 Neild 's family arrived in Australia in 1860 , and he worked as an insurance agent and company manager before winning election to the New South Wales Legislative Assembly in 1885 . He served intermittently until 1901 and had a tumultuous career as a backbencher , eventually contributing significantly to the fall of the Reid government in 1899 . He also established his own volunteer regiment , which had a difficult and sometimes hostile relationship with military command . 
