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Biographical Register of Members of the Parliament of Western Australia

Richard Speight

Parliamentary Service

House

MLA

Party

Opposed Forrest Party

Date Elected

24 April 1901

Electorate

North Perth

Service

Electorates

MLA North Perth 24 April 1901–19 September 1901

Private Member's Bills

Inaugural Speech

Year Retired/Resigned

1901

Personal Information

Birth date

2 December 1838

Place of birth

Selby, Yorkshire, England, United Kingdom

Death date

19 September 1901

Cause of death

Place of death

Perth, Western Australia

Cemetery

Karrakatta Cemetery, WA

Arrived in WA

Parents

Son of Richard, railway official, and Ann Bray

Marriage and Family

Married 1 May 1860, Parish Church, St Alkmund, Derby, England to Sarah Knight (born circa 1839), daughter of John
Children: five sons and seven daughters

Religion

Church of England

Education

1898

Occupation

Railway manager

Employment History

Employed by Midland Railway Company 1849–1883
Attached to general manager's office 1858, assistant general manager 1877–1883
Chairman three person Board of Railway Commissioners, Victoria 1884
With other Commissioners suspended for extravagance and resigned 1892 after Victoria Legislative Assembly requested removal
Entered business in Melbourne
To WA 1898 (or 1896), invested in gold mines, involved in arbitration cases and railway inquiry boards, managing director Jarrahdale Jarrah Forests and Railways Company (timber transport)

Local Government

Principal Honours

Background/Membership

Arrived in Victoria 1884
Instituted libel suits against David Syme of Melbourne Age 1893–1894 but unsuccessful
Member Athanaeum Club, Melbourne

References

D Black and G Bolton, eds, Biographical Register of Members of the Parliament of Western Australia: volume one 1870-1930, Parliamentary History Project, Perth, WA, 2001, p. 185.

Bibliography

Further Information

Argus, 11 February 1884.
Morning Herald (Perth) 20, 23 September 1901.
Table Talk 2 October 1891;
Twentieth Century Impressions of Western Australia. Anon. P.H.W. Thiel: Perth, 1901, p. 36
Michael Venn, 'Speight, Richard (1838–1901)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/speight-richard-4626/text7619, published first in hardcopy 1976, accessed online 11 January 2016.
West Australian, 20 September 1901.