Reginald Weaver

The Honourable Reginald Weaver
Weaver in October 1932
16th Leader of the Opposition of New South Wales Elections: 1944
In office 10 February 1944 – 12 November 1945
Monarch	George VI
Deputy	Athol Richardson
Preceded by	Alexander Mair
Succeeded by	Alexander Mair
19th Speaker of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly
In office 4 August 1937 – 27 May 1941
Preceded by	Sir Daniel Levy
Succeeded by	Daniel Clyne
Member of the New South Wales Parliament for Neutral Bay
In office 8 October 1927 – 12 November 1945
Preceded by	New district
Succeeded by	Ivan Black
Personal details
Born	(1876-07-18)18 July 1876 Quirindi, Colony of New South Wales
Died	12 November 1945(1945-11-12) (aged 69) Hornsby, New South Wales, Australia
Spouse(s)	Gertrude Weaver (née Walker)
Education	Newington College
Military service
Allegiance	Australia
Branch/service	Australian Army
Years of service	1918
Rank	Private
Unit	AIF
Battles/wars	World War I

Reginald Walter Darcy Weaver (18 July 1876 – 12 November 1945) was an Australian conservative parliamentarian who served in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly for 28 years. Serving from 1917 in the backbenches, he entered the cabinet of Thomas Bavin in 1929 as Secretary for Mines and Minister for Forests until he returned to opposition in 1930. Following the success of the United Australia Party in the 1932 election, Weaver returned as the Secretary for Public Works and Minister for Health in the Stevens ministry.

In 1935 he was dropped from the ministry but was later elected as the Speaker of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly in 1937, holding office until the Mair Government lost power in 1941. Weaver then witnessed the death of the United Australia Party in 1943 and became the leader of the new Democratic Party in 1944. He was then involved in the negotiations to form the New South Wales branch of the Liberal Party, with Weaver becoming the first leader of the state Liberal Party in April 1945. He served only briefly until dying of a heart attack in November 1945.^[1]