Sun. 9 December 1952. p. 15. Retrieved 27 November 2022.
  7. "LAMB TELLS". The Cumberland Argus And Fruitgrowers Advocate. Vol. LXV, no. 4144. New South Wales, Australia. 30 May 1935. p. 3. Retrieved 29 April 2018 – via Trove.
  8. "LAMB'S FUTURE". The Cumberland Argus And Fruitgrowers Advocate. No. 4497. New South Wales, Australia. 18 October 1939. p. 8. Retrieved 29 April 2018 – via Trove.
  9. "NEW ALDERMAN". The Cumberland Argus And Fruitgrowers Advocate. No. 4499. New South Wales, Australia. 1 November 1939. p. 11. Retrieved 29 April 2018 – via Trove.
  10. "LAMB LASHES OUT ON MUNICIPAL MERGER". The Cumberland Argus and Fruitgrowers' Advocate. Parramatta, NSW. 25 August 1948. p. 2. Retrieved 15 September 2015 – via Trove.
  11. "Maher N.S.W. Speaker". The Canberra Times. Vol. 33, no. 9, 270. Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 22 April 1959. p. 1. Retrieved 29 April 2018 – via Trove.
  12. "Government Gazette Appointments and Employment". Government Gazette of the State of New South Wales. No. 89. New South Wales, Australia. 14 August 1959. p. 2438. Retrieved 29 April 2018 – via Trove.
  13. "Government Gazette Notices". Government Gazette of the State of New South Wales. No. 3. New South Wales, Australia. 9 January 1964. p. 19. Retrieved 29 April 2018 – via Trove.

 

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