Richard Ball

Richard Thomas Ball (14 September 1857 – 30 October 1937), invariably referred to as R. T. Ball, was a politician and engineer in New South Wales, Australia.

Early life He was born in Sydney to farmer George Ball and Ann, née Hooper and spent his early years at the family farm in Rooty Hill. After attending primary school at Eastern Creek, he worked for several engineering companies and as a blacksmith. He pleaded guilty and was not convicted on entering his own recognisance of £80 to appear when called upon.

He purchased Burn and Sons foundry at Goulburn in 1881. He established his own company in 1885, but was bankrupted in 1894. Ball served on Goulburn Council from 1887 to 1894, and was mayor from 1890 to 1891. After being discharged from bankruptcy he moved to Albury to be involved in the building of the waterworks. In 1898, he moved to Sydney, to practice as a mechanical engineer.

Political career Ball was elected to the New South Wales Legislative Assembly as the representative for Albury in 1895 as a Free Trade member. He was defeated in 1898 by 39 votes (2.4%), largely due to his opposition to elements of the federation proposal. which coalesced into the Nationalist Party in 1917. He served until the introduction of proportional representation in 1920. Albury was merged into Murray and Ball was elected as one of three members. After single-member districts were re-introduced in 1927 he returned to his old seat of Corowa, In 1927 he was appointed Minister for Lands in the Bavin ministry. On 26 January 1926 he married Lillie May Hume.

Ball died at Marrickville on .