Richard Orchard
{{Short description|Australian businessman and politician}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2016}}
{{Use Australian English|date=January 2016}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific-prefix = The Honourable
| name = Richard Orchard
| honorific-suffix = CBE
| image = Dick Orchard 1924.jpg
| constituency_MP = Nepean
| parliament = Australian
| majority =
| predecessor = George Cann
| successor = Eric Bowden
| term_start = 31 May 1913
| term_end = 3 November 1919
| birth_date = {{Birth date|df=yes|1871|10|14}}
| birth_place = Maryborough, Victoria, Australia
| death_date = {{death date and age|df=yes|1942|7|24|1871|10|14}}
| death_place = Darling Point, New South Wales, Australia
| nationality = Australian
| spouse = {{marriage|Maria Annie Austen|1895}}
| party = Liberal (1913–17)
Nationalist (1917–19)
| relations =
| children =
| residence =
| alma_mater =
| occupation = Watchmaker and jeweller
| profession =
| religion =
| signature =
| website =
| footnotes =
}}
Richard Beaumont Orchard CBE (14 October 1871 – 24 July 1942) was an Australian businessman and politician. He was a successful watchmaker and jeweller, with premises on George Street, Sydney. He served in the House of Representatives from 1913 to 1919, representing the Division of Nepean, and was an honorary minister in the Fourth Hughes Ministry.
Early life
Orchard was born at Cockatoo, near Maryborough, Victoria, to Cornish parents John Henry Orchard, a blacksmith, and his wife Alicia, née Thomas. In the 1870s he moved with his family to Sydney. He spent four years as a travelling jewellery salesman in rural New South Wales. In 1895, when he married Maria Annie Austen, he was a photographer living in the Sydney suburb of Ultimo. He later became a watchmaker and established a jewellery store in George Street, Sydney in 1901, which became a public company in 1913 as R. B. Orchard Ltd.{{Australian Dictionary of Biography
|last= Abbott
|first= D. G.
|authorlink=
|year=1988
|id=A110098b
|title= Orchard, Richard Beaumont (1871 - 1942)
|accessdate=2008-02-29 }}
Parliament
Orchard ran unsuccessfully for the Sydney Municipal Council in 1909 and the New South Wales Legislative Assembly seat of Hawkesbury in 1911. He won the Australian House of Representatives seat of Nepean at the 1913 election for the Commonwealth Liberal Party. He joined Billy Hughes' Nationalist government in 1917 and was appointed an Honorary Minister with responsibility for recruiting from March 1918 to January 1919. He retired from politics at the November 1919 election.
Later life
Orchard was appointed as a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1920. He ran unsuccessfully as a Nationalist for the seat of East Sydney at the 1925 election, and for the Senate in 1928 election. He was a commissioner of the Australian Broadcasting Commission from its foundation in 1932 until 1939. He died in the Sydney suburb of Darling Point survived by his wife, a son and three daughters.
Notes
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{{s-par | au}}
{{s-bef | before= George Cann }}
{{s-ttl | title= Member for Nepean | years=1913 – 1919 }}
{{s-aft | after= Eric Bowden }}
{{s-end}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Orchard, Richard Beaumont}}
Category:Australian people of Cornish descent
Category:Commonwealth Liberal Party members of the Parliament of Australia
Category:Nationalist Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Australia
Category:Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Nepean
Category:Members of the Australian House of Representatives
Category:Members of the Cabinet of Australia
Category:Commanders of the Order of the British Empire
Category:Australian watchmakers (people)
Category:Australian MPs 1913–1914