Alfred Farthing

{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2021}} {{Use Australian English|date=August 2021}} '''Alfred Alexander Farthing''' (1 September 1872 – 9 November 1953) was an Australian politician.

Farthing was born in Koroit to farmer James Haley Farthing and Margaret Leishman.<ref name=arch/> He attended the local state school and then Melbourne Teachers' College, becoming a schoolteacher. Around 1899 he married Elizabeth Parker, with whom he had three children. He was also a cyclist,<ref name=arch/> and his winnings from competitions provided the funds for him to become a publican. He owned a number of hotels, typically buying struggling businesses and revitalising them to sell at a profit.<ref name=arch>{{Cite web |url=http://www.parliament.vic.gov.au/re-member/bioregfull.cfm?mid=1057 |title=Farthing, Alfred Alexander |access-date=28 February 2016 |archive-date=2 October 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121002141952/http://www.parliament.vic.gov.au/re-member/bioregfull.cfm?mid=1057 |url-status=bot: unknown }}</ref>

In 1911, Farthing was elected to the Victorian Legislative Assembly as the member for East Melbourne.<ref name=parl>{{Cite Parliament of Victoria Member Profile |name=Alfred Alexander Farthing |id=alfred-farthing |access-date=12 August 2025}}</ref> He was unseated in August 1912 after illegal practices were identified from his campaign, but was re-elected at the subsequent by-election in October.<ref name=parl/> A Liberal, he joined the "Economy" faction of the newly-formed Nationalist Party in 1917. He voted against the 1924 redistribution bill and was denied Nationalist endorsement at that year's election, but he was re-elected anyway and soon re-joined his former party. His seat was abolished in 1927 and he was defeated running for Caulfield.<ref name=arch/>

Farthing died in East Hawthorn in 1953.<ref name=parl/>

==References== {{reflist}}

{{s-start}} {{s-par|au-vic-la}} {{s-bef|before=Henry Weedon}} {{s-ttl|title=Member for East Melbourne | years=1911–1927}} {{s-non|reason=Abolished}} {{s-end}} {{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Farthing, Alfred}} Category:1872 births Category:1953 deaths Category:Nationalist Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Victoria Category:Members of the Victorian Legislative Assembly