Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 12 Text from the book: 'The Presiding Officers of the Parliament of New South Wales', Sydney, 1995 Reginald Weaver was born in 1876 at Kickerbil Station on the Liverpool Plains. He married Gertrude Walker in 1899 and they had one son and three daughters. He worked with his brothers in a stock and land business in Forbes before establishing a Sydney based real estate agency in 1916. He had several years experience in local government as an alderman on the Condobolin Council between 1898 and 1900 and the Narrandera Council in 1902. A member of the United Australia Party, he was also a supporter of the New Guard. Weaver became heavily involved in negotiations involving the formation of the Liberal Party, of which he became State leader between 1944 and 1945. Unsuccessfully contesting the seats of Ashburnham in 1910 and Macquarie in 1913, he was elected to the Legislative Assembly as the Member for Willoughby between 1917 and 1920, for the North Shore from 1920 until 1925 and for Neutral Bay between 1927 until his death in 1945. Weaver had several Ministerial responsibilities including the Mines and Forests portfolio from 1929 until 1930 and the Public Works and Health portfolio from 1932 until he was dropped from the Ministry in 1935. He was elected Speaker of the Legislative Assembly between 1937 holding this office until 1941. As Speaker of the Legislative Assembly during World War II, Weaver held the view that national interest should outweigh political aspirations and allegiances. Consequently, he was able to maintain good order in the House by encouraging the House to abandon sectarianism in favour of unity in the face of national crisis. Weaver developed a reputation as an eloquent, hard hitting debater who took personal criticism well. After suffering a mild heart attack in the Legislative Assembly chamber on the evening of November 7, he drove himself home and died a week later on 12 November 1945 at Hornsby.