William Leonard Baker

William Leonard Baker (16 May 1831 – 7 January 1893) was an Australian politician who was a member of the Legislative Assembly of Western Australia from 1890 until his death, representing the seat of East Kimberley.

William Baker
Member of the Legislative Assembly
of Western Australia
In office
20 December 1890 – 7 January 1893
Succeeded byFrancis Connor
ConstituencyEast Kimberley
Personal details
Born(1831-05-16)16 May 1831
Newport, Monmouthshire, Wales[lower-alpha 1]
Died7 January 1893(1893-01-07) (aged 61)
Fremantle, Western Australia, Australia

Baker was born in Newport, Wales.[lower-alpha 1] He emigrated to Australia in the early 1850s, during the Victorian gold rush, and later went to Queensland, where he was involved in mining ventures in Charters Towers and near the Cape River. Baker came to Western Australia in 1885, during a gold rush in the Kimberley, and opened a store in Wyndham.[1] He was elected to parliament at the 1890 general election, which was the first to be held for the Legislative Assembly.[2] Baker died in Fremantle in January 1893, having suffered from pleurisy and bronchitis for some time.[3] He was the first member of the Legislative Assembly to die in office.[2]

Notes
  1. At the time of Baker's birth, there was ambiguity as to whether the county of Monmouthshire was a part of England or a part of Wales. However, Newport is currently considered to be in Wales.

References
  1. William Leonard Baker – Biographical Register of Members of the Parliament of Western Australia. Retrieved 5 June 2016.
  2. Black, David; Prescott, Valerie (1997). Election statistics : Legislative Assembly of Western Australia, 1890-1996. Perth, [W.A.]: Western Australian Parliamentary History Project and Western Australian Electoral Commission. ISBN 0730984095.
  3. "GENERAL NEWS.", The Daily News (Perth, Western Australia), 9 January 1893.
Parliament of Western Australia
New creation Member for East Kimberley
1890–1893		 Succeeded by
Francis Connor
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