James Hegney

For the English boxer, see James Hegney (boxer).

James Hegney (27 September 1891 – 5 May 1970) was an Australian politician who was a Labor Party member of the Legislative Assembly of Western Australia from 1930 to 1947 and again from 1950 to 1968. He served as Speaker of the Legislative Assembly from 1956 to 1959.

The Honourable James Hegney
Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of Western Australia
In office 2 August 1956 – 29 June 1959
Preceded by	Aloysius Rodoreda
Succeeded by	John Hearman
Member of the Legislative Assembly of Western Australia
In office 12 April 1930 – 15 March 1947
Preceded by	None (new creation)
Succeeded by	Bill Grayden
Constituency	Middle Swan
In office 25 March 1950 – 31 March 1962
Preceded by	Bill Grayden
Succeeded by	None (abolished)
Constituency	Middle Swan
In office 31 March 1962 – 23 March 1968
Preceded by	None (new creation)
Succeeded by	Colin Jamieson
Constituency	Belmont
Personal details
Born	(1891-09-27)27 September 1891 North Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Died	5 May 1970(1970-05-05) (aged 78) Wembley, Western Australia, Australia
Political party	Labor

Early life

Hegney was born in Melbourne, as was his younger brother Bill Hegney (also a future MP). The brothers came to Western Australia as children, where their father worked for Western Australian Government Railways. After leaving school, Hegney worked as a boilermaker at the Midland Railway Workshops, and was a member of the Boilermakers' Union.^[1] He also played high-level Australian rules football, appearing in 23 games for the Midland Junction Football Club (a West Australian Football League club) between 1909 and 1910.^[2]

Politics

Hegney stood for parliament at the 1930 state election, and was elected to the new seat of Middle Swan.^[3] After the 1933 election, Hegney was appointed deputy chairman of committees in the Labor government.^[1] He remained in the role until the 1947 election, when he was narrowly defeated in his seat by Bill Grayden, the Liberal candidate. Hegney regained Middle Swan at the 1950 election,^[3] and after Labor's victory at the 1953 election was made chairman of committees in the Hawke government. He was elevated to the speakership after the 1956 election, replacing Aloysius Rodoreda, and remained speaker until the Labor government's defeat at the 1959 election. Hegney switched to the seat of Belmont at the 1962 election, and remained in parliament until retiring at the 1968 election.^[1]

See also

• Members of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly

References

1. James Hegney – Biographical Register of Members of the Parliament of Western Australia. Retrieved 13 May 2016.
2. Footballers in the House, Parliament of Western Australia. Retrieved 12 September 2016.
3. 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.

Parliament of Western Australia
Preceded by None (new creation) Bill Grayden	Member for Middle Swan 1930–1947 1950–1962	Succeeded by Bill Grayden None (abolished)
New creation	Member for Belmont 1962–1968	Succeeded by Colin Jamieson
Preceded by Aloysius Rodoreda	Speaker of the Legislative Assembly 1956–1959	Succeeded by John Hearman