William Grahame

Who was William Grahame?

William Grahame was an Australian politician. He was a member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly from 1865 until 1869 and from 1872 until 1874. He was also a life member of the New South Wales Legislative Council from 1875 until 1889.

Grahame was born in Stirlingshire, Scotland and migrated to Australia in 1828. He initially worked as a sheep hauler but rapidly acquired a large amount of land in the Monaro area. He failed in an attempt to win the seat of Monaro at the 1864-5 colonial election but was elected to parliament unopposed at a subsequent by-election when it was found that the winner of the seat, the Premier, James Martin, had been elected to two seats.Grahame was defeated at the 1869-70 colonial election but regained his seat at the subsequent election in 1872. He retired from the Legislative Assembly at the 1874-5 election and became a nominated life-time appointee in the Legislative Council. He did not hold ministerial or party office.