William McMillan (Australian politician)
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Sir William McMillan KCMG |
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| Member of the Australian Parliament for Wentworth |
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In office 29 March 1901 – 23 November 1903 |
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| Preceded by | New seat |
| Succeeded by | Willie Kelly |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
14 November 1850 Derry, Ireland |
| Died | 21 December 1926 (aged 76) Bellevue Hill, New South Wales |
| Nationality | Irish Australian |
| Political party | Free Trade Party |
| Spouse(s) | 1) Ada Charlotte Graham (divorced 1891) 2) Helen Maria O'Reilly |
| Occupation | Managing director |
Sir William McMillan KCMG (14 November 1850 – 21 December 1926) was an Australian politician and businessman. Alfred Deakin said he was a "thoughtful, educated businessman, narrow and cold after the manner of the Manchester School … business-like in manner and incisive in debate".
McMillan was born in Derry, Ireland, he was the fourth child and third son of Rev. Gibson McMillan, a Methodist minister. William lived in Westport and Ballina, both in County Mayo, Ireland until the age of six. In 1856, his father was assigned to the Methodist church in Abbey Street, Dublin, and William began his formal education. Along with his older brothers, John and Charles, he attended boarding school at Wesley College in St. Stephens Green. The following year, the family moved to Dún Laoghaire where his father was assigned to the Adelaide Road Methodist church, and William continued attending Wesley. Due to family financial difficulties at the time, William had to abandon any intention to attend university in Dublin, rather in 1864 he began studies at Tulse Hill School in London. He left Tulse Hill in 1866 and entered the employment of his Uncle, Alexander McArthur.
He travelled to Sydney in 1869 to develop a branch of McArthur, softgoods merchants. He later worked at the company's Melbourne branch before returning to Sydney as resident partner in 1876. He later became chairman and managing director of Metropolitan Coal Company Limited and a director the Australian branches of Westinghouse Air Brake Company Limited and Phoenix Assurance Company Limited. He was the president of Sydney Chamber of Commerce in 1886. In 1878 he married Ada Charlotte Graham, aged 16, and they had two daughters and two sons.
In 1887, McMillan was elected as the member for East Sydney in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly for the Free Trade Party, and held the seat until its abolition in 1894. He was Colonial Treasurer from March 1889 to July 1891 in Sir Henry Parkes fifth Free Trade Government and was a delegate to the 1890 conference on the federation of Australia and the 1891 National Australasian Convention. In 1894 he was elected as the member for Burwood, which he held until 1898. He chaired the finance committee of the 1897 Australasian Federal Convention.
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