William George Ashford was an Australian politician.

Born at Sparks Creek near Scone

Scone, New South Wales

Scone is a town in the Upper Hunter Shire in the Hunter Valley region of New South Wales, Australia. At the 2006 census, Scone had a population of 4,624 people. It is located on the New England Highway north of Muswellbrook about 270 kilometres north of Sydney, and is part of the Hunter and Upper...

 to selector John Ashford and Rebecca Bell, he attended Sparks Creek Public School before starting work on his father's farm. He later bought a farm on the Hawkesbury River

Hawkesbury River

The Hawkesbury River, also known as Deerubbun, is one of the major rivers of the coastal region of New South Wales, Australia. The Hawkesbury River and its tributaries virtually encircle the metropolitan region of Sydney.-Geography:-Course:...

, but sold it to return to Sparks Creek. Around 1904 he married Lily Charlotte Keys Brecht, with whom he had four sons. In April 1910 he was elected in a by-election to the New South Wales Legislative Assembly

New South Wales Legislative Assembly

The Legislative Assembly, or lower house, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of New South Wales, an Australian state. The other chamber is the Legislative Council. Both the Assembly and Council sit at Parliament House in the state capital, Sydney...

 as the Labor

Australian Labor Party

The Australian Labor Party is an Australian political party. It has been the governing party of the Commonwealth of Australia since the 2007 federal election. Julia Gillard is the party's federal parliamentary leader and Prime Minister of Australia...

 member for Upper Hunter

Electoral district of Upper Hunter

Upper Hunter is an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of New South Wales. It is represented by George Souris of the National Party of Australia....

, transferring to Liverpool Plains

Electoral district of Liverpool Plains

Liverpool Plains was an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of New South Wales, created in 1859 and including the Liverpool Plains and the extensive pastoral district around the Gwydir River in the northwest of the state. It was created when the seat of...

 in September. He was appointed Minister for Agriculture in 1914, serving until 1920. He was part of the conscription split in the Labor Party in 1916, joining the National Labor Party

National Labor Party

The National Labor Party was the name used by the Australian Prime Minister Billy Hughes for himself and his followers after he was expelled from the Australian Labor Party in November 1916 over his pro-conscription stance in relation to World War I...

 and then the Nationalist Party

Nationalist Party of Australia

The Nationalist Party of Australia was an Australian political party. It was formed on 17 February 1917 from a merger between the conservative Commonwealth Liberal Party and the National Labor Party, the name given to the pro-conscription defectors from the Australian Labor Party led by Prime...

 in 1917. In 1920, with the introduction of proportional representation, he was one of the members for Wammerawa

Electoral district of Wammerawa

Wammerawa was a former electoral district for the Legislative Assembly in the Australian State of New South Wales, created in 1920, with the introduction of proportional representation and named after an alternative name for the Macquarie River. It mainly replaced Mudgee, Castlereagh and Liverpool...

, serving until 1922. He died at Mosman

Mosman, New South Wales

Mosman is a suburb on the Lower North Shore of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Mosman is located 8 kilometres north-east of the Sydney central business district and is the administrative centre for the local government area of the Municipality of Mosman.-Localities:In February...

in 1925.