Back to homepage

Browsing: date Contains Text 1961

AMOUR, Stanley Kerin (1900–1979)<br /> <span class=subheader>Senator for New South Wales, 1938–65 (Australian Labor Party)</span>

AMOUR, Stanley Kerin (1900–1979)
Senator for New South Wales, 1938–65 (Australian Labor Party)

Stanley Kerin Amour, who came to be known as ‘the honorable Senator for Bankstown’, was born on 2 April 1900 at Newcastle, New South Wales, the fourth son of Richard Joseph Amour, a signalman, and his wife Elizabeth, née Thompson. Stan was educated at Sacred Heart School, Hamilton Park, and for a time lived at Murrurundi in the Hunter Valley. He was just fifteen

Read Full Article
ANDERSON, Sir Kenneth McColl (1909–1985)<br /> <span class=subheader>Senator for New South Wales, 1953–75 (Liberal Party of Australia)</span>

ANDERSON, Sir Kenneth McColl (1909–1985)
Senator for New South Wales, 1953–75 (Liberal Party of Australia)

Kenneth McColl Anderson was born at sea on board a German vessel, the SS Scharnhorst, causing his parents, David More Anderson and Florence, née McWhirter, returning from England, to cable their family that they were bringing home a ‘seagull’. Anderson believed his date of birth to have been 11 October 1909, but the Scharnhorst’s list of the passengers reveals that ‘Child Anderson’ was born

Read Full Article
ARMSTRONG, John Ignatius (1908–1977)<br /> <span class=subheader>Senator for New South Wales, 1938–62 (Australian Labor Party)</span>

ARMSTRONG, John Ignatius (1908–1977)
Senator for New South Wales, 1938–62 (Australian Labor Party)

John Ignatius Armstrong, ‘the golden barman’, was born on 10 July 1908 to Irish parents, William, and Ellen, née Hannan. His father had hailed from Tipperary and his mother from County Cork. At the time of John’s birth the Armstrong family, already numbering six children, were living in the ‘Butchers Arms’ (later the ‘Dunkirk’), the family hotel in the inner Sydney area of Pyrmont.

Read Full Article
ARNOLD, James Jarvist (1902–1967)<br /> <span class=subheader>Senator for New South Wales, 1941–65 (Australian Labor Party)</span>

ARNOLD, James Jarvist (1902–1967)
Senator for New South Wales, 1941–65 (Australian Labor Party)

James Jarvist Arnold was born at Wallaroo Mines, South Australia, on 12 April 1902, the son of Robert George Arnold, a roper, and Julia Mary, née Broderick. He was educated at Christian Brothers College, Adelaide. After working on the railways, Arnold joined the fire brigade in South Australia. It was as a fireman that he found employment when he subsequently moved to Newcastle in

Read Full Article
AYLETT, William Edward (1900–1976)<br /> <span class=subheader>Senator for Tasmania, 1938–65 (Australian Labor Party)</span>

AYLETT, William Edward (1900–1976)
Senator for Tasmania, 1938–65 (Australian Labor Party)

William Edward (Bill) Aylett was of convict ancestry, his grandfather, William Aylett having been transported to Tasmania in 1845 for the theft of two beehives. Born at Wynyard in north-western Tasmania on 15 November 1900, Bill Aylett was the sixth of twelve children of Edward Aylett, a farmer and furrier, and Harriett Susanna, née Matthews. In 1914 the Aylett family moved to Waratah, the

Read Full Article
BENN, Archibald Malcolm (1897–1980)<br /> <span class=subheader>Senator for Queensland, 1950–68 (Australian Labor Party)</span>

BENN, Archibald Malcolm (1897–1980)
Senator for Queensland, 1950–68 (Australian Labor Party)

Archie Benn was not quite a maverick senator but he was a man of independent mind who survived three full terms in the Senate very much on his own terms, pursuing subjects that had occupied him through his earlier career as an industrial officer in the Queensland Public Service, and developing his interests in international relations. Though closely involved in the turbulent split of

Read Full Article
BRANSON, George Howard (1918–1999)<br /> <span class=subheader>Senator for Western Australia, 1958–71 (Liberal Party of Australia)</span>

BRANSON, George Howard (1918–1999)
Senator for Western Australia, 1958–71 (Liberal Party of Australia)

George Howard Branson, sales manager and farmer, was born in Perth on 23 February 1918, the third of five surviving children of South Australian-born Howard Henry Branson and Ethel May, née Carrett, from Victoria. At the turn of the century Howard had been a goldminer in Geraldton and went on to acquire interests from mining magnate Claude de Bernales. Faced with lung problems, Branson

Read Full Article
BROWN, Gordon (1885–1967)<br /> <span class=subheader>Senator for Queensland, 1932–65 (Australian Labor Party)</span>

BROWN, Gordon (1885–1967)
Senator for Queensland, 1932–65 (Australian Labor Party)

Gordon Brown was a radical left-wing activist, who mellowed to become a colourful, audacious and popular Labor senator. He was born on 11 February 1885 in Chesterfield, Derbyshire, son of William Brown and his wife Jane, née Woodcock. His father, a Methodist lay preacher, managed a bootshop. Gordon grew up in a large and devout household, which inspired ‘a Christian motivation’ that he would

Read Full Article
BUTTFIELD, Dame Nancy Eileen (1912–2005)<br /> <span class=subheader>Senator for South Australia, 1955–65, 1968–74 (Liberal Party of Australia)</span>

BUTTFIELD, Dame Nancy Eileen (1912–2005)
Senator for South Australia, 1955–65, 1968–74 (Liberal Party of Australia)

Nancy Eileen Buttfield, the first South Australian woman to enter state or federal parliament, and a community worker and public figure in Adelaide, was born on 12 November 1912 in Kensington Gardens, Adelaide, to Edward Wheewall (later Sir Edward) Holden and Hilda May, née Lavis. Nancy’s great-grandfather, James Alexander Holden, arrived in Adelaide from the north of England in 1856, establishing a leather business

Read Full Article
CAMERON, Donald James (1878–1962)<br /> <span class=subheader>Senator for Victoria, 1938–62 (Australian Labor Party)</span>

CAMERON, Donald James (1878–1962)
Senator for Victoria, 1938–62 (Australian Labor Party)

As a young man in Melbourne, Don Cameron, replete with red tie, could be seen boating on the Yarra. Sixty when he took his seat in the Senate in 1938, he left reluctantly in 1962, at eighty-four the oldest man in the federal Parliament, compelled by ill health to abandon plans for a fifth term. Once described as a ‘mild chap’ with an ‘engaging

Read Full Article
CANT, Hartley Gordon James (1907–1977)<br /> <span class=subheader>Senator for Western Australia, 1959–74 (Australian Labor Party)</span>

CANT, Hartley Gordon James (1907–1977)
Senator for Western Australia, 1959–74 (Australian Labor Party)

Hartley Gordon James Cant, miner, union official and industrial advocate, was born at Mount Magnet, Western Australia, on 19 November 1907, the beginning of a long association with remote areas of the state, which became central to his working life. Known as Harry to his friends and colleagues, he was one of nine surviving children of Arthur Edward Cant, a labourer, and Bridget, née

Read Full Article
COLE, George Ronald (1908–1969)<br /> <span class=subheader>Senator for Tasmania, 1950–65 (Australian Labor Party; Australian Labor Party (Anti-Communist); Democratic Labor Party)</span>

COLE, George Ronald (1908–1969)
Senator for Tasmania, 1950–65 (Australian Labor Party; Australian Labor Party (Anti-Communist); Democratic Labor Party)

George Ronald Cole, first national leader of the Democratic Labor Party, was born on 9 February 1908 at Don, near Devonport, Tasmania. He was one of five children of Tasmanian-born parents, George Cole, a labourer, and Alice, née Rutter. George Ronald was educated at Devonport High School, gaining matriculation to the University of Tasmania. In 1925 he became a probationary student teacher, in 1927

Read Full Article
COOKE, Joseph Alfred (1904–1981)<br /> <span class=subheader>Senator for Western Australia, 1947–51, 1952–65 (Australian Labor Party)</span>

COOKE, Joseph Alfred (1904–1981)
Senator for Western Australia, 1947–51, 1952–65 (Australian Labor Party)

Joseph Alfred Cooke, whose family name of Cook acquired an ‘e’ on his parents’ marriage certificate, was born in Perth on 28 March 1904, sixth child of Charles John Cook, a draper, and Elizabeth Anne, née Doonan. Elizabeth came from a well-to-do family of grocers and drapers in Fremantle. Joe’s early childhood was spent at Jarrahdale. From 1914 the family lived in the south-west

Read Full Article
COOPER, Sir Walter Jackson (1888–1973)<br /> <span class=subheader>Senator for Queensland, 1928–32, 1935–68 (Country and Progressive National Party; Australian Country Party)</span>

COOPER, Sir Walter Jackson (1888–1973)
Senator for Queensland, 1928–32, 1935–68 (Country and Progressive National Party; Australian Country Party)

Walter Jackson Cooper, grazier and Minister for Repatriation in the Menzies Government, was described by political commentator Don Whitington as ‘a quiet, hard working, earnest man, well liked by his colleagues and his staff’. He was born in England on 23 April 1888 at Cheetham, Lancashire, the son of Joseph Pollitt Cooper, a salesman, and Sarah, née Jackson. Educated at Bedford Grammar School, Bedford,

Read Full Article
COURTICE, Benjamin (1885–1972)<br /> <span class=subheader>Senator for Queensland, 1937–62 (Australian Labor Party)</span>

COURTICE, Benjamin (1885–1972)
Senator for Queensland, 1937–62 (Australian Labor Party)

Benjamin Courtice, Bundaberg canefarmer who became federal minister for trade and customs, was one of a large number of Queensland small sugar farmers who, early in the twentieth century, replaced the non-white labourers of the South Pacific and found a strong political voice in the Queensland Labor Party. Francis Courtice, a labourer, and his wife Elizabeth, née Hamilton, both English-born, arrived in Townsville, Queensland,

Read Full Article
DAVIDSON, Gordon Sinclair (1915–2002)<br /> <span class=subheader>Senator for South Australia, 1961, 1962, 1965–81 (Liberal Party of Australia)</span>

DAVIDSON, Gordon Sinclair (1915–2002)
Senator for South Australia, 1961, 1962, 1965–81 (Liberal Party of Australia)

Gordon Sinclair Davidson, farmer and grazier, and prominent Presbyterian, was born at North Unley, Adelaide, on 17 January 1915. He was the first of two sons of Sinclair Davidson and his wife Elsie Eva, née McNeil, both native-born. Sinclair Davidson farmed Burnfoot, at Angas Plains, near Strathalbyn, South Australia, where many Scots had settled. Davidson, who saw his descent as ‘pure Scots’, was later

Read Full Article
DITTMER, Felix Cyril Sigismund (1904–1977)<br /> <span class=subheader>Senator for Queensland, 1959–71 (Australian Labor Party)</span>

DITTMER, Felix Cyril Sigismund (1904–1977)
Senator for Queensland, 1959–71 (Australian Labor Party)

Felix Cyril Sigismund Dittmer, a medical practitioner who unwittingly helped bring about the Split in the Queensland ALP in the mid-1950s, was born at Dugandan in south-eastern Queensland, on 27 June 1904. He was the son of Gustav Dittmer, a chemist born in Germany, and Marie Farris, née Massie, born in Queensland. By 1916 the family had moved to Childers, where Felix gained his

Read Full Article
DRAKE-BROCKMAN, Sir Thomas Charles (1919–1992)<br /> <span class=subheader>Senator for Western Australia, 1958–78 (Australian Country Party; National Country Party) </span>

DRAKE-BROCKMAN, Sir Thomas Charles (1919–1992)
Senator for Western Australia, 1958–78 (Australian Country Party; National Country Party)

Thomas Charles Drake-Brockman, farmer, airman and grazier, was a member of a pioneering Western Australian family. His great-grandfather, Robert James Brockman, arrived at Fremantle from England in 1831. One of Robert’s grandchildren, Robert James Hastie Brockman, became a farmer at Toodyay, near Northam. In 1918 Robert married Rose Ita (Nora) Marrinan, who came from Kilkee, Ireland. Rose had arrived in Perth in 1911, aged

Read Full Article
DRURY, Arnold Joseph (1912–1995)<br /> <span class=subheader>Senator for South Australia, 1959–75 (Australian Labor Party)</span>

DRURY, Arnold Joseph (1912–1995)
Senator for South Australia, 1959–75 (Australian Labor Party)

Arnold Joseph Drury, grocer, was born in Adelaide on 23 July 1912, the sixth of eight children of William, a labourer, and Mary Allen, also known as Green. A member of a close-knit Catholic family, he was educated at St Mary’s Dominican Convent in Franklin Street, Adelaide, selling newspapers as a lad and leaving school at the age of fourteen due to family financial

Read Full Article
GORTON, Sir John Grey (1911–2002)<br /> <span class=subheader>Senator for Victoria, 1950–68 (Liberal Party of Australia)</span>

GORTON, Sir John Grey (1911–2002)
Senator for Victoria, 1950–68 (Liberal Party of Australia)

John Gorton, the only Australian prime minister to come from the Senate, was judged variously to be ‘a national disaster’, who was ‘utterly unfitted for the post’; a man ‘ahead of his time’; and the leader who ‘could have been our greatest prime minister’. He was also described, with some accuracy, as the Liberal Party’s ‘only true maverick prime minister’. John Grey Gorton was

Read Full Article
HANNAFORD, Douglas Clive (1903–1967)<br /> <span class=subheader>Senator for South Australia, 1950–67 (Liberal Party of Australia; Independent)</span>

HANNAFORD, Douglas Clive (1903–1967)
Senator for South Australia, 1950–67 (Liberal Party of Australia; Independent)

Douglas Clive Hannaford, who spoke out against his party’s support of the Vietnam War, was born to Walter Hannaford and Clara Evelyn, née Bowden, on 11 January 1903 in the South Australian town of Riverton. A member of the Legislative Council of South Australia for almost thirty years, Walter was a farmer and pastoralist on the family property, Broad Oak. Walter’s father established the

Read Full Article
HANNAN, George Conrad (1910–2009)<br /> <span class=subheader>Senator for Victoria, 1956–65, 1970–74 (Liberal Party of Australia; National Liberal Party)</span>

HANNAN, George Conrad (1910–2009)
Senator for Victoria, 1956–65, 1970–74 (Liberal Party of Australia; National Liberal Party)

George Conrad Hannan, unrelenting anti-communist and social conservative, had a ‘snakes and ladders’ career in politics from 1948 until his final defeat as a National Liberal Senate candidate in 1974. Hannan was born on 10 September 1910 at Wagga Wagga, New South Wales. He was the elder of the two sons of James Francis Hannan, a storekeeper, and his wife Theresa Caroline, née Reis.

Read Full Article
HENDRICKSON, Albion (1897–1977)<br /> <span class=subheader>Senator for Victoria, 1947–71 (Australian Labor Party)</span>

HENDRICKSON, Albion (1897–1977)
Senator for Victoria, 1947–71 (Australian Labor Party)

Albion (‘Bert’) Hendrickson, who hailed from the region surrounding Maryborough in Victoria, was born on 17 December 1897 at Adelaide Lead, a small mining community. His father was Peter Hendrickson, a miner, and his mother was Mary, née Broad, formerly Robinson. It is likely that Bert attended Maryborough State School, at least for a short time, later joining the Victorian Railways as a porter.

Read Full Article
HENTY, Sir Norman Henry Denham (1903–1978)<br /> <span class=subheader>Senator for Tasmania, 1950–68 (Liberal Party of Australia)</span>

HENTY, Sir Norman Henry Denham (1903–1978)
Senator for Tasmania, 1950–68 (Liberal Party of Australia)

Norman Henry Denham Henty, an energetic, down to earth Tasmanian businessman, belonged to a well-known pioneering family that had settled in Victoria, Tasmania and Western Australia. His parents were Thomas Norman Henty, a storekeeper, and Sarah Lily Nina, née Wilson, the daughter of a surgeon. Thomas managed a small retail grocery business, A. Brown & Co., in the Tasmanian town of Longford, where, on

Read Full Article
KENDALL, Roy (1899–1972)<br /> <span class=subheader>Senator for Queensland, 1950–65 (Liberal Party of Australia)</span>

KENDALL, Roy (1899–1972)
Senator for Queensland, 1950–65 (Liberal Party of Australia)

Few if any senators have enjoyed such a varied and unique range of occupational, military and territorial experiences as did Captain Roy Kendall, Reserve Decoration, Royal Naval Reserve (RNR). While Kendall spoke somewhat infrequently in the Senate, his experiences in the merchant navy and the RNR from 1914, and in the Royal Navy (RN) from 1939 to 1945, with sojourns in New Guinea, China

Read Full Article
KENNELLY, Patrick John (1900–1981)<br /> <span class=subheader>Senator for Victoria, 1953–71 (Australian Labor Party)</span>

KENNELLY, Patrick John (1900–1981)
Senator for Victoria, 1953–71 (Australian Labor Party)

Patrick John (Pat) Kennelly’s best-known maxim, repeated with variations over the years, typified his political life. He said that if he had to make a choice in politics between logic and numbers, he would come down on the side of the numbers. Known as the kingmaker, Kennelly, a machine man par excellence, became a legendary figure in the ALP, one whose influence extended well

Read Full Article
LAUGHT, Keith Alexander (1907–1969)<br /> <span class=subheader>Senator for South Australia, 1951–69 (Liberal Party of Australia)</span>

LAUGHT, Keith Alexander (1907–1969)
Senator for South Australia, 1951–69 (Liberal Party of Australia)

Keith Alexander Laught, ‘ambassador for Mount Gambier’, was born on 2 January 1907 at Mitcham, Adelaide. He was the elder of two surviving sons born to Alexander Veitch Laught, a telegraph clerk, and his wife Johanne Christiane née Wittber, a potter whose work is held in the Powerhouse Museum in Sydney. One of his uncles was Bill (Carl) Wittber, the aviation pioneer, and Keith’s

Read Full Article
LILLICO, Alexander Elliot Davidson (1905–1994)<br /> <span class=subheader>Senator for Tasmania, 1959–74 (Liberal Party of Australia)</span>

LILLICO, Alexander Elliot Davidson (1905–1994)
Senator for Tasmania, 1959–74 (Liberal Party of Australia)

Alexander Elliot Davidson Lillico, who served with distinction at all three levels of government for almost forty years, was a forceful advocate for rural Tasmania, particularly for the North-West. He was born into a farming family of Scottish descent, at Ulverstone, Tasmania, on 5 September 1905, the son of Alexander Lillico (later Sir) and Frances Emma, née Vertigan. The Lillico family had arrived in

Read Full Article
MAHER, Edmund Bede (1891–1982)<br /> <span class=subheader>Senator for Queensland, 1950–65 (Australian Country Party)</span>

MAHER, Edmund Bede (1891–1982)
Senator for Queensland, 1950–65 (Australian Country Party)

Edmund Bede (Ted) Maher, grazier and businessman, was born at Forbes, New South Wales, on 8 June 1891. He was the son of Lawrence Thomas Maher, a grazier, and his wife Anne, née McKeon. He was educated at convent schools at Forbes and Grenfell and at the Grenfell Superior Public School, leaving at the age of fifteen to join the Postmaster-General’s Department, where he

Read Full Article
MARRIOTT, John Edward (1913–1994)<br /> <span class=subheader>Senator for Tasmania, 1953–75 (Liberal Party of Australia)</span>

MARRIOTT, John Edward (1913–1994)
Senator for Tasmania, 1953–75 (Liberal Party of Australia)

John Edward Marriott came from a Tasmanian family that maintained strong connections with England. His father, Francis (Frank), was born in London, left school at fourteen, worked in America and then went to sea. Overstaying his ship, Frank settled in Tasmania in 1903, became a farm labourer, and married English-born Alice Maud Harrison. Alice was the daughter of a Church of England clergyman who

Read Full Article
MATTNER, Edward William (1893–1977)<br /> <span class=subheader>Senator for South Australia, 1944–46, 1950–68 (Liberal Party of Australia)</span>

MATTNER, Edward William (1893–1977)
Senator for South Australia, 1944–46, 1950–68 (Liberal Party of Australia)

Edward William (Ted) Mattner was born on 16 September 1893 near Oakbank, South Australia, the third of four children of William Charles Mattner, gardener and later a farmer, and Emily Louisa, née Hocking. Educated at Oakbank School, from the age of fourteen he remained at the school as a trainee teacher before attending Adelaide High School (1910–12), where he was awarded the Rossiter Prize

Read Full Article
McCALLUM, John Archibald (1892–1973)<br /> <span class=subheader>Senator for New South Wales, 1950–62 (Liberal Party of Australia)</span>

McCALLUM, John Archibald (1892–1973)
Senator for New South Wales, 1950–62 (Liberal Party of Australia)

John McCallum was that relatively rare phenomenon, a scholar in Parliament. Intellectual, teacher, broadcaster and senator, he lived a turbulent private and public life. Born in Mittagong on 31 July 1892, John was the eldest surviving child of Catherine Margaret, née Protheroe (born in Brecon, Wales, in 1865), and Archibald Duncan McCallum (born on 26 January 1857 in Glasgow). The McCallum family, who arrived

Read Full Article
McKELLAR, Gerald Colin (1903–1970)<br /> <span class=subheader>Senator for New South Wales, 1958–70 (Australian Country Party)</span>

McKELLAR, Gerald Colin (1903–1970)
Senator for New South Wales, 1958–70 (Australian Country Party)

Gerald Colin McKellar, known as Colin, was born on 29 May 1903 in Gulgong, New South Wales, to Gerald Murdoch McKellar and Margaret Jane, née Travis. Educated at Gilgandra Public School, Colin followed in the steps of his father and grandfather by becoming a wheat and sheep farmer. On 24 July 1926, he married a Sydney schoolteacher, Florence Emily Smith, at the Presbyterian Church,

Read Full Article
McKENNA, Nicholas Edward (1895–1974)<br /> <span class=subheader>Senator for Tasmania, 1944–68 (Australian Labor Party)</span>

McKENNA, Nicholas Edward (1895–1974)
Senator for Tasmania, 1944–68 (Australian Labor Party)

Nicholas Edward McKenna was born at Carlton, Victoria, on 9 September 1895. His father, John McKenna, born in Ireland, was a prison warder who later became deputy governor of Pentridge gaol. His mother, Alice, née Darcy, came from Geelong. Nick, as he was known, was educated at St Joseph’s Christian Brothers College in North Melbourne. From 1912 to 1924 he worked as a public

Read Full Article
McMANUS, Francis Patrick Vincent (1905–1983)<br /> <span class=subheader>Senator for Victoria, 1956–62, 1965–74 (Australian Labor Party (Anti-Communist); Democratic Labor Party)</span>

McMANUS, Francis Patrick Vincent (1905–1983)
Senator for Victoria, 1956–62, 1965–74 (Australian Labor Party (Anti-Communist); Democratic Labor Party)

Francis Patrick Vincent (Frank) McManus, civilised Cold War warrior and founding member of the Democratic Labor Party (DLP), was born on 27 February 1905 at North Melbourne, a suburb he would come to describe as his native land. He was the son of Patrick McManus, born in Roscommon, Ireland, and Gertrude, née Beal, who was born in West Melbourne, and who changed her name

Read Full Article
McMULLIN, Sir Alister Maxwell (1900–1984)<br /> <span class=subheader>Senator for New South Wales, 1951–71 (Liberal Party of Australia) </span>

McMULLIN, Sir Alister Maxwell (1900–1984)
Senator for New South Wales, 1951–71 (Liberal Party of Australia)

Alister Maxwell McMullin, who remains the longest serving President of the Senate, was born on 14 July 1900 at Bingeberry in the hamlet of Rouchel, near Scone, in the Hunter Valley, NSW. He was the seventh child of William George McMullin and Catherine, née McDonald, who had married in Rouchel in 1884, Catherine having lived in nearby Stewarts Brook. Educated at state schools, Alister,

Read Full Article
NICHOLLS, Theophilus Martin (1894–1977)<br /> <span class=subheader>Senator for South Australia, 1944–68 (Australian Labor Party)</span>

NICHOLLS, Theophilus Martin (1894–1977)
Senator for South Australia, 1944–68 (Australian Labor Party)

Theophilus Martin (Theo) Nicholls, lifelong unionist and traditional Labor man with practical sense and a visionary streak, was born on 21 August 1894, at Wilmington, South Australia, the eighth child of Martin Nicholls, a miner, and Elizabeth, née Gum. When he was three, the family moved to Port Pirie. As a young man, he worked at Broken Hill for four years, from about 1908.

Read Full Article
O’FLAHERTY, Sidney Wainman (1886–1967)<br /> <span class=subheader>Senator for South Australia, 1944–62 (Australian Labor Party)</span>

O’FLAHERTY, Sidney Wainman (1886–1967)
Senator for South Australia, 1944–62 (Australian Labor Party)

A Labor man who believed in ‘the gospel of socialism’, and who affirmed that it had been his lifelong theme to obtain social justice for the workers, Sid O’Flaherty was once expelled from the South Australian Labor Party. A decade later he was the party’s state president, a member of the Federal Executive, and number one on the ticket for the Senate, where he

Read Full Article
O’SULLIVAN, Sir Michael Neil (1900–1968)<br /> <span class=subheader>Senator for Queensland, 1947–62 (Liberal Party of Australia)</span>

O’SULLIVAN, Sir Michael Neil (1900–1968)
Senator for Queensland, 1947–62 (Liberal Party of Australia)

Solicitor and company director, Michael Neil (known as Neil) O’Sullivan was born on 2 August 1900 at Toowong, Queensland, the fifth child of Queensland-born parents, Patrick Alban O’Sullivan, a 37‑year‑old solicitor, and his wife Mary Bridget, née Macgroarty, twenty-nine, from Gympie. Neil was a descendant of an Irish Catholic family. His grandfather, Patrick (1818–1904), was a soldier, transported in 1838 for retaliating with his

Read Full Article
O’BYRNE, Justin Hilary (1912–1993)<br /> <span class=subheader>Senator for Tasmania, 1947–81 (Australian Labor Party)</span>

O’BYRNE, Justin Hilary (1912–1993)
Senator for Tasmania, 1947–81 (Australian Labor Party)

Justin Hilary O’Byrne was a World War II fighter pilot and prisoner of war, and President of the Senate during the 1975 constitutional crisis. He was born on 1 June 1912 in Launceston, Tasmania, the seventh of ten children. His father, Patrick Augustus O’Byrne, a wine and spirit merchant in Launceston, was the son of Irish migrants who had settled at Westbury. His mother,

Read Full Article
ORMONDE, James Patrick (1901–1970)<br /> <span class=subheader>Senator for New South Wales, 1958–70 (Australian Labor Party)</span>

ORMONDE, James Patrick (1901–1970)
Senator for New South Wales, 1958–70 (Australian Labor Party)

James Patrick Ormonde, miner and journalist, was born in Kirkcaldy, Scotland, on 23 March 1901, the son of Jeremiah Ormonde and Bridget, née Reilly. Ormonde came to Australia with his family at an early age, and grew up in Kurri Kurri on the New South Wales northern coalfields. He was educated at Marist Brothers College, West Maitland. On leaving school, he became, like his

Read Full Article
PALTRIDGE, Sir Shane Dunne (1910–1966)<br /> <span class=subheader>Senator for Western Australia, 1951–66 (Liberal Party of Australia)</span>

PALTRIDGE, Sir Shane Dunne (1910–1966)
Senator for Western Australia, 1951–66 (Liberal Party of Australia)

Like many of his peers, Shane Paltridge brought to the Senate significant life and work experiences, including business and war service. Born in Leederville, Perth, on 11 January 1910, he was the younger of two children of Archer Dunn Paltridge, a bank clerk, and Florence Marjorie, née Thomas, both of whom came from South Australia. Shane’s early life was punctuated by relocations, as his

Read Full Article
PEARSON, Rex Whiting (1905–1961)<br /> <span class=subheader>Senator for South Australia, 1951–61 (Liberal Party of Australia)</span>

PEARSON, Rex Whiting (1905–1961)
Senator for South Australia, 1951–61 (Liberal Party of Australia)

Rex Whiting Pearson, farmer and politician, was born at ‘Rutland Farm’, Tiparra, south of Kadina, upper Yorke Peninsula, on 13 January 1905, eldest of four sons of Thomas William Pearson and his wife, Julia Adams, née Rowe. The family, staunch Methodists like so many in that part of South Australia, share-farmed at Sandilands, south-east of Maitland, and Rex and his brother Glen attended local

Read Full Article
POKE, Albert George (1906–1989)<br /> <span class=subheader>Senator for Tasmania, 1956–74 (Australian Labor Party)</span>

POKE, Albert George (1906–1989)
Senator for Tasmania, 1956–74 (Australian Labor Party)

‘I was reared where it was tough. I was reared in the mud in the bush, brother. I can take it’. So Bob Poke (as he was always known) told a Senate opponent in 1969. There was little hyperbole in Poke’s invocation of his own hard times. He was born at Somerset, Tasmania, on 16 February 1906, second of nine children of Alfred John

Read Full Article
RANKIN, Dame Annabelle Jane Mary (1908–1986)<br /> <span class=subheader>Senator for Queensland, 1947–71 (Liberal Party of Australia)</span>

RANKIN, Dame Annabelle Jane Mary (1908–1986)
Senator for Queensland, 1947–71 (Liberal Party of Australia)

Annabelle Jane Mary Rankin, the second woman to sit in the Senate, was born at South Brisbane on 28 July 1908, elder of two daughters of Colin Dunlop Wilson Rankin and his wife Annabelle Davidson Rankin, née Thomson, both born in Scotland. The family lived first near the small Queensland town of Childers where Colin was a sugar grower, and Annabelle rode her pony

Read Full Article
REID, Albert David (1886–1962)<br /> <span class=subheader>Senator for New South Wales, 1950–62 (Australian Country Party)</span>

REID, Albert David (1886–1962)
Senator for New South Wales, 1950–62 (Australian Country Party)

Albert David Reid, a ‘long, lean, leathery’ Anzac, devoted virtually all of his adult life to public service. At municipal, state and federal government levels he was a dedicated member of the Australian Country Party. Committed to the needs of rural Australia, he made a significant contribution to the development of water conservation policy, and was a highly respected senator. He had a distinguished

Read Full Article
RIDLEY, Clement Frank (1909–1988)<br /> <span class=subheader>Senator for South Australia, 1959–71 (Australian Labor Party)</span>

RIDLEY, Clement Frank (1909–1988)
Senator for South Australia, 1959–71 (Australian Labor Party)

While Clem Ridley was respected in the Senate for his knowledge of industrial affairs, his thoughtful contributions to debate, and his dignified bearing, his most significant achievements lay outside the parliamentary arena, as a dedicated and successful union leader, and as a steadying influence within the inner circles of the South Australian ALP during the time of the Split. Clem Ridley was born Frank

Read Full Article
ROBERTSON, Agnes Robertson (1882–1968)<br /> <span class=subheader>Senator for Western Australia, 1950–62 (Liberal Party of Australia; Australian Country Party)</span>

ROBERTSON, Agnes Robertson (1882–1968)
Senator for Western Australia, 1950–62 (Liberal Party of Australia; Australian Country Party)

Agnes Robertson Keay was born at Stepney, Adelaide, South Australia, on 31 July 1882, only daughter of David Kelly Keay, stonemason and building contractor, and his wife Mary Ann, née Thomson. A lone girl among seven brothers, Agnes soon learnt ‘to fight’ her way ‘with them all’. Her father was a well-read social commentator and regular contributor to contemporary journals. He revelled in controversial

Read Full Article
SANDFORD, Charles Walter (1895–1966)<br /> <span class=subheader>Senator for Victoria, 1947–56, 1957–66 (Australian Labor Party)</span>

SANDFORD, Charles Walter (1895–1966)
Senator for Victoria, 1947–56, 1957–66 (Australian Labor Party)

Charles Walter Sandford was born at Camp Hill, Creswick, Victoria, on 11 September 1895 to Edwin Thomas Sandford, born in New York State, USA, and his wife, Victorian-born Margaret Ann, née Jordan. According to family recollection, Edwin, the son of an English storekeeper who had migrated to America, had returned to England with his family before taking ship for Australia. He left the ship

Read Full Article
SCOTT, Malcolm Fox (1910–1989)<br /> <span class=subheader>Senator for Western Australia, 1950–71 (Liberal Party of Australia)</span>

SCOTT, Malcolm Fox (1910–1989)
Senator for Western Australia, 1950–71 (Liberal Party of Australia)

Malcolm Fox Scott, who entered federal politics at thirty-eight from a background in farming, business and local government, served for over twenty-one years in the Senate, two as Government Whip, and a further two as a minister. Malcolm was born on 11 May 1910, at Bridgetown, Western Australia, the second child and eldest son of Thomas Scott, a Scottish migrant, and Ada Margaretta, née

Read Full Article
SHEEHAN, James Michael (1885–1967)<br /> <span class=subheader>Senator for Victoria, 1938–40, 1944–62 (Australian Labor Party)</span>

SHEEHAN, James Michael (1885–1967)
Senator for Victoria, 1938–40, 1944–62 (Australian Labor Party)

James Michael Sheehan was born at Clinkers Hill, Castlemaine, in central Victoria, on 24 July 1885, son of Michael Sheehan, blacksmith, a native of Limerick, Ireland, and Ellen, née Firminger. Jim, as he was called, attended St Mary’s Catholic school until, at the age of thirteen, he was employed on the Victorian railways. Under the influence of local railway unionist, Tom Hendra, Sheehan became

Read Full Article
SPOONER, Sir William Henry (1897–1966)<br /> <span class=subheader>Senator for New South Wales, 1950–65 (Liberal Party of Australia)</span>

SPOONER, Sir William Henry (1897–1966)
Senator for New South Wales, 1950–65 (Liberal Party of Australia)

William Henry (Bill) Spooner, chartered accountant and founding member of the Liberal Party in New South Wales, was born on 23 December 1897 in the working class suburb of Surry Hills. He was the fifth child born to William Henry Spooner, compositor, and his wife, Maud Ann, née Dubois. Bill obtained a sound education at Christ Church School, Sydney, where in 1911 he won

Read Full Article
TANGNEY, Dame Dorothy Margaret (1907–1985)<br /> <span class=subheader>Senator for Western Australia, 1943–68 (Australian Labor Party)</span>

TANGNEY, Dame Dorothy Margaret (1907–1985)
Senator for Western Australia, 1943–68 (Australian Labor Party)

In 1943 Dorothy Margaret Tangney became the first woman senator and the first Labor woman in either house of the federal Parliament. Tangney was born in North Perth, Western Australia, on 13 March 1907, though either through misinformation or artifice she provided 1911 as the year of her birth. She was the third of seven surviving children of Irish-born Eugene Tangney, timber mill worker

Read Full Article
TOOHEY, James Philip (1909–1992)<br /> <span class=subheader>Senator for South Australia, 1953–71 (Australian Labor Party)</span>

TOOHEY, James Philip (1909–1992)
Senator for South Australia, 1953–71 (Australian Labor Party)

James Philip Toohey, union official and Labor Party secretary, played a central role in holding together Labor’s South Australian branch during the ALP Split of 1954–55. Jim, as he was known, was born in Rose Park, Adelaide, on 11 July 1909, the eighth of eleven children of James Patrick, a builder’s labourer, and Lilian née Morgan. Educated at various state and Catholic schools in

Read Full Article
VINCENT, Victor Seddon (1906–1964)<br /> <span class=subheader>Senator for Western Australia, 1950–64 (Liberal Party of Australia)</span>

VINCENT, Victor Seddon (1906–1964)
Senator for Western Australia, 1950–64 (Liberal Party of Australia)

Victor Seddon Vincent, known as Seddon, was a Kalgoorlie-based lawyer, widely known and highly regarded throughout the eastern goldfields of Western Australia. He was an excellent speaker and incisive debater, with broad cultural interests. Vincent was born in the goldfields town of Leonora on 1 June 1906, and retained close ties to the goldfields for the rest of his life. His father, Victor Franklin

Read Full Article
WADE, Harrie Walter (1905–1964)<br /> <span class=subheader>Senator for Victoria, 1956–64 (Australian Country Party)</span>

WADE, Harrie Walter (1905–1964)
Senator for Victoria, 1956–64 (Australian Country Party)

Harrie Walter Wade, farmer, accountant and Country Party leader in the Senate, was born on 10 January 1905, at Clear Lake in the Wimmera district of Victoria. He was the son of Victorian-born parents, Harrie Walter Wade, farmer, and Ada Louise, née Edmonds. He attended the local primary and high schools at Horsham, then worked for a time as a schoolteacher and a clerk,

Read Full Article
WARDLAW, Robert (1888–1964)<br /> <span class=subheader>Senator for Tasmania, 1953–62 (Liberal Party of Australia)</span>

WARDLAW, Robert (1888–1964)
Senator for Tasmania, 1953–62 (Liberal Party of Australia)

Robert Wardlaw, primary producer, storeowner and businessman, was born on 4 August 1888, the son of James Bennett Wardlaw and Dora Dove, née Miller, at Avoca, near the Tasmanian goldmining town of Mathinna. As Robert’s nephew, Jim, has commented, the mine ‘was the town, that was it!’ James Wardlaw, a sheep farmer, had moved there to mine, although it is difficult to determine the

Read Full Article
WEDGWOOD, Dame Ivy Evelyn Annie (1896–1975)<br /> <span class=subheader>Senator for Victoria, 1950–71 (Liberal Party of Australia)</span>

WEDGWOOD, Dame Ivy Evelyn Annie (1896–1975)
Senator for Victoria, 1950–71 (Liberal Party of Australia)

Dame Ivy Evelyn Annie Wedgwood, accountant and magistrate, was a founding member of the Liberal Party, and was the first Victorian woman elected to the Senate. Ivy was born on 18 October 1896 in the Melbourne suburb of Malvern, the elder of two daughters of Elizabeth, née Evans, and her husband, Albert Drury, both Victorian-born. Ivy grew up in the Melbourne working-class suburb of

Read Full Article
WILLESEE, Donald Robert (1916–2003)<br /> <span class=subheader>Senator for Western Australia, 1950–75 (Australian Labor Party)</span>

WILLESEE, Donald Robert (1916–2003)
Senator for Western Australia, 1950–75 (Australian Labor Party)

Donald Robert Willesee was born on 14 April 1916 at Derby, Western Australia, second son of William Robert Willesee, a ‘hard drinking’ drover, cattle buyer and stock inspector, and Ethel May, née Wrightson (also known as Flinders), a boarding house proprietor. The family moved to Carnarvon, where Don attended state and convent schools. The cosmopolitan population of Carnarvon, its proximity to Asian ports, and

Read Full Article
WOOD, Ian Alexander Christie (1901–1992)<br /> <span class=subheader>Senator for Queensland, 1950–78 (Liberal Party of Australia)</span>

WOOD, Ian Alexander Christie (1901–1992)
Senator for Queensland, 1950–78 (Liberal Party of Australia)

Ian Alexander Christie Wood, travel agent, environmentalist and notable Senate committee chairman, was born on 31 January 1901 in Mackay, Queensland, the first child of John Wood, a bookkeeper, and Annie, née Christie, a Scottish immigrant. John deserted the family shortly before the birth of Wood’s sister in 1903. Annie, who had been a cook before her marriage, took in dressmaking. More than once

Read Full Article
WRIGHT, Sir Reginald Charles (1905–1990)<br /> <span class=subheader>Senator for Tasmania, 1950–78 (Liberal Party of Australia; Independent)</span>

WRIGHT, Sir Reginald Charles (1905–1990)
Senator for Tasmania, 1950–78 (Liberal Party of Australia; Independent)

Reginald Charles Wright, known always as Reg, was born on 10 July 1905 at Central Castra, Tasmania, one of ten children of John Forsyth Wright, a farmer, and his wife, Emma Maria, née Lewis. Reg’s brother, also John Forsyth Wright, was a Member for Darwin in the Tasmanian House of Assembly from 1940 to 1941, and another brother, Roy Douglas (‘Pansy’) Wright, became Chancellor

Read Full Article