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Browsing: Australian Country Party

ABBOTT, Macartney (1877–1960)<br /> <span class=subheader>Senator for New South Wales, 1935–41 (Australian Country Party)</span>

ABBOTT, Macartney (1877–1960)
Senator for New South Wales, 1935–41 (Australian Country Party)

Senator Macartney Abbott believed that ‘if you can raise a man’s thoughts you can raise his achievement’. He argued that by raising the thoughts of all nations ‘you can raise the whole level of humanity and place the feet of the world upon that path leading to peace’. Macartney Abbott was born at Murrurundi, New South Wales, on 3 July 1877, and was the

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ABBOTT, Percy Phipps (1869–1940)<br /><span class=subheader>Senator for New South Wales, 1925–29 (Australian Country Party)</span>

ABBOTT, Percy Phipps (1869–1940)
Senator for New South Wales, 1925–29 (Australian Country Party)

Percy Phipps Abbott was the first Country Party candidate from New South Wales to be elected to the Senate. He served only three and a half years as a senator, but his career as a soldier, political activist and elected representative spanned five decades. Grandson of a pioneer Tasmanian, Abbott was born on 14 May 1869, the son of John William Abbott, auctioneer, and

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ABBOTT, Richard Hartley Smith (1859–1940)<br /><span class=subheader>Senator for Victoria, 1928–29 (Australian Country Party)</span>

ABBOTT, Richard Hartley Smith (1859–1940)
Senator for Victoria, 1928–29 (Australian Country Party)

Richard Hartley Smith Abbott, company director, was born, probably in Bendigo, Victoria, around 1859, the son of Richard Hartley Abbott, also a company director, and Ann, née Smith. The young Richard was educated at Bendigo High School and then at St Andrews, Scotland. Returning to Australia, he became proprietor of the Abbott Supply Company, a director of the Sandhurst Building Society, the Bendigo Gas

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ANDREW, David John (1866–1928)<br /><span class=subheader>Senator for Victoria, 1925–28 (Australian Country Party)</span>

ANDREW, David John (1866–1928)
Senator for Victoria, 1925–28 (Australian Country Party)

David Andrew’s election as a senator in 1925 points to some degree of dogged determination for it was his sixth attempt to enter Parliament either at the federal or state level. Born in Castlemaine, Victoria, on 10 November 1866, the son of James Sprunt Andrew, a stonemason and later an auctioneer, and his wife, Augusta Arabella, Andrew attended state schools before beginning a fitter’s

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BADMAN, Albert Oliver (1885–1977)<br /> <span class=subheader>Senator for South Australia, 1932–37 (Australian Country Party)</span>

BADMAN, Albert Oliver (1885–1977)
Senator for South Australia, 1932–37 (Australian Country Party)

Albert Oliver Badman, progressive wheat farmer and Country Party politician, was born ‘alongside a wheatfield’ near Yacka in the mid-north of South Australia, on 18 December 1885. Oliver, as he was known, was the son of Robert and Agnes Mary, née Duffield. According to family history, Albert Oliver’s grandfather was George Badman, who had migrated from Somerset, England, with his wife and young family

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BULL, Thomas Louis (1905–1976)<br /> <span class=subheader>Senator for New South Wales, 1965–71 (Australian Country Party)</span>

BULL, Thomas Louis (1905–1976)
Senator for New South Wales, 1965–71 (Australian Country Party)

Thomas Louis Bull, grazier, was born at Wagga Wagga on 7 September 1905, the fourth of five sons of Henry James Bull, grazier, and his wife Charlotte Roberta, née Tresilian. Educated in a one-teacher school at Gobbagaula, near Narrandera, and at Wesley College, Melbourne, he became a partner in his family’s pastoral properties in the Narrandera district. In 1948 he bought Yarramundi, a 5000-acre

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CARROLL, William (1872–1936)<br /> <span class=subheader>Senator for Western Australia, 1926–36 (Australian Country Party) </span>

CARROLL, William (1872–1936)
Senator for Western Australia, 1926–36 (Australian Country Party)

William Carroll, wheat farmer, was one of a number of rural activists who helped to create the Country Party and who, by entering the federal Parliament in the 1920s and 1930s, changed the Australian political landscape. Born in the Western District of Victoria, at Garvoc, in the Shire of Warrnambool, on 3 January 1872, he was the son of Scottish-born James Carroll, and his

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CHAPMAN, John Hedley (1879–1931)<br /> <span class=subheader>Senator for South Australia, 1926–31 (Australian Country Party)</span>

CHAPMAN, John Hedley (1879–1931)
Senator for South Australia, 1926–31 (Australian Country Party)

John Hedley Chapman was born at Jamestown, a small town north of Adelaide, on 16 December 1879. He was the only son of Sarah Jane, née Williams, and John Chapman, a farmer, whose grandfather, also John Chapman, had emigrated from Cornwall in 1845. John Hedley’s schooling commenced at the local Jamestown school (now Jamestown Community School) and was continued at Prince Alfred College in

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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,

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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

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ELLIOTT, Robert Charles Dunlop (1884–1950)<br /> <span class=subheader>Senator for Victoria, 1929–35 (Australian Country Party)</span>

ELLIOTT, Robert Charles Dunlop (1884–1950)
Senator for Victoria, 1929–35 (Australian Country Party)

Robert Charles Dunlop Elliott (known as R. D.) was a businessman and newspaper proprietor, active in Country Party politics. He was born on 28 October 1884 at Kyneton, central Victoria, the fourth surviving child of Robert Cochrane Elliott, a grocer from Northumberland, England, who fell on hard times, and his wife, Maria Jeanette, née Williamson, a native of Inverness, Scotland. Young Robert received a rudimentary

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FRASER, Alexander John (1892–1965)<br /> <span class=subheader>Senator for Victoria, 1946 (Australian Country Party)</span>

FRASER, Alexander John (1892–1965)
Senator for Victoria, 1946 (Australian Country Party)

For a number of senators, a career in the Commonwealth Parliament has followed one in a state Parliament, but for Senator Alexander Fraser the reverse was the case. A senator for only four months, Fraser went on to a distinguished career in the Victorian Parliament. Alexander John Fraser was born at Fairfield, Melbourne, on 22 August 1892, the son of Scottish‑born parents, Simon Fraser,

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GIBSON, William Gerrand (1869–1955)<br /> <span class=subheader>Senator for Victoria, 1935-47 (Australian Country Party)</span>

GIBSON, William Gerrand (1869–1955)
Senator for Victoria, 1935-47 (Australian Country Party)

William Gerrand Gibson, farmer and storekeeper, was born at Gisborne, Victoria, on 19 May 1869, the son of Scottish‑born parents, David Gibson, a farmer, and his wife Grace, née Gerrand. Gibson was educated locally, then farmed with his father before setting up on his own as a storekeeper at Romsey and Lancefield. Becoming a successful businessman, Gibson turned his attention to public affairs, serving

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HARDY, Charles (1898–1941)<br /> <span class=subheader>Senator for New South Wales, 1932–38 (Australian Country Party)</span>

HARDY, Charles (1898–1941)
Senator for New South Wales, 1932–38 (Australian Country Party)

Charles Hardy entered the Senate in 1932 as the youthful firebrand of the Riverina, leading a separatist movement that challenged the Country Party especially. His gradual incorporation within the Country Party across his single term was built on accommodations in policy that were acceptable to him and he was rewarded with the leadership of his party from 1935 to 1938. But the circumstances that

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JOHNSTON, Edward Bertram (1880–1942)<br /> <span class=subheader>Senator for Western Australia, 1929–42 (Australian Country Party)</span>

JOHNSTON, Edward Bertram (1880–1942)
Senator for Western Australia, 1929–42 (Australian Country Party)

Edward Bertram Johnston, for thirty years a colourful maverick in Western Australian and federal politics, was never considered enough of a team player to achieve cabinet rank, but never lost an election.Born on 11 January 1880 at Geraldton, Western Australia, Bertie, as he was known, was the eldest of eleven children born to Harry Frederick Johnston (Surveyor-General of Western Australia from 1896 to 1915)

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LATHAM, Sir Charles George (1882–1968)<br /> <span class=subheader>Senator for Western Australia, 1942–43 (Australian Country Party)</span>

LATHAM, Sir Charles George (1882–1968)
Senator for Western Australia, 1942–43 (Australian Country Party)

Charles George Latham, wheat farmer and influential Country Party politician, believed in firm action. During the Depression of the 1930s he once suggested to Premier James Mitchell that a fire hose be turned upon a large crowd demonstrating outside the Treasury Building in St George’s Terrace, though Mitchell, it seems, did not take his advice. Latham was born in England, at Hythe, in Kent,

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LAWRIE, Alexander Greig Ellis (1907–1978)<br /> <span class=subheader>Senator for Queensland, 1965–75 (Australian Country Party; National Country Party)</span>

LAWRIE, Alexander Greig Ellis (1907–1978)
Senator for Queensland, 1965–75 (Australian Country Party; National Country Party)

Alexander Greig Ellis Lawrie (known as Ellis) was born at Lorn, near Maitland, New South Wales, on 19 June 1907, the son of Alexander Greig Lawrie, a grazier, and his wife Ilma, née Norrie. His great-grandparents, James and Jean Lawrie, had emigrated from Dunfermline, Fifeshire, Scotland, in 1850, under the aegis of Reverend J. D. Lang. Establishing a tobacco farm and manufactory at Halton

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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

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MARWICK, Thomas William (1895–1960)<br /> <span class=subheader>Senator for Western Australia, 1936–37 (Australian Country Party)</span>

MARWICK, Thomas William (1895–1960)
Senator for Western Australia, 1936–37 (Australian Country Party)

Thomas William Marwick, farmer, was born in York, Western Australia on 19 April 1895, the son of Warren Marwick, a farmer and member of the Western Australian Legislative Council, and Susan, née Collins. Thomas was educated at Christian Brothers College, York, and then at the Perth Technical School where he studied engineering. On leaving school in 1911 Marwick worked for two years in the

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MAUNSELL, Charles Ronald (1922–2010)<br /> <span class=subheader>Senator for Queensland, 1968–81 (Australian Country Party; National Country Party)</span>

MAUNSELL, Charles Ronald (1922–2010)
Senator for Queensland, 1968–81 (Australian Country Party; National Country Party)

A stalwart of the Queensland division of the Australian (later National) Country Party, Charles Ronald (Ron) Maunsell, pilot, earthmoving contractor, grazier and fruit grower, came from pioneering stock, his great-grandparents, Samuel and Phoebe Maunsell, having immigrated to Australia from Ballybrood, County Limerick, in 1858. The only child of Charles George Maunsell and Evelyn Violet, née Evans, he was born in Cairns on 8 May

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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,

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NEAL, Laurence William (1947– )<br /> <span class=subheader>Senator for Victoria, 1980–81 (National Country Party)</span>

NEAL, Laurence William (1947– )
Senator for Victoria, 1980–81 (National Country Party)

The question asked about Laurence William Neal, National Country Party (NCP) senator from Victoria, was how did ‘an academic at La Trobe University, a political scientist, a city dweller since the age of 18’ become ‘the representative of a party of farmers?’ Described by the Melbourne Age as ‘soft-spoken, pleasant, and super mild—more like a kindly young Anglican vicar’, Neal’s credentials were atypical of

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PIESSE, Edmund Stephen Roper (1900–1952)<br /> <span class=subheader>Senator for Western Australia, 1950–52 (Australian Country Party)</span>

PIESSE, Edmund Stephen Roper (1900–1952)
Senator for Western Australia, 1950–52 (Australian Country Party)

Edmund Stephen Roper Piesse, farmer and businessman, was the first of the ‘squires of the Katanning district’ to be elected to the federal Parliament. His father and three of his uncles had served in the Western Australian Parliament at various times from self-government in 1890 to 1935.[1] Piesse was born at Katanning, the centre of a developing mixed farming district in the Great Southern

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PROWSE, Edgar Wylie (1905–1977)<br /> <span class=subheader>Senator for Western Australia, 1962–73 (Australian Country Party)</span>

PROWSE, Edgar Wylie (1905–1977)
Senator for Western Australia, 1962–73 (Australian Country Party)

Edgar Wylie Prowse, farmer and politician, was born at Mount Kokeby in the Western Australian wheat belt on 22 March 1905, one of two surviving sons of the nine children of Albert (‘Ab’) Edward Cornwall Prowse, policeman and farmer, and Maud Helena Grace, née Quarmby, both from New South Wales. Encouraged by Ab’s brother John Henry (Jack), who had settled in Western Australia, the

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RANKIN, George James (1887–1957)<br /> <span class=subheader>Senator for Victoria, 1950–56 (Australian Country Party)</span>

RANKIN, George James (1887–1957)
Senator for Victoria, 1950–56 (Australian Country Party)

George James Rankin was a soldier first and a politician second. In some ways he was representative of the politics of his day. His status as a soldier—indeed a war hero—gave him an advantage in gaining entry into the federal Parliament during the late 1930s. Rankin was born on 1 May 1887 at Bamawm, a tiny hamlet near the town of Rochester in northern

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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

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REID, David Donald (1933– )<br /> <span class=subheader>Senator for Western Australia, 1974 (Australian Country Party)</span>

REID, David Donald (1933– )
Senator for Western Australia, 1974 (Australian Country Party)

David Donald Reid, farmer and landcare practitioner, was born on 10 May 1933 at Bridgetown, Western Australia, the only son of Donald Phillip Reid, primary producer, and his wife Marion Fraser, née Davies. He was educated at Bridgetown Primary School and Denmark Agricultural College from which he graduated with a Diploma of Agriculture in 1949 (in later years he completed part of a postgraduate

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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

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ROBINSON, William Charles (1907–1981)<br /> <span class=subheader>Senator for Western Australia, 1952–53 (Australian Country Party)</span>

ROBINSON, William Charles (1907–1981)
Senator for Western Australia, 1952–53 (Australian Country Party)

William Charles Campbell Bignall Robinson was born in Hertford, England, on 4 October 1907, the son of William Robinson, publican, and Alice, née Bolton. Around 1911, the family arrived in Western Australia, and settled as farmers in the Williams district. Bill, as young Robinson was known, was educated at Tarwonga State School and Northam Senior High School before following his father onto the land.

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SCOTT, Douglas Barr (1920–2012)<br /><span class=subheader>Senator for New South Wales, 1970, 1974–85 (Australian Country Party/National Country Party/National Party of Australia)</span>

SCOTT, Douglas Barr (1920–2012)
Senator for New South Wales, 1970, 1974–85 (Australian Country Party/National Country Party/National Party of Australia)

Douglas Barr Scott was born in the northern Adelaide suburb of Prospect on 12 May 1920 to James Barr Scott and his wife Clara Josephine, née White. At the time of his birth Scott’s maternal grandparents lived in Adelaide, but the family home was on their wheat and sheep property, ‘Glenview’, near Grenfell, New South Wales. As the property was relatively isolated, his early

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SEWARD Harrie Stephen (1884–1958)<br /> <span class=subheader>Senator for Western Australia, 1951–58 (Australian Country Party)</span>

SEWARD Harrie Stephen (1884–1958)
Senator for Western Australia, 1951–58 (Australian Country Party)

Central to the career of Harrie Stephen Seward, bank manager and wheat farmer, was his concern with the politics of Western Australian wheat farming. Seward was born on 26 February 1884 at Rochester in Victoria, the son of Stephen Seward, farmer and shire secretary, and his wife Mary Ellen (Nellie), née Kelleher. Harrie was educated at St Patrick’s School in Ballarat, and in 1900

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SHEIL, Glenister (1929–2008)<br /><span class=subheader>Senator for Queensland, 1974–81 (Australian Country Party; National Country Party); 1984–90 (National Party of Australia)</span>

SHEIL, Glenister (1929–2008)
Senator for Queensland, 1974–81 (Australian Country Party; National Country Party); 1984–90 (National Party of Australia)

Glenister (Glen) Sheil is remembered in Australian political history as the shortest-serving federal minister, although his appointment as Minister for Veterans’ Affairs was never gazetted. Sworn in as a member of the Executive Council on 20 December 1977, his appointment was terminated by Prime Minister Malcom Fraser two days later. Responding to a phone call from a journalist, and in a subsequent radio interview,

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SIMMONDS, Wilfrid Mylchreest (1889–1967)<br /> <span class=subheader>Senator for Queensland, 1950–51 (Australian Country Party)</span>

SIMMONDS, Wilfrid Mylchreest (1889–1967)
Senator for Queensland, 1950–51 (Australian Country Party)

On 22 June 1950, Wilfrid Simmonds told the Senate: ‘I have a purpose to fulfil when I rise to speak . . . I shall not be side‑tracked from it by interjections’. Such resoluteness characterised Simmonds’ career as butcher, auctioneer, sugar farmer, federal and local politician, and community leader. Wilfrid Mylchreest Simmonds was born in Cairns, north Queensland, on 19 December 1889, the son

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TEHAN, Thomas Joseph (1916–1996)<br /> <span class=subheader>Senator for Victoria, 1975–78 (National Country Party)</span>

TEHAN, Thomas Joseph (1916–1996)
Senator for Victoria, 1975–78 (National Country Party)

With his Irish Catholic heritage and ‘doubtful’ vocation as a ‘provincial lawyer’, Tom Tehan appeared to be an unlikely member of the National Party of Australia, much less its Victorian president and senator. Nonetheless, he firmly believed in the party’s ‘bread and butter philosophy’ and was adamant that rural enterprises were the lifeblood of regional families and communities. Thomas Joseph Tehan was born at

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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,

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WEBSTER, James Joseph (1925–2022)<br /> <span class=subheader>Senator for Victoria, 1964–80 (Australian Country Party; National Country Party)</span>

WEBSTER, James Joseph (1925–2022)
Senator for Victoria, 1964–80 (Australian Country Party; National Country Party)

James Joseph Webster was born on Flinders Island, Tasmania, on 14 June 1925, the youngest of three sons of Leslie Leeder Webster and Eileen Dorothy, née Thorne. Leslie Webster was a farmer, chairman of the local butter factory, Justice of the Peace and a shire councillor. In 1929 the family moved to Dunhelen, a farm at Greenvale near Melbourne, where they lived for many

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