{{Short description|Australian politician (1878–1947)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=October 2014}} {{Use Australian English|date=October 2014}} {{Infobox officeholder | honorific_prefix = | name = Ted Horsington | honorific_suffix = | image = | alt = | caption = | office1 = Secretary for Lands | term_start1 = 27 May 1927 | term_end1 = 18 October 1927 | premier1 = | office2 = Minister for Forests | term_start2 = 27 May 1927 | term_end2 = 18 October 1927 | premier2 = | constituency_MP3 = Sturt | parliament3 = New South Wales | term_start3 = 20 September 1922 | term_end3 = 29 March 1947 | alongside3 = Mat Davidson (1922-1927)<br>Brian Doe (1922-1927) | predecessor3 = Jabez Wright | successor3 = William Wattison | birth_date = {{birth date|1878|05|02|df=y}} | birth_place = Timor, Victoria | death_date = {{death date and age|1947|07|23|1878|05|02|df=y}} | death_place = Waverley, New South Wales | resting_place = South Head Cemetery | resting_place_coordinates = | birth_name = Edward Matthew Horsington | citizenship = | party = Labor Party | other_party = Industrial Labor Party | spouse = Rosalie S. Bryksky | partner = | relations = | occupation = Drover, Miner }}
'''Edward Matthew Horsington''' (2 May 1878 – 23 July 1947) was an Australian politician.
== Biography == He was born at Lower Alma, Timor, Victoria, to Julia, ''née'' Farrell, of Portarlington, Ireland, and farmer John Waygood Horsington, of Somerset, England.<ref name="bdm.vic.gov.au">Copy of Victorian Birth Certificate 12264 / 1878, available from www.bdm.vic.gov.au</ref>
John Waygood Horsington, his two sisters and their mother had survived the 1852 Ticonderoga fever-ship disaster, but John's father had been amongst the 100 who had been buried at sea,<ref>{{Cite web|last=Horsington|first=Henry|date=August 1852|title=Victoria, Australia, Assisted and Unassisted Passenger Lists, 1839-1923, United Kingdom Immigrants1850-1854. Ticonderoga|url=http://www.ancestry.com.au|access-date=22 June 2021|website=Ancestry}}</ref> before the onshore makeshift quarantine ordeal when another 80 died.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Veitch|first=Michael|title=Hell Ship|publisher=Allen & Unwin|year=2020|isbn=9781760877460|location=Crows Nest N.S.W.|pages=214}}</ref>
In Victoria, John had tried shoemaking in Brunswick, in partnership with his brother James,<ref>{{Cite web|date=1856|title=Australia, Electoral Rolls, 1903-1980, Victoria 1856 East Bourke, Pentridge|url=http://www.ancestry.com.au|access-date=22 June 2021|website=Ancestry}}</ref> gold mining in the Maryborough area,<ref>Victoria, Australia, St. Peter's Eastern Hill, Marriages, 1848-1955 for John Waygood Hossington, St Peter´s Eastern Hill, Series 02, Register 1861-1863, Marriage record of John Waygood Horsington, Miner, of Maryborough District, 23 June 1862.</ref> and whilst farming at Lower Alma, floated a gold-mining company, the Horsington Freehold Claim,<ref>{{Cite news|last=Horsington Freehold Claim|date=28 May 1874|title=The Ballarat Star|work=TROVe|url=http://www.trove.nla.gov.au|access-date=22 June 2021}}</ref> which was financially unsuccessful.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Lowenstein, Lentas, Dodds|first=Alexander, James, Robert|date=1875|title=VPRS 267/ P7 unit 364, item 1875/430|url=http://www.prov.vic.gov.au|access-date=22 June 2021|website=Public Records Office of Victoria}}</ref>
Edward, known as "Ted", was John's eighth child, and Julia's fourth.<ref name="bdm.vic.gov.au"/> While various references, including Who's Who in Australia 1947,<ref>{{Cite web|last=Horsington|first=Edward Matthew|date=1947|title=Who's Who in Australia|url=http://www.ancestry.com.au|access-date=22 June 2021|website=Ancestry}}</ref> state that Edward was educated in Maryborough, it is much more likely that he attended one of the rural schools which offered classes up to eighth grade, much closer to his home at Lower Alma, in the Maryborough district.
Horsington's entry in the 1947 “Who’s Who in Australia” recorded that his recreation was gardening.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Horsington|first=Edward Matthew|date=1947|title="Who's Who in Australia"|url=http://www.ancestry.com.au|access-date=22 June 2021|website=Ancestry}}</ref>
=== Career === He became a drover and miner after leaving school and worked in Queensland, New South Wales and Western Australia before settling in Broken Hill. On 31 December 1906 he married Rosalie Bryksky, with whom he had two daughters, one who died aged 10 years, the other being widowed after five years of marriage and later remarrying.
From 1912 to 1922, Horsington was secretary of the Broken Hill branch of the Federated Engine Drivers and Firemen's Union. He also served as director of Broken Hill Hospital<ref name="nsw">{{cite NSW Parliament| title=Mr Edward Matthew Horsington (1878–1947) |id=1319 |former=Yes| accessdate=23 June 2019}}</ref> and as a Broken Hill City Alderman.
==== Political career ==== In 1922, Horsington was elected to the New South Wales Legislative Assembly as one of the Labor members for Sturt. He continued as member for Sturt after the return of single-member divisions in 1927, and briefly served as Secretary for Lands and Minister for Forests from May to October 1927. He was expelled from the Labor Party in 1936 but readmitted later that year, and in June 1939 joined Bob Heffron's Industrial Labor Party. The ILP was reintegrated into the official Labor Party in August of that year, and Horsington continued to represent Sturt until he retired in 1947.
Horsington is well-represented in newspapers now online in the National Library of Australia's TROVE at www.trove.nla,gov.au. During the debate to proceed with amending the Bill for Compensation for diseased Broken Hill miners, Horsington directed language towards the Premier which was "worthy of censure" and was removed from the Chamber.<ref group=" ">The Sun (Sydney, NSW : Fri 18 Oct 1929 Page 3 "MURDERER!" http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article223504542</ref>
=== Death and legacy === He died at Waverley in Sydney<ref name="nsw" /> on 23 July of that year. A large number of New South Wales newspapers reported his passing.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Horsington|first=E.M.|date=July 1947|title=Various on-line Newspapers|url=http://www.trove.nla.gov.au|access-date=23 June 2021|website=TROVE}}</ref>
On 24 July 1947, the Barrier Miner, a Broken Hill newspaper, published: {{poem quote|;MR HORSINGTON DIES IN SYDNEY Former member for Sturt in the State Parliament, Mr. Edward Matthew Horsington, died at Waverley Memorial Hospital, Sydney, yesterday. He was 69. Born and educated at Maryborough, Victoria, Mr. Horsington worked on pastoral properties and, on mines in Queensland, Western Australia, and New South Wales before entering the State Parliament over 24 years ago. He was prominent in local union circles before Parliamentary election and was Secretary of the local branch of the F.E.D. and F.A. for some years. An extremely popular official, he took part in the civic life of the city and served as a city alderman. During nearly a quarter of a century in the State Parliament as member for Sturt, Mr. Horsington was a keen advocate of the needs of the people of the West. He never wavered in his advocacy of the Darling River Water Scheme, and at the ceremony connected with the turning of the first sod visiting Parliamentarians paid a tribute to his work. During his long term in Parliament, Mr. Horsington was only elected unopposed on one occasion".<ref>Barrier Miner (Broken Hill), Thu 24 Jul 1947, Page 6 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article49566947</ref>}}
A much more detailed obituary appeared in the Barrier Daily Truth (Broken Hill), Thursday 24 July 1947, page 3.<ref>Barrier Daily Truth (Broken Hill), Thursday 24 July 1947, page 3 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article141122072</ref>
Edward Matthew Horsington's remains were buried in the South Head Cemetery, Vaucluse, Waverley Council, New South Wales, joining those of his wife, Rosalie, who had died nearly a year before him.<ref>{{Cite web|date=20 November 2020|title=Edward Matthew Horsington (1878-1947) - Find A|url=https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/218836868/edward-matthew-horsington|access-date=23 June 2021|website=Find A Grave}}</ref>
In September 1951, a section of the Silverton Highway on the outskirts of Broken Hill, was named Horsington Drive, to commemorate his work, and 180 trees donated by industry were planted as an avenue. Whilst the trees appear not to have survived, the stone cairn related to the naming and planting remains in situ.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Horsington|first=Edward|date=10 September 1951|title=Monument Australia|url=https://monumentaustralia.org.au/|access-date=22 June 2021|website=Monument Australia}}</ref>
==References== {{reflist}}
{{s-start}} {{s-par|au-nsw-la}} {{succession box | title=Member for Sturt | before=Jabez Wright | after=William Wattison | alongside=Davidson, Doe; none | years=1922–1947}} {{s-off}} {{succession box| title=Secretary of Lands| years=1927 – 1927| before=Jack Lang| after=Richard Ball|}} {{succession box| title=Minister for Forests| years=1927 – 1927| before=Jack Lang| after=Frank Chaffey|}} {{s-end}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Horsington, Ted}} Category:1878 births Category:1947 deaths Category:Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly Category:Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of New South Wales