Major William Adolphus Chaffey was an Australian farmer, distinguished soldier and long serving member of the Parliament of New South Wales.
18 Facts About Bill Chaffey
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Bill Chaffey represented the electoral district of Tamworth from 1940 to 1973.
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Bill Chaffey served as the New South Wales Minister for Agriculture from 1965 to 1968.
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Bill Chaffey succeeded his father, Frank in parliament after the latter's death, and together they served a combined fifty-nine years and nine months in the New South Wales parliament representing the New England region of New South Wales.
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William Adolphus Bill Chaffey was born in Tamworth, New South Wales on 18 February 1915 to Frank Augustus Bill Chaffey, himself a member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly, and Amy McIlveen.
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Bill Chaffey was educated at Tamworth Public School, The King's School, and Hawkesbury Agricultural College.
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Bill Chaffey subsequently returned to the Tamworth district and began farming there before his election to parliament.
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On 29 January 1946 William Adolphus Bill Chaffey married Patricia Egerton-Warburton at Mount Barker.
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Bill Chaffey instead contested and won the seat against his challenger as an independent.
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Bill Chaffey was then re-elected unopposed in 1944 as an independent due to his active military service, having enlisted in 1941.
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Bill Chaffey remained an independent until he formally joined the Country Party on 4 December 1945.
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Bill Chaffey was the deputy leader of the Country Party from 1959 to 1968.
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Bill Chaffey was Minister for Agriculture in the first term of the Askin government from 1965 to 1968.
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Bill Chaffey was deposed as deputy leader by Davis Hughes in 1968 and dropped from the ministry in the aftermath, despite the support of the Primary Producers' Union.
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Always known for being independently minded, Bill Chaffey was reported to have become increasingly estranged from his Country Party colleagues after his 1968 ouster.
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Bill Chaffey continued as an independent until his retirement at the 1973 New South Wales state election.
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Bill Chaffey was an Honorary Vice President of the Royal Agricultural Society of New South Wales.
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Bill Chaffey died in Tamworth on 3 March 1987 and was cremated.