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ADAMSON, John (1857–1922)<br /><span class=subheader>Senator for Queensland, 1920–22 (Nationalist Party)</span>

ADAMSON, John (1857–1922)
Senator for Queensland, 1920–22 (Nationalist Party)

John Adamson, Methodist minister, was born on 18 February 1857 at Tudhoe, County Durham, England, the son of Robert Adamson, shoemaker, and his wife, Dorothy, née English. After leaving Tudhoe Public School at the age of ten, he was apprenticed first to his alcoholic father as a shoemaker; then worked as a blacksmith. He became a railway tradesman on the North Eastern Railways, and

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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

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BJELKE-PETERSEN, Florence Isabel (1920–2017)<br /><span class=subheader>Senator for Queensland, 1981–1993 (National Country Party; National Party of Australia)</span>

BJELKE-PETERSEN, Florence Isabel (1920–2017)
Senator for Queensland, 1981–1993 (National Country Party; National Party of Australia)

Florence Bjelke-Petersen was born Florence Isabel Gilmour, in Brisbane on 11 August 1920, eldest of two daughters of James Pollock Gilmour, an accountant and company secretary, and his wife Florence Mabel, née Low. Growing up in the Brisbane riverside suburb of New Farm, her childhood was a secure and happy one, embedded in a contented family life. Florence began her schooling at the New

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BLACK, John Rees (1952– )<br /><span class=subheader>Senator for Queensland, 1985–90 (Australian Labor Party)</span>

BLACK, John Rees (1952– )
Senator for Queensland, 1985–90 (Australian Labor Party)

John Rees Black was born in Sydney on 26 January 1952. He was the third of five children of Roger Foster Black, a botanist, born in Adelaide, and his Sydney-born wife Ivy Ada, née Tanner, whose father was said to have been an ‘ardent’ campaigner for Jack Lang. Ivy later wielded considerable back-room influence in the South Australian ALP and she was described as

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BONNER, Neville Thomas (1922–1999)<br /> <span class=subheader>Senator for Queensland, 1971–83 (Liberal Party of Australia; Independent)</span>

BONNER, Neville Thomas (1922–1999)
Senator for Queensland, 1971–83 (Liberal Party of Australia; Independent)

Neville Thomas Bonner, born ‘under a lone palm tree’ on 28 March 1922, at Ukerebagh Island, Tweed Heads, New South Wales, was a stockman and Aboriginal activist who believed it was in the best interest of his people to work for the Aboriginal cause within the existing political institutions of Australian white society. He was the first Indigenous Australian to sit in federal Parliament.

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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

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BURNS, Bryant Robert (1929–2007)<br /><span class=subheader>Senator for Queensland, 1987–96 (Australian Labor Party)</span>

BURNS, Bryant Robert (1929–2007)
Senator for Queensland, 1987–96 (Australian Labor Party)

Bryant Robert Burns was born in Rockhampton, Queensland on 24 March 1929. He was the youngest of three children of Charles Robert Burns, a railway engine driver, and his wife Alice Charlotte, née Wassman. Burns attended Leichhardt Ward Boys’ School until the age of thirteen, when he abandoned his studies to go droving. For three years he worked as a stockman and horsebreaker in

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BYRNE, Condon Bryan (1910–1993)<br /> <span class=subheader>Senator for Queensland, 1951–59, 1968–74 (Australian Labor Party, Queensland Labor Party, Democratic Labor Party)</span>

BYRNE, Condon Bryan (1910–1993)
Senator for Queensland, 1951–59, 1968–74 (Australian Labor Party, Queensland Labor Party, Democratic Labor Party)

Condon Bryan Byrne, lawyer, public servant and politician, was born at Yea, a pastoral town in central Victoria, on 25 May 1910. He was the son of Edward James Byrne, a soldier, born at Enniskillen, Ireland, and Mary Honorine, née Condon, born in Tasmania. Condon was educated at a primary school run by the Christian Brothers in West Melbourne, then at Marist Brothers’ College,

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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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DAWSON, Andrew (Anderson) (1863–1910)<br /><span class=subheader>Senator for Queensland, 1901–06 (Labor Party)</span>

DAWSON, Andrew (Anderson) (1863–1910)
Senator for Queensland, 1901–06 (Labor Party)

‘Andy’ Dawson. The name conjures up a blue flannelled miner or a grease-stained shearer, or a heavy-footed ploughman. Senator Dawson has been all three and more. Andrew (Anderson) Dawson was born on 16 July 1863, at Rockhampton, Queensland, son of Anderson Dawson, miner, and his wife Jane, née Smith. Shortly after his birth, Dawson’s parents died and he was placed in a Brisbane orphanage

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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

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DRAKE, James George (1850–1941)<br /><span class=subheader>Senator for Queensland, 1901–06 (Protectionist)</span>

DRAKE, James George (1850–1941)
Senator for Queensland, 1901–06 (Protectionist)

As one of two ministers in the first Senate, James George Drake established the largest of the seven new Commonwealth departments—that of Postmaster-General. Born in London on 26 April 1850, son of Edward Drake, a publican, and his wife, Ann Fanny, née Hyde, Drake was educated at King’s College School, London. Eager to see the world, he left London on the Abbey Holmeon 4

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FERGUSON, John (1830–1906)<br /><span class=subheader>Senator for Queensland, 1901–03 (Free Trade)</span>

FERGUSON, John (1830–1906)
Senator for Queensland, 1901–03 (Free Trade)

John Ferguson, builder, contractor and mining investor, was born at Kenmore, Perthshire, Scotland on 15 March 1830, son of John Ferguson, weaver, and his wife Janet, née Ferguson. After a short period of primary schooling, he worked on the Marquis of Breadalbane’s estate. In 1847, he became a carpenter’s apprentice at Killin, later moving to Glasgow where he was employed as a journeyman and

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FERRICKS, Myles Aloysius (1875–1932)<br /><span class=subheader>Senator for Queensland, 1913–20 (Australian Labor Party)</span>

FERRICKS, Myles Aloysius (1875–1932)
Senator for Queensland, 1913–20 (Australian Labor Party)

Myles Aloysius Ferricks was born in Maryborough, Queensland, on 12 November 1875, the fourteenth child of Austin and Mary, née Sheridan. Educated at the Albert State School and Maryborough Christian Brothers, he subsequently passed the Sydney University Junior Examination. With a farm upbringing and a first-class engine driver’s certificate, he was able to turn his hand to a variety of occupations from teaching to

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FIELD, Albert Patrick (1910–1990)<br /> <span class=subheader>Senator for Queensland, 1975 (Independent)</span>

FIELD, Albert Patrick (1910–1990)
Senator for Queensland, 1975 (Independent)

Albert Patrick Field was a member of the Senate for a very short period and was on leave for most of it, but he was at the epicentre of historic events that brought down the Labor Government of Gough Whitlam. He is remembered, if only briefly, in virtually all accounts of the dismissal of that Government in 1975, and even to some extent in

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FOLL, Hattil Spencer (1890–1977)<br /> <span class=subheader>Senator for Queensland, 1917–47 (Nationalist Party; United Australia Party; Liberal Party of Australia)</span>

FOLL, Hattil Spencer (1890–1977)
Senator for Queensland, 1917–47 (Nationalist Party; United Australia Party; Liberal Party of Australia)

Twenty-six at the time of his election, Hattil (Harry) Spencer Foll held the record for ‘youngest senator’ until 24-year-old Bill O’Chee was appointed to fill a casual vacancy in 1990. Foll, who apparently disliked the name Hattil, was born at West Brixton, London, on 30 May 1890 to John Hattil Foll, a butcher, and Kate, née Lamb. He was their second child and was

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GAIR, Vincent Clare (1901–1980)<br /> <span class=subheader>Senator for Queensland, 1965–74 (Democratic Labor Party)</span>

GAIR, Vincent Clare (1901–1980)
Senator for Queensland, 1965–74 (Democratic Labor Party)

Vincent Clare Gair was born in Rockhampton, Queensland, on 25 February 1901. He was the eighth of the ten children of John Alexander Gair, prison warder, and Catherine Mary, née Maguire. John Gair immigrated to Queensland from Scotland in 1885, where he had worked as a publican and hospital orderly. He was a ‘strict disciplinarian’ and ‘a life-long supporter of the Labour Party’, but

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GEORGES, George (1920–2002)<br /><span class=subheader>Senator for Queensland, 1968–87 (Australian Labor Party; Independent)</span>

GEORGES, George (1920–2002)
Senator for Queensland, 1968–87 (Australian Labor Party; Independent)

George Georgouras was born in Darwin on 15 April 1920, the fourth of seven children of Athanasios Georgouras and his wife Panayiota, née Stergoulis. Athanasios came from Castellorizo, an isolated island off the southeast coast of Greece with a ‘difficult and tragic history’ of political troubles that led many of its inhabitants to flee to Australia. He immigrated to Australia in 1912 and started

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GIBBS, Brenda (1947– )<br /><span class=subheader>Senator for Queensland, 1996–2002 (Australian Labor Party)</span>

GIBBS, Brenda (1947– )
Senator for Queensland, 1996–2002 (Australian Labor Party)

Brenda Gibbs’ term as a senator for Queensland began in the wake of a bitter pre-selection contest and the death of her 28-year-old son. In a way, it finished as it began, as the result of a factional quarrel over the federal seat of Petrie. In the interim, the senator was a strong advocate for the vulnerable and disadvantaged. Born on 3 September 1947

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GIVENS, Henry Thomas (1864–1928)<br /><span class=subheader>Senator for Queensland, 1904–28 (Labor Party; National Labour Party; Nationalist Party)</span>

GIVENS, Henry Thomas (1864–1928)
Senator for Queensland, 1904–28 (Labor Party; National Labour Party; Nationalist Party)

Henry Thomas Givens, cane-cutter, miner, journalist and President of the Senate for thirteen years, arrived in Australia in 1882. He was born in County Tipperary, Ireland, on 12 June 1864,the son of a farmer, Robert Givens, and his wife, Mary Ann, née White. Once in the Antipodes, young Thomas travelled north to Queensland, where he worked on the cane fields. For a period, he

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GLASGOW, Sir Thomas William (1876–1955)<br /> <span class=subheader>Senator for Queensland, 1920–32 (Nationalist Party; United Australia Party)</span>

GLASGOW, Sir Thomas William (1876–1955)
Senator for Queensland, 1920–32 (Nationalist Party; United Australia Party)

Thomas William (Bill) Glasgow was born on 6 June 1876, at ‘Upton Bank’, Tiaro, on the Mary River, inland from Maryborough in Queensland. His father, Samuel, had come from Armagh, in Northern Ireland to the four-year-old colony in 1863. Samuel had married in 1864, but his first wife died in 1867, leaving him to bring up an infant daughter, Elizabeth. Gold was discovered at

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GLASSEY, Thomas (1844–1936)<br /><span class=subheader>Senator for Queensland, 1901–03 (Protectionist)</span>

GLASSEY, Thomas (1844–1936)
Senator for Queensland, 1901–03 (Protectionist)

Thomas Glassey, miner and auctioneer, and widely regarded as Australia’s first Labor MP, was also a founder of the National Party in Queensland. Glassey was born at Markethill, County Armagh, Ireland, on 26 February 1844, son of Wilhelm Glassey, a mill hand who supported his large family on ten pence a day, and his wife Susannah, who died when Glassey was an infant. From

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HEATLEY, William Clarence (1920–1971)<br /> <span class=subheader>Senator for Queensland, 1966–68 (Liberal Party of Australia)</span>

HEATLEY, William Clarence (1920–1971)
Senator for Queensland, 1966–68 (Liberal Party of Australia)

William Clarence Heatley, Gold Coast trawler owner, grazier and businessman, was born in Townsville, Queensland, on 11 July 1920. He was the son of William John Heatley, a businessman and later Mayor of Townsville, and his wife Minnie, née Williams. An Anglican, he was educated at All Souls School in Charters Towers and at Townsville Grammar School. He matriculated from The Southport School on

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HIGGS, William Guy (1862–1951)<br /><span class=subheader>Senator for Queensland, 1901–06 (Labor Party)</span>

HIGGS, William Guy (1862–1951)
Senator for Queensland, 1901–06 (Labor Party)

The career of W. G. Higgs, printer and journalist, was characterised by a determination to form his own beliefs and to remain constant to them. His idealism and independence, which helped to formulate the earliest policies of the Labor Party, saw him often in conflict with the Party in later years. William Guy Higgs was born on 18 January 1862 at Wingham, a small

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JONES, Gerry Norman Francis (1932–2017)<br /><span class=subheader>Senator for Queensland, 1981–96 (Australian Labor Party)</span>

JONES, Gerry Norman Francis (1932–2017)
Senator for Queensland, 1981–96 (Australian Labor Party)

Norman Francis (Gerry) Jones was born on 16 August 1932 at Roma, Queensland, the younger of two sons of William Norman Harcourt Jones, railway worker, and his wife Kathleen Alice, née Moore, a tailor. When he was growing up, his father insisted that he should be known as Gerry and later in life he formalised that name by deed-poll. He attended St Columba’s School,

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KEEFFE, James Bernard (1919–1988)<br /> <span class=subheader>Senator for Queensland, 1965–83 (Australian Labor Party)</span>

KEEFFE, James Bernard (1919–1988)
Senator for Queensland, 1965–83 (Australian Labor Party)

James Bernard Keeffe, champion of Indigenous Australians and the Deep North, was always proud of his Irish heritage. His great-grandfather had emigrated from County Tipperary in 1841 and settled in the Queanbeyan district of New South Wales. Jim’s father, also James Keeffe, moved to Sydney, and then to northern Queensland where he worked as a canecutter, coffee planter and tin miner. He married Augusta

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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

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KERNOT, Cheryl (1948– )<br /><span class=subheader>Senator for Queensland, 1990–97 (Australian Democrats)</span>

KERNOT, Cheryl (1948– )
Senator for Queensland, 1990–97 (Australian Democrats)

Cheryl Kernot was born Cheryl Paton in Maitland, NSW on 5 December 1948, the eldest of four children of Mervyn Roydon Paton, a purchasing officer for the Maitland City Council, and his wife Zena, née Hunter. To help with the family budget, Merv took a second job as manager of the Princes Theatre in East Maitland. Although their parents were not regular churchgoers, all

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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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MacDONALD, John Valentine (1880–1937)<br /> <span class=subheader>Senator for Queensland, 1922, 1928, 1932–37 (Australian Labor Party; Federal Labor Party)</span>

MacDONALD, John Valentine (1880–1937)
Senator for Queensland, 1922, 1928, 1932–37 (Australian Labor Party; Federal Labor Party)

John Valentine MacDonald, journalist, was born on 14 February 1880 in Opotiki, New Zealand. He was the son of Norman, policeman and farmer, and Alice, née Davis, and grandson, on the paternal side, of John, a pioneer of the Victorian pastoral industry. MacDonald attended briefly state schools in New Zealand and New South Wales. From the age of eight he accompanied his nomadic father and

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MacGIBBON, David John (1934– )<br /><span class=subheader>Senator for Queensland, 1978–99 (Liberal Party of Australia)</span>

MacGIBBON, David John (1934– )
Senator for Queensland, 1978–99 (Liberal Party of Australia)

David John MacGibbon was born on 13 May 1934 in Brisbane, Queensland, son of Frederick William MacGibbon, cane grower and accountant, and his wife Eva Nicholson, née Ewart. He was educated at Maryborough High School and the University of Queensland, where he graduated as a Bachelor of Dental Science, winning the Carlisle C Bastian Prize and the Mary Moffatt Memorial Prize in 1956. MacGibbon

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MACKLIN, Michael John (1943– )<br /><span class=subheader>Senator for Queensland, 1981–90 (Australian Democrats)</span>

MACKLIN, Michael John (1943– )
Senator for Queensland, 1981–90 (Australian Democrats)

Michael John Macklin was born on 25 February 1943 in Cricklewood, London, the youngest of four sons born to his Irish father, James Joseph Macklin, and English mother, Vera Alice, née Headley. In 1949 the Macklins migrated to Australia on the SS Ormonde as ‘Ten Pound Poms’ under an assisted passage scheme, and landed in Melbourne. Later that year, the family moved to Ayr,

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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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MAUGHAN, William John Ryott (1863–1933)<br /><span class=subheader>Senator for Queensland, 1913–20 (Australian Labor Party)</span>

MAUGHAN, William John Ryott (1863–1933)
Senator for Queensland, 1913–20 (Australian Labor Party)

Editor to state politician, Labor functionary to senator, William John Ryott Maughan was born on 8 January 1863 at Whitechapel, London, the son of the Rev. Joseph Maughan and Selina Gedge, née Pace. Maughan’s father, who had been ordained as an Anglican clergyman in 1860, was associate secretary of the Colonial and Continental Church Society, and author of Pastoral Addresses.By 1867, he was vicar

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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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McAULIFFE, Ronald Edward (1918–1988)<br /> <span class=subheader>Senator for Queensland, 1971–81 (Australian Labor Party)</span>

McAULIFFE, Ronald Edward (1918–1988)
Senator for Queensland, 1971–81 (Australian Labor Party)

Ronald Edward McAuliffe, rugby league administrator and politician, was born in Brisbane on 25 July 1918. He was adopted by Edward McAuliffe, a railway fettler, and Margaret Ann, née Fogarty. The McAuliffes were a large family, living in a small workman’s cottage in Rainbow Street that backed on to the Sandgate to Shorncliffe railway line. Ron was educated at Sandgate’s Sacred Heart convent school

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MILLINER, Bertie Richard (1911–1975)<br /> <span class=subheader>Senator for Queensland, 1968–75 (Australian Labor Party)</span>

MILLINER, Bertie Richard (1911–1975)
Senator for Queensland, 1968–75 (Australian Labor Party)

Bertie Richard Milliner was born in Kelvin Grove, Brisbane, on 17 July 1911. He was the sixth son of Arthur, a glazier, and Ellen, née Batchelor. Educated at Kelvin Grove Boys’ State School from 1918 until 1925, Milliner spent his entire life in the inner west Brisbane suburbs of Kelvin Grove and Newmarket. On 26 March 1938 he married a schoolteacher, Thelma Elizabeth Voght,

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MORRIS, Sir Kenneth James (1903–1978)<br /> <span class=subheader>Senator for Queensland, 1963–68 (Liberal Party of Australia)</span>

MORRIS, Sir Kenneth James (1903–1978)
Senator for Queensland, 1963–68 (Liberal Party of Australia)

Kenneth James Morris, pastoralist, manufacturer, soldier and politician, was born in Brisbane on 22 October 1903, eighth child born to James Reuben Morris, a farmer born in Northhampton, England, and his wife Christina McKenzie, née Grant, born in Geelong, Victoria. Morris was educated at state schools at Ithaca Creek and Mapleton between 1912 and 1917, and at Brisbane Grammar School from 1918 to 1919.

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MULLAN, John (1871–1941)<br /><span class=subheader>Senator for Queensland, 1913–17 (Labor Party)</span>

MULLAN, John (1871–1941)
Senator for Queensland, 1913–17 (Labor Party)

John Mullan, ‘a small, pugnacious figure, with a Paderewski-like mop of curly black hair’, impressed his contemporaries as ‘a fluent and somewhat combative debater, with a sprightly Irish wit . . . as nimble and elusive in the dialectical wrestling bouts of the debating floor as the fabled leprechaun of Irish folk-lore’.[1] Mullan was born in Loughlinstown, near Dublin, Ireland, on 8 September 1871,

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O’CHEE, William George (1965– )<br /><span class=subheader>Senator for Queensland, 1990–99 (National Party of Australia)</span>

O’CHEE, William George (1965– )
Senator for Queensland, 1990–99 (National Party of Australia)

Bill O’Chee was an unconventional parliamentarian: at twenty-four years of age he was the youngest person to sit in the Senate, the first with Chinese ancestry to be elected to the federal Parliament, and he was an Australian representative in world championship skeleton races, an extreme one-person form of bobsledding. O’Chee sometimes sported a bright pink tie and drove an expensive Lotus Elise sports

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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

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PARER, Warwick (1936– )<br /><span class=subheader>Senator for Queensland, 1984–2000 (Liberal Party of Australia)</span>

PARER, Warwick (1936– )
Senator for Queensland, 1984–2000 (Liberal Party of Australia)

Warwick Parer, entrepreneur, businessman and politician, was born in Wau, Papua New Guinea on 6 April 1936, son of Kevin Parer and his wife Annie (Nance), née McGahan. The Parers were pioneers of the timber, mining and aviation industries in New Guinea, where Kevin founded an airline, Parer’s Air Transport. Kevin Parer was reported to have been the first Australian to die at the

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POULTER, Maxwell William (1913–1962)<br /> <span class=subheader>Senator for Queensland, 1962 (Australian Labor Party)</span>

POULTER, Maxwell William (1913–1962)
Senator for Queensland, 1962 (Australian Labor Party)

In his youth, when accompanying his father, then a produce agent, around northern Tasmania, Max Poulter became aware of the disproportionate distribution of wealth within the local community. This discovery motivated his actions, political and social, and ultimately led to his election to the Senate, though he died before taking his seat. Maxwell William Poulter, school and university teacher, was born on 22 January

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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

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REID, Matthew (1856–1947)<br /> <span class=subheader>Senator for Queensland, 1917–35 (Nationalist Party; United Australia Party)</span>

REID, Matthew (1856–1947)
Senator for Queensland, 1917–35 (Nationalist Party; United Australia Party)

Matthew Reid was born at Dalmellington, Ayrshire, Scotland, on 30 September 1856; only the name of his mother, Elizabeth Reid, is known. In his early years Reid worked as a carpenter, serving his apprenticeship in Glasgow and working in London, where he married Mary Smart on 24 June 1879. He joined the Amalgamated Carpenters’ Union, and was a member of Henry Hyndman’s Social Democratic

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REYNOLDS, Margaret (1941– )<br /><span class=subheader>Senator for Queensland, 1982–99 (Australian Labor Party)</span>

REYNOLDS, Margaret (1941– )
Senator for Queensland, 1982–99 (Australian Labor Party)

Margaret Reynolds, activist, educator and author, was born Margaret Lyne, in Hobart on 19 July 1941, the only child of Walter Rodis (Rod) Lyne and his wife Jess, née Montgomery, a teacher. Rod Lyne, who worked on his father’s farm before serving with the Australian Army in New Guinea, died in 1947. During the war Jess took Margaret to Launceston to live near her

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SAYERS, Robert John (1845–1919)<br /><span class=subheader>Senator for Queensland, 1907–13 (Anti-Socialist Party)</span>

SAYERS, Robert John (1845–1919)
Senator for Queensland, 1907–13 (Anti-Socialist Party)

Robert John Sayers, a distinguished-looking Queensland miner, once mistaken for a bushranger, was born on 27 January 1845 at St Lawrence on the Isle of Wight, the son of James Alexander Sayers, a coast guard officer, and his wife, Emma, née Gover. Sayers’ education took place in schools at Cowes and in London before he arrived in Queensland about 1863. He became involved in

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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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SHERRINGTON, Robert Duncan (1902–1966)<br /> <span class=subheader>Senator for Queensland, 1962–66 (Liberal Party of Australia)</span>

SHERRINGTON, Robert Duncan (1902–1966)
Senator for Queensland, 1962–66 (Liberal Party of Australia)

Robert Duncan Sherrington devoted most of his life to the sugar industry and to the Queensland Liberal Party. He was born in Maryborough, Queensland, on 21 January 1902, the son of James McGowan Sherrington, driller, and Mary Ellen, née Crane. He was the cousin of Douglas Sherrington, who represented the Queensland state electorate of Salisbury for the Labor Party between 1960 and 1974. Growing

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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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ST LEDGER, Anthony James Joseph (1859–1929)<br /><span class=subheader>Senator for Queensland, 1907–13 (Anti-Socialist Party)</span>

ST LEDGER, Anthony James Joseph (1859–1929)
Senator for Queensland, 1907–13 (Anti-Socialist Party)

Anthony James Joseph St Ledger, educationalist, who was born in Barnsley, Yorkshire, on 18 February 1859, arrived in Queensland on the Persia on 3 December 1861 with his parents, Michael, a sawyer, and Martha née Waddington, and his brother John and sister Mary. His education took place at St Mary’s Boys’ School, Ipswich, under Rev. J. Breen, followed by some years at St Kilian’s

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STEWART, James Charles (1850–1931)<br /><span class=subheader>Senator for Queensland, 1901–17 (Labor Party)</span>

STEWART, James Charles (1850–1931)
Senator for Queensland, 1901–17 (Labor Party)

James Charles Stewart, an advocate of Scottish home rule, was born in Gorton, near Grantown‑on‑Spey, Morayshire, Scotland, on 7 September 1850. His father, Angus, was a farmer and blacksmith and his mother was Jessie Cruickshanks. Both lived in Gorton. James Charles attended the parish school until he was twelve, when he began work as a farm labourer. He must have continued some studies for

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STONE, John Owen (1929– )<br /><span class=subheader>Senator for Queensland, 1987–90 (National Party of Australia)</span>

STONE, John Owen (1929– )
Senator for Queensland, 1987–90 (National Party of Australia)

John Stone was one of the most outspoken and controversial figures in Australian public life. When head of the Treasury during the late 1970s and early 1980s he was widely regarded as Australia’s leading public servant. In 1978 the journalist Paul Kelly described Stone as one of the two men who ran the nation (Prime Minister Fraser was the other). To his admirers he

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SULLIVAN, Kathryn Jean Martin (1942– )<br /><span class=subheader>Senator for Queensland, 1974–84 (Liberal Party of Australia)</span>

SULLIVAN, Kathryn Jean Martin (1942– )
Senator for Queensland, 1974–84 (Liberal Party of Australia)

In her youth Kathy Martin aspired to be a lawyer or a police officer. Despite her best efforts the inherent gender discrimination of the 1950s and 1960s proved insurmountable and she would move into the more ‘acceptable’ field of education. Only a few decades later, her entry into Australia’s federal Parliament proved to be the ultimate irony. Instead of practising or enforcing the law,

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THOMPSON, William George (1863–1953)<br /> <span class=subheader>Senator for Queensland, 1922–32 (Nationalist Party)</span>

THOMPSON, William George (1863–1953)
Senator for Queensland, 1922–32 (Nationalist Party)

William George Thompson, businessman and soldier, was born on 2 March 1863 at Lurgan, Armagh, Ireland, the son of William, fencing contractor, and Isabella, née Campbell. The family migrated to Rockhampton when William was fourteen months old. After attending Rockhampton North State School Thompson started work as an office boy with the wine and spirit merchant, W. Jackson. He attended night classes and by

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TURLEY, Joseph Henry Lewis (1859–1929)<br /><span class=subheader>Senator for Queensland, 1904–17 (Labor Party)</span>

TURLEY, Joseph Henry Lewis (1859–1929)
Senator for Queensland, 1904–17 (Labor Party)

Joseph Henry Lewis (Harry) Turley, wharf labourer, trade unionist and first Labor President of the Senate, was born on 24 April 1859 at Burton St Michael, Gloucester, England, the son of Charles Turley, master shoemaker, and his wife, Agnes (Susan), née Oliver. Harry was educated at Brixham, Devonshire. He went to sea, arriving in Brisbane in 1879, and worked there as a wharf labourer.

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WHITESIDE, George Irvine (1902–1976)<br /> <span class=subheader>Senator for Queensland, 1962–63 (Australian Labor Party)</span>

WHITESIDE, George Irvine (1902–1976)
Senator for Queensland, 1962–63 (Australian Labor Party)

George Irvine Whiteside was born in Footscray, Victoria, on 20 September 1902, son of John Whiteside, a fitter born in Rochford, Victoria, and Caroline, née Hale, born in Wigan, England. Educated in state schools, in his youth Whiteside was an active sportsman and a noted amateur boxer. His first job was in a Victorian stone quarry. In 1917 he joined the Australian Workers’ Union

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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

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