William Zeal

Sir William Austin Zeal (5 December 1830 – 11 March 1912) was an Australian politician, businessman and railway engineer. He was one of the inaugural senators for Victoria (1901–1906) and was previously a member of the Victorian Legislative Assembly and Victorian Legislative Council. He served terms as Postmaster-General of Victoria and president of the Legislative Council (1892–1901). He had diverse business interests and was involved in the construction of a number of railways.

Early life Zeal was born on 5 December 1830 in Westbury, Wiltshire, England. He was the son of Ann and Thomas Zeal; his father was a wine merchant. During his campaign for election, he strongly criticised the ability of the Victorian Railways engineer-in-chief, Thomas Higinbotham. In 1865, a select committee of the Victorian Parliament was set up to investigate Higinbotham's claim that Zeal had exaggerated the extent of his experience, and his implication that Zeal had acted corruptly when dealing with private railway construction contractors Cornish and Bruce, whom Zeal left the government service to work for. The committee exonerated Zeal.

Zeal resigned his seat in December 1865, but was re-elected to Castlemaine at the 1871 election. He resigned his seat again in March 1874. He expected to be elected as the first president of the Senate, given his seniority and previous service as president of the Victorian Legislative Council.

Zeal identified with Deakin's Protectionist Party in parliament. According to his biographer Chris Puplick, his views "exemplified fiscal conservatism tempered by a social liberalism in line with the Deakinite flavour of the time". In parliament, Zeal was a regular critic of government expenditure. He believed the creation of a separate High Court of Australia was a waste of money and was skeptical of the creation of a new national capital and the Trans-Australian Railway. On social issues, he publicly criticised the Victorian government for failing to adopt women's suffrage and supported postal voting "to protect the women in the bush".

Zeal did not stand for re-election at the 1906 election, with his term expiring on 31 December 1906.

Personal life Zeal was unmarried and was said to have few close relationships. His hobbies including walking and collecting art; his collection was bequeathed to the Bendigo Art Gallery.

Zeal died at his home in Toorak on 11 March 1912, aged 81. His estate was sworn for probate at £74,804 and was left to charity.