Reginald Burchell

{{Short description|Australian politician}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2015}}

{{Use Australian English|date=August 2015}}

{{Infobox officeholder

| honorific-prefix =

| name = Reginald Burchell

| honorific-suffix =

| image = Reginald Burchell.jpg

| constituency_MP = Fremantle

| parliament = Australian

| majority =

| predecessor = William Hedges

| successor = William Watson

| term_start = 31 May 1913

| term_end = 6 November 1922

| birth_date = {{Birth date|df=yes|1883|5|20}}

| birth_place = Port Pirie, South Australia

| death_date = {{death date and age|df=yes|1955|6|20|1883|5|20}}

| death_place = Mosman, New South Wales, Australia

| nationality = Australian

| spouse =

| party = {{plainlist|

• Nationalist {{small|(1917–1922)}}
• Labor {{small|(1913–1917)}}

}}

| relations =

| children =

| residence =

| alma_mater =

| occupation = Railwayman

| profession =

| religion =

| signature =

| website =

| footnotes =

}}

Reginald John Burchell (20 May 1883 – 20 June 1955) was an Australian politician. He was a member of the Australian House of Representatives for the seat of Fremantle from 1913 to 1922, initially for the Australian Labor Party and after the 1916 Labor split for the Nationalist Party.

Burchell was born in North Adelaide and educated in South Australia, but moved to Western Australia in 1897. He worked in the clerical division of the Western Australian Government Railways as a transport officer and became a railway trade unionist, serving as president of the West Australian Railway Officers' Association, during which time he attempted to affiliate the various railway unions. He was elected to the Cottesloe Roads Board in 1911 and served as its chairman. Burchell was narrowly defeated for the colonial seat of Claremont at the 1911 state election, during which he developed a reputation as a strong campaigner.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article124950329 |title=A STRENUOUS FIGHTER |newspaper=Daily Herald |volume=4 |issue=1000 |location=South Australia |date=5 June 1913 |accessdate=7 December 2019 |page=5 |via=National Library of Australia}}{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article1429827 |title=PERSONAL. |newspaper=The Argus |issue=22,568 |location=Melbourne|date=28 November 1918 |accessdate=7 December 2019 |page=6 |via=National Library of Australia}}{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article82048401 |title=MR. BURCHELL. |newspaper=The Daily News |volume=XXXII |issue=11,839 |location=Western Australia |date=4 June 1913 |accessdate=7 December 2019 |page=8|edition=THIRD |via=National Library of Australia}}{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article190094101 |title=Labor Standard-bearer |newspaper=The Labor Vanguard|volume=I |issue=7 |location=Western Australia |date=23 September 1911 |accessdate=7 December 2019 |page=7 |via=National Library of Australia}}

In 1913, he was elected to the Australian House of Representatives as the Labor member for Fremantle, defeating the sitting Liberal member, William Hedges. He publicly campaigned for a "Yes" vote in the 1916 Australian conscription referendum, and that year joined Prime Minister Billy Hughes in leaving the Labor Party over the issue of conscription, joining Hughes' new National Labor Party. In 1917, the National Labor Party merged with the Liberal Party to form the Nationalist Party.{{cite web|last=Carr|first=Adam|title=Australian Election Archive|work=Psephos, Adam Carr's Election Archive|url=http://psephos.adam-carr.net/countries/a/australia|year=2008|accessdate=2008-07-30}}{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article209374839 |title=MR. R. J. BURCHELL'S ATTITUDE |newspaper=The Swan Express |volume=XVIII |issue=31 |location=Western Australia |date=27 October 1916 |accessdate=7 December 2019 |page=5 |via=National Library of Australia}}

In January 1917, Burchell enlisted in the First Australian Imperial Force to serve in World War I and was appointed to the rank of lieutenant. He was re-elected at the 1917 election with a very large 25.2% swing, and embarked for Europe the following week. He served with the 4th Company, Australian Railway Corps, attached to the Royal Engineers, on the Western Front at Ypres, the Somme and Dunkirk, and was awarded the Military Cross for controlling railway operations during a successful evacuation at the Somme. He returned to Western Australia in April 1919.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article165675424 |title=MR. R. J. BURCHELL |newspaper=Observer |volume=LXXVII |issue=5,794 |location=South Australia |date=7 February 1920 |accessdate=7 December 2019 |page=34 |via=National Library of Australia}}{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article129155489 |title=NEW FILM MANAGER |newspaper=The News |volume=IX |issue=1,359 |location=Adelaide |date=22 November 1927 |accessdate=7 December 2019 |page=14|edition=HOME |via=National Library of Australia}}{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article27601506 |title=PERSONAL. |newspaper=The West Australian |volume=XXXV |issue=5,310 |location=Western Australia |date=14 April 1919 |accessdate=7 December 2019 |page=4 |via=National Library of Australia}}

He retired in 1922 and began working for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, rising to become its South Australian manager in 1927. However, he soon after moved to Sydney, where he worked as advertising manager for The Sunday Times and board director of Beckett's Newspapers, then as a representative of Australian Radio Technical Services and Patents, a subsidiary of AWA. He remained occasionally involved in politics, opening the NSW state election campaign of Hughes' splinter Australian Party and serving as its organising secretary in 1930 and campaigning for a "Yes" vote in the 1933 New South Wales referendum on Legislative Council reform. Burchell died in 1955.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article243453888 |title=PERSONAL PARAGRAPHS |newspaper=The Herald |issue=19,114 |location=Victoria, Australia |date=22 August 1938 |accessdate=7 December 2019 |page=9 |via=National Library of Australia}}{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article244603744 |title=PERSONAL PARAGRAPHS |newspaper=The Herald |issue=18,820 |location=Victoria, Australia |date=10 September 1937 |accessdate=7 December 2019 |page=7 |via=National Library of Australia}}{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article48430182 |title=UPPER HOUSE REFORM REFERENDUM |newspaper=The Barrier Miner |volume=XLVI |issue=13,698 |location=New South Wales, Australia |date=10 May 1933 |accessdate=7 December 2019 |page=3 |via=National Library of Australia}}{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article113510491 |title=REFERENDUM. |newspaper=Western Champion |issue=28 |location=New South Wales, Australia |date=28 April 1933 |accessdate=7 December 2019 |page=13 |via=National Library of Australia}}{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article16716467 |title=Advertising |newspaper=The Sydney Morning Herald |issue=28,929 |date=23 September 1930 |accessdate=7 December 2019 |page=6 |via=National Library of Australia}}{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article71170829 |title=A LETTER FROM SYDNEY |newspaper=The Worker |volume=41 |issue=2044 |location=Queensland, Australia |date=9 July 1930 |accessdate=7 December 2019 |page=21 |via=National Library of Australia}}{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article122813852 |title=Strong Buying Inquiry. |newspaper=The Sunday Times |issue=2223 |location=New South Wales, Australia |date=26 August 1928 |accessdate=7 December 2019 |page=14 |via=National Library of Australia}}