Hon. William Anderson J.P., was a Scottish-born, colonial Victoria

Victoria (Australia)

Victoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Geographically the smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by New South Wales, South Australia, and Tasmania on Boundary Islet to the north, west and south respectively....

n farmer and politician.

Anderson, the son of James Anderson and Hannah his wife, was born at Montrose

Montrose, Angus

Montrose is a coastal resort town and former royal burgh in Angus, Scotland. It is situated 38 miles north of Dundee between the mouths of the North and South Esk rivers...

, Scotland, on 3 January 1828, and was taken to Launceston

Launceston, Tasmania

Launceston is a city in the north of the state of Tasmania, Australia at the junction of the North Esk and South Esk rivers where they become the Tamar River. Launceston is the second largest city in Tasmania after the state capital Hobart...

, Tasmania, in Oct. 1841, arriving on 1 April of the following year. The family removed to Port Fairy in Victoria, in 1844; and in 1849 he took over his father's business as a builder, which he managed until 1854, when he joined his father in purchasing Rosemount Farm. He became a member of the first Belfast Road Board, was elected president of the Belfast Shire Council, made a justice of the peace in 1864, and sat in the Legislative Assembly

Victorian Legislative Assembly

The Victorian Legislative Assembly is the lower house of the Parliament of Victoria in Australia. Together with the Victorian Legislative Council, the upper house, it sits in Parliament House in the state capital, Melbourne.-History:...

 for Villiers and Heytesbury from 1880 till April 1892, when he was defeated. In 1854 he was elected an elder of the Presbyterian church, and was for two years president of the Protection of Aborigines Society. He succeeded Chief Justice William Foster Stawell

William Foster Stawell

Sir William Foster Stawell KCMG was a British colonial statesman and a Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Victoria, Australia.-Early life:...

 as president of the Royal Horticultural Society

Royal Horticultural Society

The Royal Horticultural Society was founded in 1804 in London, England as the Horticultural Society of London, and gained its present name in a Royal Charter granted in 1861 by Prince Albert...

 of Victoria. In 1887 he was awarded the Minister of Agriculture's prize for the best managed farm in southern Victoria. He was appointed Minister of Public Works in the Gillies

Duncan Gillies

Duncan Gillies , Australian colonial politician, was the 14th Premier of Victoria.Gillies was born at Overnewton near Glasgow, Scotland, where his father had a market garden. He was sent to the high school until he was about 14, when he entered an office in Glasgow...

Government on 2 Sept. 1890, and resigned with the rest of his colleagues in the following November.