Bill Denny

The Honourable Bill Denny MC
Denny in c. 1910
29th Attorney-General of South Australia
In office 17 April 1930 – 18 April 1933
Premier	Lionel Hill Robert Richards
Preceded by	Hermann Homburg
Succeeded by	Shirley Jeffries
In office 16 April 1924 – 8 April 1927
Premier	John Gunn
Preceded by	Hermann Homburg
Succeeded by	Hermann Homburg
In office 3 June 1910 – 17 February 1912
Premier	John Verran
Preceded by	Hermann Homburg
Succeeded by	Hermann Homburg
Member of the South Australian House of Assembly for Adelaide
In office 3 November 1906 – 7 April 1933
In office 3 May 1902 – 26 May 1905
Member of the South Australian House of Assembly for West Adelaide
In office 17 March 1900 – 2 May 1902
Personal details
Born	William Joseph Denny (1872-12-06)6 December 1872 Adelaide, South Australia
Died	2 May 1946(1946-05-02) (aged 73) Norwood, South Australia
Resting place	West Terrace Cemetery, Adelaide
Political party	Independent liberal (1900–1905) United Labor (1906–1917) Labor (1917–1931) Parliamentary Labor (1931–1933)
Spouse	Winefride Mary Leahy ​ ​ (m. 1920)​
Alma mater	Christian Brothers College, Adelaide University of Adelaide
Profession	Journalist solicitor soldier
Military service
Branch/service	Australian Army
Years of service	1915–1919
Rank	Captain
Unit	9th Light Horse Regiment 5th Divisional Ammunition Column 1st Divisional Artillery AIF Administrative Headquarters
Battles/wars	World War I (Western Front)
Awards	Military Cross

William Joseph Denny MC (6 December 1872 – 2 May 1946) was an Australian journalist, lawyer, politician and decorated soldier who held the South Australian House of Assembly seats of West Adelaide from 1900 to 1902 and then Adelaide from 1902 to 1905 and again from 1906 to 1933. After an unsuccessful candidacy as a United Labor Party (ULP) member in 1899, he was elected as an "independent liberal" in a by-election in 1900. He was re-elected in 1902, but defeated in 1905. The following year, he was elected as a ULP candidate, and retained his seat for that party (the Australian Labor Party from 1917) until 1931. Along with the rest of the cabinet, he was ejected from the Australian Labor Party in 1931, and was a member of the Parliamentary Labor Party until his electoral defeat at the hands of a Lang Labor Party candidate in 1933.

Denny served as Attorney-General of South Australia and Minister for the Northern Territory in the government led by John Verran (1910–12), during which he drafted and led several important legislative reforms, including housing reforms assisting workers to purchase homes, and a law enabling women to practise law in South Australia for the first time. In August 1915, Denny enlisted in the First Australian Imperial Force to serve in World War I, initially as a trooper in the 9th Light Horse Regiment. After being commissioned in 1916, he served in the 5th Division Artillery and 1st Divisional Artillery on the Western Front. He was awarded the Military Cross in September 1917 after he was wounded while leading a convoy into forward areas near Ypres, and ended the war as a captain.

He was again Attorney-General in the Labor governments led by John Gunn (1924–26), Lionel Hill (1930–33) and Robert Richards (1933), and held other portfolios in those governments, including housing, irrigation and repatriation. He continued his reform of the housing sector, being a key proponent of the Thousand Homes Scheme which aimed to provide affordable housing, particularly for returned soldiers and their families, and members of lower income groups. Denny published two memoirs of his military service, and when he died in 1946 aged 73, he was accorded a state funeral.