William McCourt

William Joseph McCourt (1 March 1851 – 22 June 1913) was an Irish-born Australian politician.

He was born in County Monaghan to shoemaker James McCourt and Bridget Smith. He arrived in New South Wales with his parents in 1852 and attended Wollongong]] Public School. He was apprenticed to a printer after leaving school, and was also a successful land speculator. In 1882 he married Emily Elizabeth, with whom he had six children.^[1]

He was elected to the New South Wales Legislative Assembly in 1882 as the member for Camden. He lost his seat in 1885 but was re-elected in 1887. A free trader, he transferred to Bowral in 1894 and to Wollondilly in 1904. By this time a member of the Liberal Reform Party, he was elected Speaker in 1900, serving until the election of a Labor government in 1910. McCourt held his seat until his death at Berrima in 1913.^[2]