John Clasby
John Clasby | |
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Member of the Australian Parliament for East Sydney | |
In office 19 December 1931 – 15 January 1932 | |
Preceded by | Eddie Ward |
Succeeded by | Eddie Ward |
Personal details | |
Born | 1891 Warragul, Victoria |
Died | 15 January 1932 (aged 40–41) |
Nationality | Australian |
Political party | United Australia Party |
Occupation | Lecturer |
John Joseph Clasby (1891 – 15 January 1932) was an Australian politician.
Clasby was born in Warragul, Victoria. He served in World War I from 1914 with the Light Horse and later with the Artillery in Egypt and in France, but returned to Australia in September 1917 after being wounded and gassed. He became a commercial traveller and lecturer on his return, and was a prominent member of the Commercial Travellers' Club and vice-president of the Paddington-Woollahra branch of the Returned and Services League.[1][2] In 1930, he had been a prominent opponent of the "no-license" campaign, which had attempted to prohibit alcohol sales in Victoria.[3]
In 1931, he was elected to the Australian House of Representatives as the United Australia Party member for East Sydney, defeating the sitting MP, Eddie Ward of the Lang Labor party. Although the seat had historically been a comfortably safe Labor seat, vote-splitting between Ward and the official Labor candidate allowed Clasby to win when just over half of the official Labor candidate's preferences flowed to him. Having never fully recovered from his war injuries, Clasby's health suffered from the strenuous election campaign, and he died just a month later, at age 40, before he had taken his seat in the House. A by-election was held in February 1932, which Ward won. Clasby was buried at South Head Cemetery.[1][2]
References
- ^ a b Carr, Adam (2008). "Australian Election Archive". Psephos, Adam Carr's Election Archive. Archived from the original on 20 July 2007. Retrieved 6 June 2008.
- ^ a b "MR. J. J. CLASBY, M.H.R." The Catholic Press. No. 1879. New South Wales. 21 January 1932. p. 13. Retrieved 25 December 2016 – via National Library of Australia.
- ^ "TOPICS". The Southern Cross. Vol. XLIV, no. 2182. South Australia. 22 January 1932. p. 11. Retrieved 25 December 2016 – via National Library of Australia.
- United Australia Party members of the Parliament of Australia
- Members of the Australian House of Representatives for East Sydney
- Members of the Australian House of Representatives
- 1891 births
- 1932 deaths
- 20th-century Australian politicians
- People from Warragul
- People who died in office
- Australian politician stubs