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CAMERON, Cyril St Clair (1857–1941)<br /><span class=subheader>Senator for Tasmania, 1901–03, 1907–13 (Protectionist; Anti-Socialist Party)</span>

CAMERON, Cyril St Clair (1857–1941)
Senator for Tasmania, 1901–03, 1907–13 (Protectionist; Anti-Socialist Party)

Cyril St Clair Cameron, army officer and farmer, came from a northern Tasmanian family which produced four parliamentarians. Son of Donald Cameron, MLC, and Mary, née Morrison, he was born on 5 December 1857 at the family property, ‘Fordon’, Nile. Educated in Tasmania and Scotland, Cameron received a second lieutenant’s commission with the Queen’s Royal Lancers in 1879. In 1879–80, he served in Afghanistan,

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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

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CAMERON, Donald Newton (1914–1998)<br /> <span class=subheader>Senator for South Australia, 1969–78 (Australian Labor Party)</span>

CAMERON, Donald Newton (1914–1998)
Senator for South Australia, 1969–78 (Australian Labor Party)

One of seven members of the Commonwealth Parliament named ‘Donald Cameron’, including another Labor senator of that name, Donald Newton Cameron was distinguished superficially by his middle name (the first name of his maternal grandmother, said in family legend to have been descended from the English scientist, Sir Isaac Newton) but much more importantly by his industrial and life experience. Donald Newton Cameron was

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CAMERON, Martin Bruce (1935–)<br /> <span class=subheader>Senator for South Australia, 1969 (Liberal Party of Australia)</span>

CAMERON, Martin Bruce (1935–)
Senator for South Australia, 1969 (Liberal Party of Australia)

Martin Bruce Cameron, whose career in the Senate lasted a mere five months, from 23 May to 24 October 1969, was born in Millicent, South Australia, on 24 August 1935, the only son of the five children of Gordon Reece Cameron of pioneering Scots descent and his wife, Asta, née May. As his father farmed around the South-East, Martin received his primary schooling at

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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

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CARRICK, Sir John Leslie (1918–2018)<br /><span class=subheader>Senator for New South Wales, 1971–87 (Liberal Party of Australia)</span>

CARRICK, Sir John Leslie (1918–2018)
Senator for New South Wales, 1971–87 (Liberal Party of Australia)

John Leslie Carrick was born in Sydney on 4 September 1918, the fourth of six children of Arthur James Carrick, a clerk, and his wife, Emily Ellen Jane, née Terry. During the Depression years Arthur lost his job in the Government Printing Office. In hindsight John Carrick believed that straitened circumstances made the family more close-knit. Evicted from ‘a large rambling house’ at Woollahra,

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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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CAVANAGH, James Luke (1913–1990)<br /> <span class=subheader>Senator for South Australia, 1962–81 (Australian Labor Party)</span>

CAVANAGH, James Luke (1913–1990)
Senator for South Australia, 1962–81 (Australian Labor Party)

Jim Cavanagh was the most militant, and possibly the most effective, trade union official in South Australia during the decade and a half after World War II. Moreover, he was one of the most talented and energetic members of Labor’s contingent in the Senate, during the 1960s and 1970s. As a trade union secretary and Opposition senator, Cavanagh was in his element, but during

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CHAMARETTE, Christabel Marguerite Alain (1948– )<br /><span class=subheader>Senator for Western Australia, 1992–96, (Greens WA)</span>

CHAMARETTE, Christabel Marguerite Alain (1948– )
Senator for Western Australia, 1992–96, (Greens WA)

Christabel Chamarette represented Western Australia as a senator from 1992 to 1996. Her term, although short, was made noteworthy by the fact that between 1993 and 1996 she shared the balance of power with other minor party and independent senators, including her Greens (WA) colleague Dee Margetts. Christabel Marguerite Alain Chamarette was born on 1 May 1948 at Hyderabad, India, the daughter of Arthur

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CHAMBERLAIN, John Hartley (1884–1953)<br /> <span class=subheader>Senator for Tasmania, 1951–53 (Liberal Party of Australia)</span>

CHAMBERLAIN, John Hartley (1884–1953)
Senator for Tasmania, 1951–53 (Liberal Party of Australia)

John (Jack) Hartley Chamberlain was born at Manchester, England, on 29 April 1884, the son of John, linen draper, and Alice, née Hartley. The family migrated to Tasmania the next year, arriving in Hobart on the Arawa in February 1886. In 1890 they moved to Latrobe, in the island’s north-west, where John Chamberlain served as a Baptist minister between 1890 and 1895 (he was

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CHANEY, Frederick Michael (1941– )<br /><span class=subheader>Senator for Western Australia, 1971–93 (Liberal Party of Australia)</span>

CHANEY, Frederick Michael (1941– )
Senator for Western Australia, 1971–93 (Liberal Party of Australia)

Fred Chaney’s first speech to the Senate on 25 September 1974 was, for him, ‘a long awaited opportunity’, and he spoke with the assurance of one who had found his vocation. Chaney had visited Parliament many times as a schoolboy and as a law student with his father, Sir Frederick Chaney, who was the MHR for Perth from 1955 to 1969 and Minister for

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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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CHARLESTON, David Morley (1848-1934)<br /><span class=subheader>Senator for South Australia, 1901-03 (Free Trade)</span>

CHARLESTON, David Morley (1848-1934)
Senator for South Australia, 1901-03 (Free Trade)

The son of John Charleston, blacksmith, and Elizabeth, née Williams, David Morley Charleston, craft unionist and engineer, was born at St Erth, Cornwall on 27 May 1848. He was educated at the national schools and with a private tutor, and became an engineering apprentice at the ironworks of Harvey and Company in Hayle. By 1870, he was a member of the Amalgamated Society of

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CHATAWAY, Thomas Drinkwater (1864–1925)<br /><span class=subheader>Senator for Queensland, 1907–13 (Anti-Socialist Party)</span>

CHATAWAY, Thomas Drinkwater (1864–1925)
Senator for Queensland, 1907–13 (Anti-Socialist Party)

Thomas Drinkwater Chataway, journalist, protectionist and tireless spokesman for the Queensland sugar industry, was born in Wartling, Sussex, England on 6 April 1864, the fifth son of the Reverend James Chataway of Rotherwick, Hampshire. Thomas was educated at Charterhouse, Godalming, Surrey. In 1881, he followed his older brother, James, to Australia, initially working on the land on the Liverpool Plains in New South Wales.

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CHILDS, Bruce Kenneth (1934–2023)<br /><span class=subheader>Senator for New South Wales, 1981–97 (Australian Labor Party)</span>

CHILDS, Bruce Kenneth (1934–2023)
Senator for New South Wales, 1981–97 (Australian Labor Party)

Within two years of entering the Senate in 1981, Bruce Childs was a co-convener of the left-wing of Labor’s federal parliamentary party and the ALP throughout Australia, retaining that role throughout the period of Hawke and Keating Labor governments. Acknowledged as a unifier by his left-wing colleagues, he was recognised by senators from all sides of politics for his courteous, patient and unpretentious manner,

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CHIPP, Donald Leslie (1925–2006)<br /><span class=subheader>Senator for Victoria, 1978–86 (Australian Democrats)</span>

CHIPP, Donald Leslie (1925–2006)
Senator for Victoria, 1978–86 (Australian Democrats)

Don Chipp’s Senate career almost never happened. Dropped from Malcolm Fraser’s Liberal Party ministry in December 1975, he turned this career blow into an opportunity to fight for the causes in which he believed. The result of Chipp’s personal and political upheaval was the creation of a third force in Australian politics, the Australian Democrats.[1] Donald Leslie Chipp was born in Melbourne on 21

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CLEMONS, John Singleton (1862–1944)<br /><span class=subheader>Senator for Tasmania, 1901–14 (Free Trade; Anti-Socialist Party; Liberal Party)</span>

CLEMONS, John Singleton (1862–1944)
Senator for Tasmania, 1901–14 (Free Trade; Anti-Socialist Party; Liberal Party)

John Singleton Clemons, lawyer and businessman, was born in Launceston on 24 March 1862, son of John Nicholas and Anne Alicia, née Tucker. John Nicholas was one of eight schoolteachers brought from England to Tasmania in 1855, following the reorganisation of the Tasmanian school system and the establishment of a centralised department of education. Born in Tiverton, Devonshire, and trained as a teacher at

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CLOTHIER, Robert Ernest (1877–1964)<br /> <span class=subheader>Senator for Western Australia, 1938–50 (Australian Labor Party)</span>

CLOTHIER, Robert Ernest (1877–1964)
Senator for Western Australia, 1938–50 (Australian Labor Party)

Robert Ernest Clothier was ‘one of the most loyal members the Australian Labour Party ever had’. He was, according to Senator McKenna, ever about the party’s business. R. G. Menzies observed that Clothier was ‘tremendously popular’ with a considerable genius ‘for a warm and friendly human approach’, adding that he found himself ‘wondering occasionally whether he was on my side or not’. Clothier was socially conservative:

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COATES, John (1944– )<br /><span class=subheader>Senator for Tasmania, 1981–96 (Australian Labor Party)</span>

COATES, John (1944– )
Senator for Tasmania, 1981–96 (Australian Labor Party)

John Coates’ long political career, first as a Member of the House of Representatives for the seat of Denison (1972–75) and then as a Tasmanian senator (1981–96), mirrored the fortunes of federal Labor over three decades. John Coates was born in Melbourne on 23 March 1944, the son of Graeme Coates and his wife Catherine, née Croker. Both his parents were primary school teachers

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COHEN, Samuel Herbert (1918–1969)<br /> <span class=subheader>Senator for Victoria, 1962–69 (Australian Labor Party)</span>

COHEN, Samuel Herbert (1918–1969)
Senator for Victoria, 1962–69 (Australian Labor Party)

Samuel Herbert Cohen, barrister and politician, was born at Bankstown, New South Wales, on 26 October 1918, eldest son of Max Lazarus Cohen, a tailor’s cutter, and Fanny Dinah, née Fagelman, of Sydney. Sam’s parents were Russian Jews who had migrated to Australia as children. His father worked briefly as a tailor and draper in the country town of Griffith, and then joined Beaurepaire

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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

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COLEBATCH, Sir Hal Pateshall (1872–1953)<br /> <span class=subheader>Senator for Western Australia, 1929–33 (Nationalist Party)</span>

COLEBATCH, Sir Hal Pateshall (1872–1953)
Senator for Western Australia, 1929–33 (Nationalist Party)

Harry (Hal) Pateshall Colebatch was born at Wolferlow, Hertfordshire, England, on 29 March 1872, migrating with his parents to South Australia at the age of six. Educated at Goolwa, he left school at fourteen and entered journalism, working from 1889 to 1895 on the Silver Age at Broken Hill. Moving to Western Australia in 1895, he worked briefly on the Golden Age and the

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COLEMAN, Ruth Nancy (1931–2008)<br /><span class=subheader>Senator for Western Australia, 1974–87 (Australian Labor Party)</span>

COLEMAN, Ruth Nancy (1931–2008)
Senator for Western Australia, 1974–87 (Australian Labor Party)

Ruth Nancy Huckstep (later Coleman), was born on 27 September 1931 at Collie, a small coal mining town in the south-west of Western Australia. She was the second surviving child of Vincent Huckstep, railway ganger, and his wife Alice Beatrice, née Boulden. A child of the Great Depression, whose father moved from place to place in the course of his job, Ruth was educated

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COLLARD, Stanley James (1936– )<br /><span class=subheader>Senator for Queensland, 1975–87 (National Country Party; National Party of Australia)</span>

COLLARD, Stanley James (1936– )
Senator for Queensland, 1975–87 (National Country Party; National Party of Australia)

Immediately before entering the Commonwealth Parliament, Stan Collard was a locomotive engine driver hauling six-header diesel coal trains, two kilometres long and 10 000 tonnes gross weight, from central Queensland to export facilities near Sarina. Earlier in his career with Queensland Railways, in the early 1960s, he had been based at Cloncurry, where he became secretary of the local branches of the Australian Federated

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COLLETT, Herbert Brayley (1877–1947)<br /> <span class=subheader>Senator for Western Australia, 1933–47 (Nationalist Party; United Australia Party; Liberal Party of Australia)</span>

COLLETT, Herbert Brayley (1877–1947)
Senator for Western Australia, 1933–47 (Nationalist Party; United Australia Party; Liberal Party of Australia)

Herbert Brayley Collett, librarian and distinguished soldier, was born on 12 November 1877 at St Peter Port, at Guernsey in the Channel Islands. He was the son of Frank Collett, auctioneer, and his wife, Laura Augusta, née Wedlake. Herbert was nearly seven when his family emigrated on the SS Glen Goil to Western Australia, disembarking at Fremantle on 11 October 1884. Educated privately and

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COLLINGS, Joseph Silver (1865–1955)<br /> <span class=subheader>Senator for Queensland, 1932–50 (Federal Labor Party; Australian Labor Party)</span>

COLLINGS, Joseph Silver (1865–1955)
Senator for Queensland, 1932–50 (Federal Labor Party; Australian Labor Party)

Democratic socialist, union organiser, Labor troubleshooter and administrator, Joseph Silver Collings was born on 11 May 1865 at Brighton, England, the son of free thinker, Joseph Silver Collings, storekeeper, and his wife, Mary Ann, née Dyke, a Quaker. Educated at Brighton Board School, Collings became an apprentice journalist on the Sussex Daily News but emigrated to Brisbane with his parents in 1883 on the

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COLLINS, Robert Lindsay (1946–2007)<br /><span class=subheader>Senator for Northern Territory, 1987–98 (Australian Labor Party)</span>

COLLINS, Robert Lindsay (1946–2007)
Senator for Northern Territory, 1987–98 (Australian Labor Party)

Robert Lindsay (Bob) Collins, the first federal parliamentarian from the Northern Territory to hold ministerial office, was born in Newcastle, NSW, on 8 February 1946. His father, Robert James Collins, an illiterate merchant seaman and labourer, was nineteen when he married Fay Lindsay, an eighteen-year-old shop assistant, at Newcastle in January 1945. Bob was the eldest of five children, two girls and three boys.

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COLSTON, Malcolm Arthur (1938–2003)<br /><span class=subheader>Senator for Queensland, 1976–99 (Australian Labor Party; Independent)</span>

COLSTON, Malcolm Arthur (1938–2003)
Senator for Queensland, 1976–99 (Australian Labor Party; Independent)

Malcolm Arthur Colston was born in Brisbane on 5 April 1938, the eldest child of Douglas Thomas Colston, a carpenter, and his wife Myrtle Clorine Ruby, née Wenck, a primary school teacher before her marriage. Even in his childhood Malcolm was more interested in books than sport. An above average student, he attended Mitchelton State School, Brisbane State High School (1952–55) and then went

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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

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COONEY, Bernard Cornelius (1934– 2019)<br /><span class=subheader>Senator for Victoria, 1985–2002 (Australian Labor Party)</span>

COONEY, Bernard Cornelius (1934– 2019)
Senator for Victoria, 1985–2002 (Australian Labor Party)

Bernard (Barney) Cornelius Cooney was born on July 11, 1934 at Currie, King Island, Tasmania, the third of four children of Bernard Pius Cooney and his wife Constance (Corrie) Eva, née Curtain. Most of Cooney’s mainly Irish forebears had lived in Tasmania for several generations, one back to the 1820s. There was the frequent Tasmanian background of both convict and west coast mining heritage

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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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CORMACK, Sir Magnus Cameron (1906–1994)<br /> <span class=subheader>Senator for Victoria, 1951–53, 1962–78 (Liberal Party of Australia)</span>

CORMACK, Sir Magnus Cameron (1906–1994)
Senator for Victoria, 1951–53, 1962–78 (Liberal Party of Australia)

Magnus Cameron Cormack was born on 12 February 1906 at Wick, Scotland, eldest of five children of William Petrie Cormack, a medical practitioner, and his wife Violet, née Cameron. The family migrated to South Australia in about 1912, their destination influenced by Dr Cormack’s health, and by the presence in Adelaide of his cousin, Senator Sir Josiah Symon. The family first lived on the

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COTTON, Sir Robert Carrington (1915–2006)<br /> <span class=subheader>Senator for New South Wales, 1965–78 (Liberal Party of Australia) </span>

COTTON, Sir Robert Carrington (1915–2006)
Senator for New South Wales, 1965–78 (Liberal Party of Australia)

Robert Carrington (Bob) Cotton, accountant, timber producer and company director, was born in Broken Hill on 29 November 1915, the first of seven children of Hugh Leslie (Les) Carrington Cotton and Muriel Florence, née Pearce. Les Cotton had established a mercantile agency at Broken Hill, which included the supply of materials to the local mine. Bob Cotton was educated at Burke Ward Public School,

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COULTER, John Richard (1930– )<br /><span class=subheader>Senator for South Australia, 1987–95 (Australian Democrats)</span>

COULTER, John Richard (1930– )
Senator for South Australia, 1987–95 (Australian Democrats)

John Richard Coulter was born in Perth, WA, on 3 December 1930, the elder of two children of English-born John Wolfe Stuckley Coulter, a clerk for the Vacuum Oil Company, and Constance Amelia Coulter, née Braddock, a nurse. Growing up in the then outer suburb of Nedlands, John walked each day through the bush to Nedlands Primary School. His mother wanted him to pursue

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COURTENAY, Lionel Thomas (1879–1935)<br /> <span class=subheader>Senator for New South Wales, 1935 (United Australia Party)</span>

COURTENAY, Lionel Thomas (1879–1935)
Senator for New South Wales, 1935 (United Australia Party)

Having won the 1935 federal election, Lionel Thomas Courtenay died before taking his seat. Though he had not been sworn in the Senate, the fact that Courtenay lived for ten days after the commencement of his Senate term made his estate eligible for a parliamentary allowance of £24.7.11. Lionel Thomas Courtenay was born in Balmain, Sydney, on 29 May 1879, the son of Lionel

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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,

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COX, Charles Frederick (1863–1944)<br /> <span class=subheader>Senator for New South Wales, 1920–38 (Nationalist Party; United Australia Party)</span>

COX, Charles Frederick (1863–1944)
Senator for New South Wales, 1920–38 (Nationalist Party; United Australia Party)

Charles Frederick Cox (‘Fighting Charlie’), who held the men of the Australian Light Horse to be above all other soldiers, was born on 2 May 1863 at Pennant Hills, Sydney, the son of Frederick Charles Cox, butcher and later orchardist, and Eliza, née Anderson. Educated at Parramatta, Cox joined the New South Wales Government Railways in 1881 as a clerk in the traffic audit

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CRANE, Arthur Winston (1941– )<br /><span class=subheader>Senator for Western Australia, 1990–2002 (Liberal Party of Australia; Independent Liberal)</span>

CRANE, Arthur Winston (1941– )
Senator for Western Australia, 1990–2002 (Liberal Party of Australia; Independent Liberal)

Arthur Winston Crane (known as Winston) was born in Perth on 21 August 1941, one of seven children of farmer Arthur Crane and his wife Lavina, née Longman, from Bindi Bindi in the wheat belt north of Perth. Winston Crane’s uncle, Albert (Bert) Crane was a longstanding Member of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly representing the constituency of Moore for the National Country Party

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CRAWFORD, Thomas William (1865–1948)<br /> <span class=subheader>Senator for Queensland, 1917–47 (Nationalist Party; United Australia Party; Independent)</span>

CRAWFORD, Thomas William (1865–1948)
Senator for Queensland, 1917–47 (Nationalist Party; United Australia Party; Independent)

Thomas William Crawford, sugar farmer, sugar industry advocate and politician, was born on 31 January 1865 at East Collingwood, Melbourne, son of Thomas and Ellen, née Lawson. Crawford senior had left Armagh, Ireland, in search of a better life in Australia. He opened a store at Woods Point on the Gippsland goldfields in Victoria, and soon after, in 1864, married the English-born Ellen. As

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CRICHTON-BROWNE, Noel Ashley (1944– )<br /><span class=subheader>Senator for Western Australia, 1981–96 (Liberal Party of Australia; Independent Liberal)</span>

CRICHTON-BROWNE, Noel Ashley (1944– )
Senator for Western Australia, 1981–96 (Liberal Party of Australia; Independent Liberal)

Noel Ashley Crichton-Browne, who was President of the Western Australian Liberal Party from 1975 to 1979, was elected to the Senate for a term beginning on 1 July 1981. He was reelected in 1983, 1984, and 1990, serving as a Liberal Party senator until 9 September 1995 and then as an Independent Liberal, before retiring upon the expiry of his final term on 30

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CRITCHLEY, John Owen (1892–1964)<br /> <span class=subheader>Senator for South Australia, 1947–59 (Australian Labor Party)</span>

CRITCHLEY, John Owen (1892–1964)
Senator for South Australia, 1947–59 (Australian Labor Party)

John Owen (Jack) Critchley, carpenter and railwayman, was born at Callington, South Australia, on 18 April 1892, the first of three sons of Patrick Critchley, labourer, and Julia, née Burns. Moving to Gumbowie, where his father worked as a packer on the railways, Jack attended school at Sunnybrae, then Petersburg (later Peterborough), leaving at thirteen because he felt his parents were ‘going without to

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CROFT, John William (1871–19??)<br /><span class=subheader>Senator for Western Australia, 1904–10 (Labor Party)</span>

CROFT, John William (1871–19??)
Senator for Western Australia, 1904–10 (Labor Party)

John William Croft was born to James Thomas Croft and Annie, née Bassett, on 20 January 1871 in Newcastle, New South Wales, the second of ten children. His grandfather, James, who spelled his name ‘Crofts’, had been transported for life for highway robbery, and after a brief time in Van Diemen’s Land, was sent to Newcastle where he was appointed an overseer in the

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CROWLEY, Rosemary Anne (1938– )<br /><span class=subheader>Senator for South Australia, 1983–2002 (Australian Labor Party)</span>

CROWLEY, Rosemary Anne (1938– )
Senator for South Australia, 1983–2002 (Australian Labor Party)

Rosemary Anne WIllis (later Crowley), was born in Melbourne, Victoria on 30 July 1938, the second of six children of Monica Mary Willis, née Redmond, and Everard Joseph Willis, an accountant. Her family, her Roman Catholic upbringing, and her primary and secondary education at Kilmaire Brigidine Convent in Hawthorn between 1943 and 1955, combined to instil in her a passion for social justice and

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CUMMING THOM, Alan Ritchie (1928–2007)<br /><span class=subheader>Clerk of the Senate, 1982–88</span>

CUMMING THOM, Alan Ritchie (1928–2007)
Clerk of the Senate, 1982–88

Alan Cumming Thom’s term of service as Clerk of the Senate was relatively brief, but it coincided with momentous events in the history of the institution, and he was called on to advise senators on unprecedented issues.[1] Alan Ritchie Cumming Thom was born in Glasgow, Scotland, on 15 February 1928, the youngest of two sons of William Cumming Thom and his wife Helen Allan,

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CUNNINGHAM, James (1879–1943)<br /> <span class=subheader>Senator for Western Australia, 1937–43 (Australian Labor Party)</span>

CUNNINGHAM, James (1879–1943)
Senator for Western Australia, 1937–43 (Australian Labor Party)

James Cunningham was born on 28 December 1879 at Wirrabara, South Australia, the son of James Cunningham, a stonemason and farmer, and his wife Catherine, née Herring, domestic servant. Young Jimmy had little formal education. From 1899 he was a prospector and goldminer, working at Norseman until 1905, and then at Boulder and Kalgoorlie. Fifteen years in the mines left him with a legacy

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