57 MACARTHUR-ONSLOW, Sir DENZIL (1904-1984), army officer ...

MACARTHUR-ONSLOW, Sir DENZIL
(1904-1984), army officer, businessman
and grazier, was born on 5 March 1904 at
Whataupoko, Poverty Bay, New Zealand,
eldest of four children of New South Walesborn
parents Francis Arthur Macarthur-
Onslow [q.v.10], sheep-farmer, and his wife
Sylvia Raymond, née Chisholm. A descen dant
of John Macarthur [q.v.2], Denzil was raised
on a family property at Menangle, New South
Wales. He was educated at Tudor House, Moss
Vale, and The King’s School, Parra matta.
Leaving school in 1922, he began his long
association with the military on 20 August
1924, when he was commissioned as a lieutenant
in the Militia. Interested in flying,
that year he joined the Royal Aero Club of
New South Wales and became a partner in
Light Aircraft Pty Ltd, a manufacturer of parachutes.
In the 1920s he followed a number of
eclectic pursuits, travelling abroad to study
both the latest dairying techniques and aviation
engineering. He was a quietly spoken
teetotaller and non-smoker. On 5 July 1927
at Holy Trinity Church of England, Brompton,
London, he married Elinor Margaret Caldwell.
Having risen to captain, in 1935-38
Macarthur-Onslow was a general staff officer
with the 1st Cavalry Division. Promoted to
major in October 1939, he volunteered for
the Australian Imperial Force, joining the 6th
Division Reconnaissance (Cavalry) Regiment.
In January 1940 he sailed for the Middle East
and, after training in Egypt, took his squadron
to Cyrenaica, Libya. During attacks on
Bardia in January 1941, the squadron captured
two thousand prisoners and held an
enemy post until reinforcements arrived. For
this action, Macarthur-Onslow was mentioned
in despatches and in May was awarded the
Distinguished Service Order. Promoted to
lieutenant colonel and placed in command of
the 6th Division Cavalry Regiment on 11 June,
he participated in the Syrian campaign in July.
Regarded by his men as a ‘cracker bloke’, he
raised an equestrian unit, known as the ‘Kelly
Gang’, which operated in mountain country,
and he led two armoured squadrons during
the capture of Merdjayoun. He was again
mentioned in despatches. Returning to Australia
in March 1942, Macarthur-Onslow was
promoted to temporary brigadier. He commanded
the 1st Armoured Brigade from July
until January 1943 when he took command of
the 4th Armoured Brigade. Although he was
mostly based in Australia for the remainder of
the war, he visited elements of his brigade in
New Guinea on numerous occasions.
M
57
Taking leave without pay in July 1943,
Macarthur-Onslow contested the seat of Eden-
Monaro for the Liberal Democratic Party in
the Federal election in August. Unsuccessful,
he returned to active duty. He undertook parachute
training and in October 1944 reputedly
became the only Australian army officer to be
a fully qualified parachutist. On relinquishing
command of the 4th Armoured Brigade in
March 1946, he transferred to the Reserve of
Officers with the honorary rank of brigadier.
At the Federal elections in 1946 and 1949
he failed to win Eden-Monaro for the Liberal
Party of Australia.
Macarthur-Onslow returned to his property,
Mount Gilead, Menangle, and established in
Sydney Denzil Macarthur-Onslow Pty Ltd,
a manufacturer of pastry-cook supplies.
Retaining an association with the military,
on 14 November 1947 he took command of
the 1st Armoured Brigade, Citizen Military
Forces. He was promoted to brigadier in January
1949. Having divorced his wife, he married
Dorothy Wolseley Conagher, née Scott, a
medical practitioner, on 25 September 1950
at the assistant district registrar’s office,
Petersham, Sydney. He was appointed CBE
in 1951 and relinquished command of the 1st
Armoured Brigade on 31 August 1953. From
16 August 1954 he commanded the 2nd Australian
Division and was promoted to major
general a year later. On 1 December 1958 he
was appointed CMF member on the Military
Board, which made him the highest ranking
CMF officer in the country and the only one
to sit on the army’s decision-making body.
On 30 November 1960 Macarthur-Onslow
returned to the Reserve of Officers. He was
knighted in 1964. A long-time member of the
Big Brother Movement, he served as president
(1966-80). He maintained his business
interests, sitting on a number of company
boards including those of Clyde Industries
Ltd, Meggitt Ltd, Pettiford Holdings Ltd,
Philips Industries Holdings Ltd and Total
Australia Ltd. President (1966-69) of the Australian
Club, Sydney, he was also a member
of the Royal Sydney Golf and Australasian
Pioneers’ clubs. Survived by his wife and
their son and daughter and three sons and a
daughter of his first marriage, Sir Denzil died
on 30 November 1984 at Castle Hill and was
cremated with Anglican rites.
G. Long, Greece, Crete and Syria (1962); R. N. L.
Hopkins, Australian Armour (1978); D. McCarthy,
The Once and Future Army (2003); People (Sydney),
11 Apr 1951, p 22; B883, item NX135 (NAA).
Dayton Mccarthy
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McAuliffe
McAULIFFE, RONALD EDWARD (1918-
1988), Australian Labor Party organiser,
politician, and Rugby League football administrator,
was born on 25 July 1918 in Brisbane
and adopted as a baby by Edward McAuliffe,
fettler, and his wife Margaret Ann, née
Fogarty. Ron was educated at St Joseph’s
College, Gregory Terrace, and in 1936 began
work in the Queensland Railways audit office.
A fine athlete, he played Rugby League for
Sandgate and Northern Suburbs and, having
won his first professional foot-race at 17,
trained under Arthur Postle [q.v.11] for the
Stawell Gift but failed to make the final.
On 28 May 1940 McAuliffe enlisted in the
Australian Imperial Force. He sailed for the
Middle East with the 2/2nd Casualty Clearing
Station; the unit was at Tobruk, Libya,
during the siege in 1941. Back in Brisbane,
on 22 June 1942 at Sacred Heart Catholic
Church, Sandgate, he married Doreen Lilian
Campbell, a shop attendant. He then served
with the Australian New Guinea Administrative
Unit as a warrant officer, class two,
in 1943-44. Returning to Queensland, he was
discharged in September 1945 and resumed
his post with the railways. As a member of
a Labor League club and of the Australian
Labor Party’s Baroona branch, he developed
into an accomplished debater, representing
Queensland in interstate competitions in
1950 and 1951. He was secretary (1947-55)
of the Brisbane federal divisional executive
of the ALP and campaign director for George
Lawson [q.v.15] in the 1951 and 1954 Federal
elections. (Sir) Jack Egerton, an ALP power
broker in Queensland, was a mentor.
McAuliffe resigned from the Queensland
Railways in 1952 and became proprietor
(1959-69) of the Hotel Kirrabelle, Coolangatta.
A member (1966-77) of the ALP’s
Queensland central executive, he was elected
to the Senate in November 1970 and took
his seat on 1 July next year. Heavily involved
in committee work, he served as chairman
of the foreign ownership and control (1974-
75), Senate estimates (for two periods), and
public accounts (1973-75) committees. He
also chaired the Labor Party caucus from
May 1978 until he retired from parliament
on 30 June 1981.
Active for over thirty years in the administration
of Rugby League football, McAuliffe had
been first associated with the shift-workers’
league that, under the umbrella of the Brisbane
Rugby League, began Sunday football.
He was appointed chairman of the BRL in
1952, but relinquished the post to become
the first secretary (1953-59), jointly, of the
Queensland and Brisbane Rugby leagues.
As chairman (1970-85) of the QRL and deputychairman
(1980-86) of the Australian Rugby
Football League, he reputedly ruled Queensland’s
major winter sport ‘with an iron fist
58
A. D. B.
wrapped nicely in kid gloves’. He is credited
with pioneering the ‘one league’ concept and
with transforming the QRL into a business.
McAuliffe was the driving force behind the
State of Origin series. For years Queensland
had been thrashed by New South Wales in
interstate matches, and when McAuliffe first
argued for a series where players represented
the State in which they had first played senior
football there was much scepticism. The
concept was an instant success, however,
when Queensland won the opening game
in July 1980. McAuliffe was also chairman
of the Lang Park Trust (1979-88) and of the
Rothmans National Sport Foundation (1984-
88). In 1982 he was appointed OBE, and in
1985 he was presented with the Company
Directors Association of Australia, Queensland
chapter’s gold medal; he also won an
Advance Australia award.
The press appreciated McAuliffe for his
highly quotable remarks, for example, ‘the
best committee consists of three people, with
two away sick’, ‘you can’t sit on the fence and
have your ear to the ground at the same time’,
and ‘all things considered, it is awfully hard
to be humble when you are a Queenslander’.
Energetic and loquacious, he was known for
his loyalty, integrity and honesty. He was a
trustee (1978-88) of the Queensland branch of
the Totally and Permanently Disabled Soldiers
Association of Australia.
Survived by his wife and their son, McAuliffe
died of a cerebral haemorrhage on 16 August
1988 in Brisbane and was buried in Nudgee
cemetery. Complying with his wishes, a wake
was held at Lang Park (Suncorp) Stadium,
complete with a five-piece jazz band ‘to blast
me away’. The Queensland coach Wayne
Bennett said: ‘He had fight and great vision. He
wasn’t afraid to make a decision, which a lot of
people found unpopular. Some mightn’t have
liked him, but they did respect him. That’s the
mark of the man’. The Ron McAuliffe medal
is presented annually to Queensland’s best
player in the State of Origin series.
M. and R. Howell, The Greatest Game Under the
Sun (1989); Rugby League News (Qld), 26 Apr 1952,
p 2; Courier-Mail (Brisbane), 21 Sept 1985, p 25,
17 Aug 1988, pp 1, 60; private information and
personal knowledge. M. L. howeLL
McBRIDE, Sir PHILIP ALBERT MARTIN
(1892-1982), pastoralist and politician, was
born on 18 June 1892 at Kooringa, Burra, South
Australia, eldest child of South Australian-born
parents Albert James McBride, pastoralist
and businessman, and his wife Louisa, née
Lane. Educated at Burra Public School
and Prince Alfred College, Adelaide, Philip
worked on family farms in partnership with
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1981–1990
his father. In 1920 father and son became joint
managing directors of A. J. & P. A. McBride
Ltd, a grazing company that later controlled
vast sheep stations stretching across the arid
pastoral zone of northern South Australia.
After Albert’s death in 1928, Philip became
its sole chairman, a position he was to hold for
fifty years. He served two terms as president
of the Stockowners’ Association of South
Australia (1929-31) and was its representative
on the Australian Woolgrowers’ Council in
the 1930s. On 16 December 1914 at the
Methodist Church, Kooringa, he had married
Rita Irene (Rene) Crewes, an artist.
Unsuccessfully contesting the State seats of
Newcastle (1927) and Burra (1930), McBride
won the Federal South Australian seat of
Grey for the United Australia Party in 1931,
and retained it in 1934 as a Liberal Country
League candidate. Believing that Australia’s
recovery from the Depression depended
on the health of its primary industries, he
supported the LCL director, Charles Hawker
[q.v.9], in opposing policies that might embarrass
Britain and in arguing for the lowering of
tariffs and the implementation of the Ottawa
Agreement. Before the 1937 general election,
he struck a deal with a Country Party senator,
fellow grazier, A. O. Badman, who resigned
from the Senate and contested Grey, which
he won. McBride was nominated at a joint
sitting of both Houses of the South Australian
parliament to fill the casual Senate vacancy.
He was elected to a six-year term from 1937.
Appointed minister without portfolio assisting
the minister for commerce (1939-40) in
(Sir) Robert Menzies’ [q.v.15] UAP government,
McBride became, in 1940, a member of
the Economic Cabinet, minister for the army,
minister for repatriation, and a member of the
War Cabinet. Following the 1940 election, he
became minister for munitions and minister
for supply and development. He was made a
member of the Advisory War Council under
Prime Minister (Sir) Arthur Fadden [q.v.14]
in 1941. In Opposition from October that year,
he became deputy-leader in the Senate but
was defeated in the 1943 Federal election.
He remained a senator until 30 June 1944.
A staunch supporter of Menzies in the UAP
leadership crisis of 1941, McBride became a
member of the provisional executive of the
new Liberal Party of Australia, which Menzies
had played a prominent part in establishing.
Winning the Federal seat of Wakefield for the
Liberals in 1946, McBride was appointed
minister for the interior (1949-50) when the
Liberal-Country coalition regained office in
December 1949. As minister for defence from
1950 to 1958—with the additional portfolios
of navy and air in May-July 1951—he presided
over the defence program (1950-54) to prepare
an Australian expeditionary force for an
allied defence of the Middle East against the
59
McBride
Soviet Union in a possible world war. At this
time he was also in charge of the commitment
of forces to Korea and Malaya. Loyal to
Menzies, he supported him in the concept of
‘forward defence’ to improve national security
by fighting alongside powerful allies (notably
the United States of America) in Asia.
By 1956 the power and influence of
McBride’s long-serving secretary, Sir Frederick
Shedden [q.v.16], and the unwieldy
structure of the Department of Defence were
under scrutiny. Menzies criticised Shedden,
who had not moved to Canberra from Melbourne
and who remained bonded to Britain
when Australia was deepening its strategic
rela tionships with the USA. McBride’s control
of the defence portfolio was also questioned.
He was seen as a dedicated, hard-working
co-ordinator rather than a decisive leader.
Menzies felt that a younger minister was
needed in the posi tion. After the 1957
appointment of the (Sir Leslie) Morshead
[q.v.15] Committee to examine Australia’s
defence structure, McBride decided, in May
1958, not to contest the next election.
Leaving parliament in December that
year, he resumed directorships of Elder
Smith [qq.v.4,6] & Co. Ltd, and, Wallaroo-
Mount Lyell Fertilisers Ltd, which he had
relinquished while holding ministerial office.
He also joined the board of the Bank of
Adelaide. Chairing Elder Smith & Co. Ltd,
he became the first chairman (1963-78) of the
newly merged Elder Smith Goldsbrough Mort
[qq.v.4,5] Ltd. Appointed KCMG (1953) and
privy councillor (1959), he played a healing
role as Federal president (1960-65) of the Liberal
Party by promoting a more harmonious
relationship between the executive and the
political wing.
Described by Sir Sydney Rowell [q.v.16]
as ‘a likeable personality’, McBride was sympathetic
towards younger parliamentarians.
While he held strong views almost—according
to Menzies—to ‘the point of obstinacy’,
his optimism and tact made him a steadying
member of the team. His political opponent
Clyde Cameron described him as intelligent,
honest and reliable. Survived by his wife and
two sons, Sir Philip died on 14 July 1982 at
Medindie and was cremated. His second son,
Keith, had been killed in action with the Royal
Australian Air Force in 1942.
R. Menzies, Afternoon Light (1967); Faraway
and Beyond (1980); I. Hancock, National and
Permanent? (2000); D. Horner, Defence Supremo
(2000); E. Andrews, The Department of Defence
(2001); A. Millar (ed), Biographical Dictionary of the
Australian Senate, vol 2, 1929-1962, (2005); D. Lee,
‘The National Security Planning and Defence
Preparations of the Menzies Government, 1950-
1953’, War & Society, vol 10, no 2, 1992, p 119;
Advertiser (Adelaide), 15 July 1982, p 3.
DaviD Lee
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McCabe
McCABE, ADRIAN FRANCIS (1939-1986),
investor and newsletter entrepreneur, was
born on 22 January 1939 at Parramatta,
Sydney, fifth surviving child of Sydney-born
John Humphries McCabe, leather merchant,
and his Queensland-born wife Ivy Hazel, née
Attwood. After studying at Christian Brothers’
College, Waverley, where he was school
captain, Adrian joined the family business,
which operated a tannery at Willoughby and
a leather warehouse in Kent Street, Sydney.
He became a master tanner. On 22 June 1961
he married Maureen Denise Butt, a schoolteacher,
at the chapel of his old school.
When their father sold the family business
in the late 1960s, Adrian and his brother
Warwick became professional investors.
In October 1974 Adrian launched his first
investment newsletter with his friend Terry
McMiles, dubbing it Tomorrow’s Business
Decisions (later the McCabe-McMiles Letter).
It contained robust advice to invest in Sydney
real estate and gold. Early editions warned
against investing in the stock market. They
expanded coverage to include coins, stamps,
shares and even baked beans. By 1978
McCabe had bought out McMiles and had
controversially expanded the McCabe Letter
to promote real estate in the booming Sydney
property market. Through a related company,
ADMAC Property Investment Consultants Pty
Ltd, McCabe acted as an intermediary; he sold
whole blocks of apartments to his newsletter
clients and accepted commissions from the
vendors. It became known as a mail-order
real-estate business.
McCabe’s catchcry ‘nobody gets rich quick’
sat oddly with the advertising that featured
him leaning against a (hired) Rolls Royce.
The entrepreneur, with his signature John
Newcombe moustache, later owned a succession
of such vehicles. Big, bulky and ebullient
(according to the Australian), he built a
newsletter business that had, at its peak,
more than 15 000 subscribers and reputedly
turned over almost $2 million in subscriptions
alone. While the field was a crowded
one, that included Ian Huntley’s Your Money,
James Ward’s The Investment Adviser and
Austin Donnelly’s Investing Today, the Sydney
Morning Herald judged the McCabe Letter the
‘undisputed leader’ of investment sheets. In
1981 he was again involved in controversy
when he promoted investments in imported
coloured gemstones, aiming at an annual
business of around $25 million. A sceptical
media challenged the valuations he gave to
such jewellery but the public-investor appetite
for McCabe projects appeared undiminished.
The entire stock sold out in just two days.
In other ventures, McCabe promoted frozen
custard franchises and a luxury European car
scheme. Debate about conflicts of interest
dogged the operations of McCabe Enterprises
60
A. D. B.
Pty Ltd. As the property market around
Australia weakened in the early 1980s, his
newsletter subscriber numbers declined to
10 000. In 1981 he offered investors 42 per
cent of the McCabe Property Trust business
for $1.25 million, putting assets worth
$613 000 into the trust. It was fully subscribed.
His prediction of a booming stock market for
1982 was not realised. Survived by his wife
and their son and three daughters, he died of
cancer on 10 October 1986 at St Leonards,
Sydney, and was cremated.
Australian, 9 Apr 1979, p 12, 13 Oct 1986, p 13;
Daily Telegraph (Sydney), 5 Feb 1980, p 6; Austn
Business, 21 May 1981, p 54; Business Review
Weekly, 18 Dec 1982-7 Jan 1983, p 9; SMH, 13 Oct
1986, p 4; private information.
GerarD noonan
McCARTHY, DUDLEY (1911-1987), war
historian and diplomat, was born on 24 July
1911 in North Sydney, second of four sons
of New South Wales-born parents James
McCarthy, schoolteacher, and his wife Ivy
Iris Alice, née Green. Educated at Kempsey
West Intermediate High School and the University
of Sydney (BA, 1932; Dip.Ed., 1933),
Dudley could not pursue his teaching career
immediately, because the New South Wales
Department of Education did not employ new
graduates during the Depression. Instead, he
went in 1933 to the Mandated Territory of
New Guinea as a cadet patrol officer (kiap).
Based mainly in the Sepik and Morobe
areas, he sustained arrow wounds during an
encounter with hostile natives. As he was
bonded to the New South Wales Department
of Education, he returned to Australia in 1935
and taught English and history at Petersham
Intermediate and Homebush Junior Boys’
High schools. In 1938-39 he worked as a
flight clerk for Qantas Empire Airways Ltd’s
flying-boat service. He married Shelagh Adele
Major, a mannequin, at St Philip’s Church of
England, Sydney, on 17 April 1939.
Enlisting in the Australian Imperial Force on
1 June 1940 and commissioned as a lieutenant
the next month, McCarthy went to the Middle
East with the 2/17th Battalion in October and
transferred to the headquarters staff of the
6th Division in November 1941.From March
1942 he was back in Australia where he held
staff appointments as a temporary major. He
also performed staff duties in New Guinea in
1944. For his work at headquarters of II Corps
on Bougainville in 1944-45, he was appointed
MBE (1947). His AIF service ended in Australia
in December 1945. Then employed as
an administrative officer with the Universities
Commission in Sydney, he later became the
consultant on native education in the Commonwealth
Office of Education. Divorced in
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1981–1990
1948, on 24 December that year he married
Olivia Beatrice Maria Fiaschi, a public servant
and daughter of Thomas Fiaschi [q.v.8], at the
South Yarra Presbyterian Church, Melbourne.
Before the war, as a freelance journalist
McCarthy had contributed articles to Walkabout
under the pseudonym Brian Stirling.
In August 1941 he submitted to the Bulletin
an evocative article on the Australian retreat
in North Africa from El Agheila to Tobruk
(March-April), in which he had participated.
Gavin Long [q.v.15] subsequently invited him
to write Volume V in the Army series of the
official history, Australia in the War of 1939-
1945. His South-West Pacific Area–First Year:
Kokoda to Wau (1959) dealt with the Papuan
campaign mainly with operations in Papua and
New Guinea, including the desperate fighting
on the Kokoda Trail, the victory at Milne Bay,
the arduous operations in the Wau-Salamaua
area and the bitter combat that eradicated
the Japanese beachheads on the northern
coast. To test the correctness of his narrative
against conditions on the ground, McCarthy
walked the track himself. He acknowledged
the Japanese soldiers’ fighting prowess and
championed the sacked Kokoda commander,
Major General Arthur ‘Tubby’ Allen [q.v.13],
whom he described as a ‘gallant and capable
commander’. At the risk of his own career, he
resisted pressure from Lieutenant General
Sir Edmund Herring [q.v.17] to change his
assessment of Allen. McCarthy also wrote
radio plays and scripts for television.
In 1952 McCarthy joined the Department of
Territories, where he was assistant secretary
(1958-63), Australian senior commissioner
on the South Pacific Commission (1960-62)
and Australian special representative for New
Guinea and Nauru on the United Nations
Trusteeship Council (1961-62). Transferring
to the Department of External Affairs, in 1964
he became assistant secretary of the overseas
division and was Australian minister (1963-66)
to the UN. Ambassador to Mexico (1967-72)
and to Spain (1972-76), where his military
background enabled him to establish a rapport
with the taciturn General Franco, he retired
in 1976.
From 1977 to 1981 McCarthy was chairman
of the Films Board of Review. In 1979
he published the largely autobiographical The
Fate of O’Loughlin: A Novel. Winning praise
for his descriptive writing and handling of
the action, he was criticised for aspects of
dialogue and plot. His biography of C. E. W.
Bean [q.v.7], Gallipoli to the Somme (1983),
won the 1984 Best Australian Book of the
Year award. However, his finest writing was
his war history.
Humane, with a deep attachment to Papua
New Guinea and concern for its people and
their future, McCarthy was a man of culture
and intellect. He was a gifted raconteur who
61
McAuley
‘loved the written word’. Tall, distinguished,
of florid complexion, and inseparable from his
pipe, he was a devoted Australian, happiest
when furthering its causes. He was difficult
to get to know but his friendship, once given,
was steadfast. Survived by his wife, their two
daughters and son, and the daughter of his first
marriage, he died on 3 October 1987 in Canberra
and was cremated with Anglican rites.
P. Dennis et al (eds), The Oxford Companion to
Australian Military History (1995); S. Braga, Kokoda
Commander (2004); Stand-To (Canberra), Nov-Dec
1954, p 11; SMH, 30 Aug 1979, p 7; National Times,
9-15 Sept 1979, p 41; Canberra Times, 6 Oct 1979,
p 17, 10 Nov 1982, p 20, 7 Oct 1987, p 12; A1361,
item 34/1/12 part 1157, C5285, item 49/1 (NAA);
D. McCarthy papers (NLA); private information
and personal knowledge. John FarquharSon
McCAULEY, Sir JOHN PATRICK JOSEPH
(1899-1989), air force officer, was born on
18 March 1899 at Newtown, Sydney, son
of New South Wales-born parents John
Alfred McCauley, clerk, and his wife Sophie
Cath erine, née Coombe. Educated to Intermediate
certificate standard at St Joseph’s
College, Hunters Hill, McCauley entered the
Royal Military College, Duntroon, Federal
Capital Territory, in February 1916. Graduating
as a lieutenant on 10 December 1919,
he went to England next year to undertake
training with the British Army. On returning
to Australia in 1921, he served in the staff
corps as adjutant of a Militia battalion at
West Maitland, New South Wales, and with
a coastal artillery brigade but on 29 January
1924 he was seconded to the Royal Australian
Air Force. McCauley completed pilot training
at Point Cook, Victoria, before undergoing a
flying instructors’ course in 1925. He then
transferred permanently to the RAAF. Short,
with black hair and brown eyes, due to his
swarthy complexion he earned the nickname
‘Black Jack’.
On 12 November 1925 McCauley married
Murielle Mary Burke at St Mary’s Catholic
Church, Newcastle. He embarked for England
in December to attend various army, navy and
air force courses. Having been promoted to
flight lieutenant in February 1928, he returned
to Australia in December and the following
January became deputy-director of training
(armaments) at Air Force Head quarters.
During 1929 he commenced a part-time commerce
degree at the University of Melbourne
(B.Com., 1936). In 1932 he attended the Royal
Air Force Staff College at Andover, England,
then moved to the Central Flying School,
Wittering, to undertake the demanding RAF
flying instructors’ course; his final report rated
him as ‘easily one of the best instructors on a
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McAuley
large course’. Promoted to squadron leader in
July 1934, he remained in London on attachment
to the war training section of the Air
Ministry for several more months.
McCauley returned to Australia in December
and in April 1935 joined the Air Staff with
special responsibility for service training.
Twelve months later he became director of
training, during a period of unprecedented
expansion of the service. Promoted to wing
commander in January 1938, next month he
became air staff officer at Laverton, Victoria,
and in 1939 he moved to Point Cook as officerin-charge
of cadet training and chief flying
instructor. In July he returned to headquarters,
Melbourne, where, a week before World
War II began, he became liaison officer to the
secretary of the Department of Defence. In
recognition of his administrative and training
skills, he was appointed in April 1940 to raise
and command No.1 Engineering School at
Ascot Vale, Melbourne. He was promoted to
group captain in June and returned to Point
Cook in October to command No.1 Service
Flying Training School.
In June 1941 McCauley was finally given
an operational command. He took over the
RAAF contingent of four squadrons equipped
with obsolete Buffalo fighters and Hudson
bombers that formed part of the British air
garrison of Singapore Island. On taking up
his appointment he also became commander
of the RAF station at Sembawang, which was
later converted to a RAAF station. McCauley,
together with the commanders of his Hudson
units, No.1 and No.8 squadrons, prepared a
reconnaissance plan to guard against any
Japanese sea moves into the Gulf of Siam and
the South China Sea. This plan, approved by
British air headquarters in the Far East in
October, was activated in his absence during
the deteriorating situation that preceded the
Japanese invasion of Malaya on 8 December.
McCauley had departed in late November
on a liaison visit to the Middle East to study
and discuss tactics. He did not get back to
Singapore until mid-December, by which time
the Allies had already been forced to abandon
their air bases in northern Malaya.
While the Allied air defence was outclassed,
outnumbered and encumbered with a hopeless
command and control system, McCauley
displayed calm and professional leadership as
he set about rallying his remaining crews to
mount defensive and offensive air operations
to the extent possible. His crews regarded him
as a ‘very efficient, level headed and sincere
officer’. When the time arrived to withdraw
remaining air units from Singapore, he was
flown out on 29 January 1942 to Sumatra,
Netherlands East Indies (Indonesia). He took
command of six squadrons (only one of which
was RAAF) totalling some ninety aircraft at
‘P2’ airfield—one of two bases that had been
62
A. D. B.
secretly constructed near Palembang at the
eastern end of the island. There he intervened
to prevent unilateral British action to disperse
the Australian No.21 Squadron, pointing out
that it was for the Air Board in Melbourne
to decide the unit’s fate; the disbandment
order was rescinded on 4 February and the
squadron returned to Australia. On 13 February
RAAF aircraft under his command gave
the first warning that a Japanese invasion
force was approaching Sumatra. With two
RAF squadrons of Hurricane fighters at his
disposal, he was able to order some effective
attacks before the Japanese assaulted the
Palembang area.
By 15 February ‘P2’ had become untenable
and McCauley left for Batavia (Jakarta), Java,
with the last of his men. When he arrived
at Semplak on 21 February, he had already
decided to return to Australia with his
head quarters staff. He reached Fremantle,
Western Australia, on 5 March and, although
exhausted, was ‘determined not to rest until
he had analysed and learned from those
dramatic events’.
Barely three weeks after his return, McCauley
was posted to Darwin as senior air staff officer
at Headquarters, North-Western Area.
He gave experienced guidance to the newly
arrived 49th Fighter Group of the United
States Army Air Force, which was providing
the chief defence against frequent Japanese
air attacks on Australian territory. In May he
was appointed assistant-chief of the Air Staff,
stepping up to deputy-chief a month later with
acting rank of air commodore. He filled this
post for sixteen months and was appointed
CBE in 1943. In response to a RAF request
for his services in the European theatre,
he left Australia in October 1944 and next
month joined the headquarters of Second
Tactical Air Force in France as air commodore
operations. Controlling more than seventy
squadrons (British, Canadian, Dutch, French,
Norwegian and Polish), he continued to assist
in planning the final air assaults on Germany
until May 1945. He left England in July to join
Air Command South-East Asia for a month of
attachments to various groups in order to gain
experience, and reached Perth on 16 August.
After filling the post of director of organization
from September 1945, McCauley
resumed as deputy-chief of the Air Staff in
January 1946. In June 1947 he was appointed
acting air vice-marshal and chief of staff for the
British Commonwealth Occupation Force in
Japan. At various times over the next twentyone
months he acted as air officer commanding
British Commonwealth Air Forces of
Occupation and commander-in-chief BCOF.
On his return to Australia in March 1949 he
was made air officer commanding Eastern
Area and substantively promoted to air vicemarshal.
He negotiated the 1950 deployment of
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1981–1990
RAAF Lincoln bombers to Tengah, Singapore,
for operations against communist guerrillas
in Malaya. He was appointed CB in June
1951. In December he visited Korea, where
he became convinced that the RAAF needed
to pursue interoperability with Australia’s
American allies.
On 18 January 1954 McCauley was
promoted to air marshal and became chief
of the Air Staff—the first of a succession of
Duntroon-trained officers who led the RAAF
until 1970. Appointed KBE in January 1955,
next month he accompanied the minister for
foreign affairs, R. G. (Baron) Casey [q.v.13],
to the first council meeting of the South-
East Asian Treaty Organization in Bangkok,
Thailand. Although not considered an especially
dynamic chief, he was ‘admired for his
thorough decency and sensible, informed—
albeit some times stubborn—approach to
decision making’. Under his guidance the
RAAF moved to standardise almost totally
with American aircraft and equipment; he also
initiated efforts to develop Darwin as Australia’s
main air base for mounting operations
in the event of war—a move which prefigured
a major policy shift towards northern bases
during the 1970s and 1980s.
Retiring on 18 March 1957, Sir John
pursued a range of business and charitable
interests. He was resident director (1959-61;
chairman, 1962) of Chevron Sydney Ltd;
chairman (1958) of the country division of the
Cancer Campaign in Victoria; country chairman
(1961) of the National Heart Campaign;
civic appeal chairman (1963 and 1965) of
the New South Wales Freedom from Hunger
Campaign; president (1966-75) of the Good
Neighbour Council of New South Wales; and
a member (1964-75) of the Immigration Advisory
Council. As federal president (1964-73)
of the Australian Flying Corps and Royal Australian
Air Force Association, he visited RAAF
units on active service in Vietnam in October
1966. Predeceased by his wife but survived by
his son and two daughters, Sir John died on
3 February 1989 at Sydney and was buried in
Northern Suburbs lawn cemetery. A portrait
painted in 1956 by (Sir) Ivor Hele is held by
the Australian War Memorial, Canberra.
D. Gillison, Royal Australian Air Force 1939-1942
(1962); J. E. Hewitt, Adversity in Success (1980);
E. R. Hall, Glory in Chaos (1989); C. D. Coulthard-
Clark, The Third Brother (1991); A. Stephens, Going
Solo (1995); M. Pratt, interview with J. McCauley
(ts, 1973, NLA); personal files, RAAF and RAAF
Assn (Office of Air Force History, Canberra).
chriS cLark
McCAW, Sir MALCOLM KENNETH
(1907-1989), solicitor, barrister and politician,
was born on 8 October 1907 at Chatswood,
63
McCaw
Sydney, eldest of six children of Malcolm
Mark McCaw, station manager, and his wife
Jessie Alice, née Hempton, both born in New
South Wales. After he left Pallamallawa Public
School aged 12, he worked as a farm hand
and a sawmiller. His father died when he was
15 and the family moved to Sydney. Fiercely
determined to overcome the disadvantages
of his early life, Kenneth attended Metropolitan
Business College at night, obtaining his
matriculation aged 20. He then worked in a
law office and was admitted as a solicitor on
10 March 1933. On 16 December that year
he married Thea Elizabeth Easterbrook, a
teacher, at Chatswood South Methodist
Church; they were to divorce in 1968. In 1935
he established the firm of McCaw, Moray
& Co. and later the firms of McCaw, Moray &
Johnson; McCaw, Johnson & Co.; and McCaw,
Johnson & Spicer. He served as a councillor
(1945-48) of the Incorporated Law Institute
of New South Wales.
A member of the Lane Cove Branch of
the newly formed Liberal Party of Australia,
McCaw served for many years on the State
executive. In 1947 he was elected to represent
Lane Cove in the Legislative Assembly. His
maiden speech focused on local government
reorganisation, the effectiveness of money
spent on the Murray River irrigation scheme
and the problems of housing. He soon indicated
his commitment to law reform and to a
humanitarian approach to issues in the justice
system. In 1952 in a debate on the prisons
bill he spoke about the need to approach
prison management and punishment from ‘the
reformative point of view’ with an emphasis
on balancing community protection with the
goals of rehabilitation and deterrence.
As a result of his own failing eyesight
(caused by retinitis pigmentosa), McCaw was
keen to promote the rights of, and opportunities
for, the blind. He questioned the Labor
government about support for the Guide Dogs
for the Blind Association of New South Wales
and changes in electoral law for Legislative
Council elections to allow blind electors to be
assisted in the casting of their ballots. He also
advocated the reduction of the general voting
age from 21 to 20 years as a recognition of the
increasing legal rights and responsibilities of
young people.
McCaw played an active part in the State
Liberal parliamentary party, which throughout
the 1950s was beset by internal division and
numerous changes of leadership. In 1955 he
moved the motion that effectively called for
the removal of the leader Ewan Murray Robson
[q.v.16]; it was carried by fifteen votes to
five. When the Liberal Party and the Country
Party coalition defeated the Australia Labor
Party in May 1965, McCaw became attorneygeneral
(1965-75) in (Sir Robert) Askin’s
[q.v.17] government. Admitted as a barrister
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McCaw
on 20 May 1965, McCaw was appointed QC
in 1972.
In McCaw’s first major parliamentary
speech as attorney-general he deprecated
the ‘great delay and an apparent waste of
time’ involved in the courts and indicated
that the government was seeking ‘a way of
getting justice for all less expensively and
much more quickly, thus removing a tarnish
from the image of justice in this State’. One
of the most capable members of cabinet, he
worked closely with the minister of justice,
John Maddison [q.v.], and proved to be a
notable reformer. He brought in Australia’s
first permanent Law Reform Commission
(1966, enacted 1967), a Corporate Affairs
Commission (1970), the Supreme Court Act,
1970, and the District Court Act, 1973. In
addition he effected major changes in the laws
of evidence, insurance and personal liability.
On 13 July 1968 at Wesley Chapel, Sydney,
McCaw married Valma Marjorie Cherlin, née
Stackpool, a 47-year-old divorcee; she assisted
him greatly. He was knighted in 1975, the year
of his retirement from parliament. In his book
People versus Power (1978) he returned to his
concerns for the control of arbitrary power
and the protection of individual freedom by
the rule of law and the effective working of
parliament. A governor (1972-80) of the New
South Wales College of Law, he also continued
his long association with numerous charities,
especially those associated with the blind.
McCaw was noted for his personal integrity,
skill as an orator and parliamentarian, and
sense of humour, especially in dealing with
the difficulties of his failing eyesight. Survived
by his wife, and the daughter and younger
son of his first marriage, Sir Kenneth died on
13 September 1989 at St Leonards, Sydney,
and was buried in the Field of Mars cemetery.
PD (NSW), 18 Mar 1952, p 5377, 25 Aug 1965,
p 121, 19 Sept 1989, p 10103; Austn Law Jnl, vol 64,
nos 1-2, 1990, p 99; Liberal Opinion, Mar 1950, p 2;
SMH, 2 Dec 1974, p 1, 19 Sept 1989, p 10.
chriS PuPLick
McCLEMANS, SHEILA MARY (1909-
1988), barrister and naval officer, was born
on 3 May 1909 at Claremont, Perth, third
child of Irish-born William Joseph McClemans
[q.v.Supp], Anglican clergyman, and his New
Zealand-born wife Ada Lucy, née Walker.
The writer Dorothy Sanders (Lucy Walker)
[q.v.] was her sister. Sheila attended Perth
Modern School and the University of Western
Australia (LL B, 1931; BA, 1933), where she
was vice-president of the University Women’s
Club. A champion swimmer, she also represented
the university in hockey and tennis.
McClemans was one of the earliest women
law graduates in Western Australia and
64
A. D. B.
obtained her articles from Stawell, Hardwick
& Forman. In her first year, her only source
of income was coaching secondary school
students at night. McClemans was admitted
to the Bar on 16 May 1933 but, in the midst
of the Depression, she was unable to find a
law firm that would engage her. Consequently,
she and her friend and fellow graduate, Molly
Kingston, founded Kingston & McClemans,
the first all-female law firm in the State. Particularly
interested in helping women with their
legal problems, she became the first woman
barrister to appear before the Supreme Court
of Western Australia. The partnership, however,
was not a ‘smashing success’ and was
dissolved in 1938. McClemans then joined
Hardwick, Slattery & Gibson.
Despite the opposition of her employer,
McClemans enlisted in the Women’s Royal
Australian Naval Service in January 1943,
entering the first WRANS officer training
course at HMAS Cerberus, Westernport,
Victoria. Promoted to third officer in February,
McClemans was appointed to the
staff of the director of naval reserves and
mobilisation, Navy Office, Melbourne, in
May. She rose rapidly in the service, being
promoted to second officer in July and to first
officer in November 1943. McClemans was
re-appointed to Navy Office in January 1944
to administer the WRANS and in August she
was appointed director.
Confronting stringent service limitations
that offered WRANS personnel fewer occupations
than members of the Australian Women’s
Army Service and Women’s Auxiliary Australian
Air Force, McClemans strove to increase
recruitment, to expand areas of employment
and to improve promotion provisions. Many of
her endeavours, however, were frustrated by
a conservative hierarchy of the Royal Australian
Navy, unused to women in the service.
She travelled extensively, bringing understanding
and deep benevolence to bear on
the prob lems of administration. Promoted to
chief officer in January 1945, she was selected
next year to travel to Britain to represent the
WRANS in the Victory March. Although many
stood in awe of her, beneath a slightly austere
exterior she was a warm and compassionate
person. Rear Admiral G. D. Moore, formerly
second naval member of the Australian Naval
Board, was to attribute the success of the
WRANS largely to her ‘untiring interest in
the welfare of every Wran, her kindness,
and perhaps above all her sound common
sense’. Before her appointment terminated
on 27 February 1947 she submitted a paper
entitled ‘Proposals for a Permanent WRANS’
in which she maintained her criticism of the
lack of support for the WRANS from the RAN.
She was appointed OBE in 1951.
Having returned to law practice with Hardwick,
Slattery & Gibson, on 6 August 1949,
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1981–1990
McClemans married with Anglican rites Frank
Morrison Kenworthy, chief engineer of the
Metropolitan Water Supply Board, at Christ
Church, Claremont. Four years later, she set
up her own practice, undertaking much probono
work. She quickly built up one of Perth’s
largest divorce practices but sold it in 1960
to become secretary (1961-65) of the Law
Society of Western Australia and administrator
(1961-70) of its legal aid scheme. In 1970
she returned to practice in the matrimonial
courts, joining Hammond, Fitzgerald & King.
She retired in 1980.
McClemans was national president (1950-
52) of the Australian Federation of University
Women, a member (1977-80) of the Legal Aid
Commission of Western Australia, and a member
(1964-84) of the Parole Board of Western
Australia. In 1977 she was appointed CMG
and awarded the Queen’s Silver Jubilee Medal.
Predeceased by her husband, Sheila
McClemans-Kenworthy died on 10 June 1988
at Claremont and was cremated. Although not
an active feminist, throughout her life she
had supported the rights of women and those
unable to defend themselves. In an obituary
Sir Francis Burt, chief justice of the Supreme
Court of Western Australia, said of her: ‘She
served the law and through the law she served
ordinary men and women with an unswerving
devotion’. Her portrait by Nora Heysen is held
by the Australian War Memorial, Canberra.
K. Spurling, ‘Willing Volunteers, Resisting
Society, Reluctant Navy’, in D. Stevens, The Royal
Australian Navy in World War II (1996); L. Davies,
Sheila (2000); Brief (Fremantle), July 1988, p 8;
K. Spurling, The Women’s Royal Australian Naval
Service (MA thesis, UNSW, 1988); A6769, item
McCLEMANS S M (NAA). kathryn SPurLinG
McCLINTOCK, HERBERT (1906-1985),
artist, was born on 20 November 1906 at
Subiaco, Perth, eldest of six children of South
Australian-born parents William McClintock,
engraver, and his wife Ada Julia, née Cramond.
The family settled at Heidelberg, Victoria,
after a period in Adelaide. At the age of
13 Herbert was apprenticed to a process
engraver. He later worked for a signwriter who
encouraged his artistic talents. From 1922
he attended evening classes at the National
Gallery of Victoria’s drawing school, where
he was taught by Bernard Hall, George Bell
and William McInnes [qq.v.9,7,10]. Fellow
students included Eric Thake [q.v.] and
James Flett.
In 1927 McClintock moved to Sydney to
take up work as a commercial artist with the
Sydney Morning Herald. He returned to Melbourne
in 1929, resumed his studies at the
National Gallery and established friendships
65
McClintock
with the socialist artists Roy Dalgarno, Noel
Counihan [q.v.17] and his future brother-in-law
Nutter Buzacott. He also joined the Communist
Party of Australia and began drawing
political cartoons for left-wing newspapers.
With Judah Waten [q.v.] he published the first
and only edition of the radical (and soon confiscated)
magazine Strife (1930). In July 1930
he exhibited in a group show, ‘The Embryos’,
at the Little Gallery, Melbourne.
On 8 September 1933 at St Paul’s Terrace
People’s Evangelistic Mission in Fortitude
Valley, Brisbane, McClintock married Eileen
Patricia Partridge, a South African-born
stenographer. The couple moved to Perth in
1934. McClintock found work as a commercial
artist for the Daily News. Active in the Workers’
Art Guild, he gave drawing classes and
associated with leftist intellectuals and artists,
including Alec King, Katharine Susannah
Prichard [q.v.11] and Harald Vike [q.v.].
McClintock also studied singing and, after
accepting a position as a singer with the Australian
Broadcasting Commission, he began
using the name Max Ebert (his nickname
Mac and ’erbert). Influenced by European
trends, Ebert experimented with surrealism,
becoming a pioneer of the art movement in
Australia. Approximate Portrait in a Drawing
Room (1938-39), now in the National Gallery
of Australia, is his earliest surrealist work.
Considered one of Perth’s most radical painters—certainly
its most iconoclastic—Ebert
relished the notoriety of his position. His wife
organised solo shows in 1938 and 1940, and
he contributed to at least four group exhibitions
in Perth. Most reviews praised his
integrity, individuality and adventurousness.
McClintock moved to Sydney (via Melbourne)
in 1940. During World War II,
exempted from active service on medical
grounds, he was employed by the Allied
Works Council in Sydney, first in an iron
foundry, later in a camouflage unit. In 1943
he was appointed an official war artist working
alongside (Sir) William Dobell [q.v.14]
with the Civil Constructional Corps. The war
years changed his attitude towards art. No
longer as committed to personal exploration,
McClintock, now using his own name, became
a founding member of the Studio of Realist
Artists in Sydney (1945), with whom he held
frequent group exhibitions.
A solo exhibition at Melbourne’s Tye’s
Gallery in 1954 was his last until Niagara Lane
Galleries (Melbourne) held a retrospective
exhibition of his work in 1980. Acknowledging
that there were ‘long periods when I wasn’t
engaged in creative arts’, McClintock advised
future biographers not to try to write a
‘coherent’ life story.
In January 1951 McClintock and his wife
had divorced, and on 23 February at the
registrar-general’s office, Sydney, he married
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McClintock
20-year-old Marie Louise Berry, a singer. Survived
by his wife and the two sons of his first
marriage, McClintock died on 16 April 1985
at St Leonards, Sydney, and was cremated.
Herbert McClintock: Retrospective Exhibition
(1980); D. Bromfield, Aspects of Perth Modernism
(1986); J. Gooding, Western Australian Art and
Artists (1987); Argus (Melbourne), 1 July 1930,
p 5; West Australian, 17 Oct 1939, p 9; Australian,
16 Sept 1980, p 8; D. Hickey, taped interview with
H. McClintock (1971, NLA); A6119, items 1175
and 1176 (NAA). PhiLiPPa o’Brien
McCOLL, GORDON KIDGELL (1910-
1982), road haulier, was born on 10 September
1910 at Lithgow, New South Wales, eldest
of five children of Victorian-born John Gordon
McColl, ironworker, and his Queensland-born
wife Florence Mabel, née Kidgell. Gordon
attended Fort Street Boys’ High School,
Sydney, obtaining the Intermediate certificate
in 1925. Next year he was appointed a
junior clerk in the State Department of the
Attorney-General and of Justice. In 1928 he
transferred to the Department of Agriculture;
he was dismissed in 1935 for making
fraudulent monetary claims. He married
Thurza Lurline Aldred on 3 April 1930 at the
district registrar’s office, South Balmain; they
divorced in 1941. On 8 November that year
at Abbotsford he married with Presbyterian
forms Mary Irma Underwood, a typist.
A competitor in motorcycle rallies, McColl
had started McColl’s Delivery Service in Sydney
in 1936 with a motorcycle and side-box.
Later he acquired a truck. After World War
II he moved into interstate trade. In 1951
he formed McColl Interstate Transport Pty
Ltd, which carried goods ranging from pharmaceuticals
to construction equipment. His
ethos of carrying ‘Anything anyone will pay
for—anywhere’ led to expansion, with offices
in Canberra and at Coburg, Melbourne, as
well as in Sydney. Irma served as the company
secretary and as a director. Ansett [q.v.17]
Freight Express Pty Ltd bought the firm in
1965 and, as contracted, McColl worked for
Ansett for two years. With his wife and son he
ran (1967-71) a service station at Hornsby.
After working in casual and part-time jobs
for a few years, McColl retired completely in
1977, following an accident.
Keenly absorbed in the motor transport
industry, McColl was a committee member
of the Long Distance Road Transport Association
of Australia for thirty years and was
awarded life membership. From the inception
of the Australian Hauliers’ Federation in
1953, he was its president until 1964 and
then, after a restructure, chairman (1964-
67) of the hauliers’ division of the Australian
66
A. D. B.
Road Transport Federation. He opposed the
power of the government, as the owner of
the railways, to tax a competitor, the road
transport industry.
After living at Manly for twenty years, the
McColls moved to Clifton Gardens early in
the 1960s. Gordon enjoyed weekends at his
property at Kurrajong, in the Blue Mountains.
His recreational interest had changed from
motorcycles to cars. In the 1950s he was
treasurer of the Australian Sporting Car Club.
A participant in the Redex Round Australia
Reliability Trial as a driver (1953) and a codriver
(1954), he officiated as the Darwin
control officer in 1955. He was the proud
owner of a Rover.
McColl was a solid man, 5 ft 7 ins (170 cm)
tall, with a moustache. A transport colleague
described him as a ‘chunky, vigorous’ person
with a ‘square-cut dial that can be alertly serious,
but that usually bears a grin’. Although
genial he was also determined, whether fighting
for the interests of those in the transport
industry or completing a car trial in an MG.
Survived by his wife and their son, he died on
25 April 1982 at Collaroy and was cremated.
Redex Reliability Trial Annual, 1954, p 17,
1955, p 7; Bulletin, 19 Feb 1958, p 14; Austn Road
Haulage Jnl, Mar 1959, p 14, Jan 1962, p 17; SMH,
27 Apr 1982, p 8; G. K. McColl, NSW Public Service
Board employment hist cards, 8/2673 (SRNSW);
private information. PaM crichton
McCURE, RUSSELL MELTON (1918-
1987), army officer and business executive,
was born on 15 December 1918 at Clifton
Hill, Melbourne, younger child of Victorianborn
parents Noel Milton McCure, drapery
salesman, and his wife Agnes Jean Elizabeth,
née Aberline. Russell grew up in Northcote
before the family moved to North Brighton;
he attended local schools and the Collingwood
Technical School. He then worked as a clerk
for a match manufacturing company, Bryant &
May Pty Ltd, and served two years in the Militia
before being commissioned on 6 August
1940. He joined the Australian Imperial Force
on 17 November and was appointed as a lieutenant
in the 4th Anti-Tank Regiment. His
unit was sent to Malaya on 4 February 1941.
Following the Japanese invasion of Malaya
in December, McCure was ordered forward
on 17 January 1942 in command of a troop of
four guns to assist the 2/29th Battalion south
of Muar. Defying his commanding officer who
had told him, ‘I don’t expect the Japanese to
use tanks so, for my part, you can go home’,
he deployed two guns along the road beyond
an intersection at Bakri. Early the next day
Japanese tanks appeared and for almost an
hour the gunners engaged them, destroying
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1981–1990
eight while McCure helped with the ammunition.
The fighting was so close that a war
photographer captured the battle in a single
frame, ‘destined to become one of the most
famous and enduring images of the Malayan
campaign’. After the battle, McCure’s commanding
officer said to him, ‘Only for your
persistence in defying my orders and positioning
your guns where you did, there would have
been wholesale slaughter. I’m so sorry’.
Success was brief and the Australians
became cut off. McCure and others escaped
into the swampy jungle and for the next weeks
tried to get to Singapore. Some help came
from local Chinese who led McCure and his
men to a Chinese communist jungle camp
from where, assisted by a British officer,
guerrilla raids were conducted against the
enemy. Even after Singapore fell the men still
hoped to escape, and formed smaller squads.
McCure tried unsuccessfully to get a boat
to cross to Sumatra, but returned with his
group to the Chinese, who took them to a
camp of the Malayan People’s Anti-Japanese
Army. There they helped with tasks such as
weapons training and map preparation. To
avoid discovery or betrayal, the camps had to
break up and move constantly. Deaths, illness
and movements meant that McCure had only
rare contact with surviving colleagues. He
became a solitary figure and, although free
to go about within the camps, felt he was a
prisoner or a hostage.
For over three years McCure knew little
of the outside world, and it knew nothing of
him. Poor diet, malaria and other infections
damaged his physical and mental health. He
was also deeply affected by the brutality he
witnessed, including executions and torture,
and was fearful for his own safety. He later
said: ‘I would often wander to the outskirts of
the camp, and sit down under a tree thinking
of mum and dad and of my boyhood days at
home, and just cry’.
Finally the Chinese left McCure, weak and
sick, with an Indian doctor. He was found
by Canadian commandos who told him that
the war was over. Although never a prisoner,
reports declared that he was ‘recovered from
the Japanese’ on 22 September 1945. Few
understood or believed McCure’s story. When
he returned to Australia he was admitted to
hospital with a variety of illnesses. He also
suffered psychologically, later saying, ‘I had
been too lonely, too long’. He was placed on
the Reserve of Officers on 20 December 1945.
On 3 October 1946 McCure married Jeanette
Osborn Pentland, a typist, at St Andrew’s
Presbyterian Church, Gardiner, Melbourne;
they later divorced. Always known by family
and friends as ‘Bill’, McCure lived quietly and
resumed work with Bryant & May, eventually
becoming personnel and industrial officer.
He played tennis, had a deep interest in
67
McCusker
stamp collecting, and met regularly with old
army mates. On 4 November 1974 McClure
married Leonie Ann Crooks at the office of
the government statist, Melbourne. In later
years he moved from Melbourne to Cockatoo,
in the Dandenong Ranges, where, survived by
his wife, their son and daughter, and the son
of his first marriage, he died of cancer on
23 March 1987. He was buried in Springvale
cemetery with Uniting Church forms.
G. Finkemeyer, It Happened to Us (1994); L. R.
Silver, The Bridge at Parit Sulong (2004); B883,
item VX39035 (NAA); private information.
Peter BurneSS
McCUSKER, NEAL(E) (1907-1987), commissioner
for railways, was born on 20 October
1907 at Marrickville, Sydney, only child of
John Robert McCusker, railway stationmaster,
and his wife Emmie Helen Neale, née Bird,
both born in New South Wales. Neal was educated
at Dubbo High School; he obtained the
Intermediate certificate. In 1923 he started
work with the New South Wales Railways as a
junior porter at Byrock (where his father was
working). By 1927 he was a stationmaster. He
married with Presbyterian forms Mary Irene
Magick, a shop assistant, on 9 November 1932
at Binnaway.
Regarded as a capable and determined
officer, in 1942 McCusker became a staff
inspector in Sydney. In 1950 he was seconded
as executive officer to Reginald Winsor
[q.v.16], chairman of the New South Wales
Transport and Highways Commission. On
Winsor’s appointment in 1952 as commissioner
for railways, McCusker also returned
to the railways. Next year he became assistant
secretary (finance and operations) and was
deputy commissioner from December 1954
to April 1955, while Winsor was ill. In 1955
Winsor reluctantly appointed McCusker to
the role of senior executive officer (created
by ministerial direction); their once-cordial
relationship had deteriorated.
Reacting to escalating railways deficits, the
State government forced Winsor to resign
in 1956 and McCusker was appointed commissioner
for railways. He continued the
modernisation program begun in the 1940s,
giving particular attention to replacing steam
locomotives (and their infrastructure and
work practices) with diesel and electric locomotives.
Goods business was a key element
of his policy. Keenly aware of the social cost
of technological change, he was sympathetic
to staff, seeking to minimise adverse impacts.
He was appointed CBE in 1959.
McCusker’s careful budgetary control and
affordable modernisation led to net surpluses
by the early 1960s. Improved road and air
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McCusker
transport, which attracted goods and passenger
traffic from the railways, together with
spiralling wage costs, resulted in increasing
deficits from the late 1960s. One of his
prescient predictions was that future railway
revenue would depend mainly on freight
traffic. Although a moderniser, he officially
sanctioned community efforts to preserve a
large number of rolling stock, other artefacts
and documents. He retired in 1972.
Appearing aloof, McCusker was firm but
fair in disciplinary matters and had considerable
personal contact with the general staff.
A quietly spoken, sandy-haired man, he pursued
improvement in ‘this great service’ as
he called it, but was more understanding of
‘the mistake of a man trying to do something’
than of the man ‘who does not make a mistake
because he does not do anything’. Executing
his role as commissioner with independence,
he often discomfited the government (as, for
instance, when he precipitated strike action
by refusing to grant wage increases) but
always acted in the interests of the railways’
financial probity.
In retirement McCusker became a director
of Comeng Holdings Ltd and Mayne, Nickless
Ltd, and continued to enjoy playing bowls. He
died on 27 July 1987 in his home at Mosman
and was cremated. His wife and their two
daughters survived him; their son had died
in infancy.
J. Gunn, Along Parallel Lines (1989); SMH,
1 Aug 1956, p 2, 3 Feb 1969, p 2, 29 July 1987,
p 12; Bulletin, 18 May 1960, p 32; Sunday Mirror
(Sydney), 7 Jan 1962, p 41; Australian, 16 Nov
1970, p 5, 12 Jan 1971, p 2; Roundhouse (Burwood),
Nov 1972, p 5. craiG Mackey
McCUTCHEON, Sir WALTER PAUL
OSBORN (1899-1983), architect, was born
on 8 April 1899 at Armadale, Melbourne, second
of six children of Victorian-born parents
Walter Bothwell McCutcheon, solicitor, and
his wife Elizabeth, née Osborne. Raised in
a strict Methodist household, Osborn was
educated at Wesley College and in 1917
began attending lectures in architecture at
the Working Men’s College, Melbourne. In
1918 he was articled to the prominent Melbourne
architects Bates, Peebles & Smart, the
continuation of the practice originally known
as Reed [q.v.6] & Barnes. In October that
year McCutcheon enlisted in the Australian
Imperial Force, but saw no active service and
was discharged on Christmas Eve 1918.
In 1919-21 McCutcheon undertook a
diploma of architecture (1928) at the University
of Melbourne and then attended
the university’s architectural atelier. He
left Australia in 1922, working with the San
68
A. D. B.
Francisco architects Bakewell & Brown for
about eighteen months and with Yates, Cook
& Darbyshire in London in 1924. For most
of 1925 he travelled in Europe. Returning to
Melbourne, on 18 January 1926 he became a
partner in his old firm. On 8 December 1928
at the Peace Memorial Methodist Church,
East Malvern, he married Mary Frances
(Molly) Buley.
McCutcheon brought a renewed focus on
design quality to Bates, Smart & McCutcheon,
demonstrated in an unprecedented three
Royal Victorian Institute of Architects Street
architecture medals: for the Australian Mutual
Provident building, Melbourne (1932); for
the Buckley [q.v.3] & Nunn men’s store, Melbourne
(1934); and for the Second Church of
Christ Scientist, Camberwell (1938). In 1935
BSM won the national competition for the
Mutual Life & Citizens Assurance Company
(MLC) building in Sydney, further cementing
the firm’s design credentials.
Increasingly involved in his profession,
McCutcheon was part-time director (1930-39)
of the school of architecture at Melbourne
Technical College, where he taught professional
practice. He was active within the
RVIA (associate, 1930; fellow, 1939), serving
on its council (1930-45; honorary secretary,
1933-39; president, 1941-42), as a member
(1933-39, 1941-42, 1953-57) of its board of
architectural education, and as one of its
rep re sentatives (1929-42) on the board of
studies in architecture at the University
of Melbourne. President (1934-36) of the
Victorian Building Industry Congress, he was
also a council-member (1941-42) of the Royal
Australian Institute of Architects.
In 1942 McCutcheon was appointed chief
architect with the United States Army Corps
of Engineers (South-West Pacific Area), and
set about creating military infrastructure
across Australia to service the war effort.
In 1941-44 he was deputy-chairman of the
Commonwealth War Workers’ Housing Trust
and, after resigning from his post with the
US Army, controller of planning (1944-46)
and chief technical adviser on housing to
the Commonwealth government. His contact
with the Corps of Engineers gave him insight
into highly organised management practices,
skills that he brought back to BSM when he
returned to full-time practice in 1946. He
promoted this approach through a privately
initiated architectural congress at Mount Eliza
in 1953 and later through the RVIA practice
groups that were formed after a series of
meetings he organised among Melbourne
architects in 1962.
By the 1950s BSM was one of Australia’s
largest and most successful firms. Their
projects were accomplished essays in modernism
and many exhibited McCutcheon’s
concern for linking architecture with other
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1981–1990
arts, particularly sculpture and landscape
design. Under his direction BSM became
a leader in commercial and educational
design through projects such as the Imperial
Chemical Industries buildings in Sydney
(1956) and Melbourne (1955-58), the MLC
building, North Sydney (1957), the master
plan for Monash University (1960-61) and the
chancery building for the Australian embassy
in Washington DC (1964). He furthered his
interest in urban development as a founding
member (1967) of the Australian Institute of
Urban Studies and managing partner (1969)
of Urban Design & Planning Associates. In
1970-76 he served on the National Capital
Planning Committee.
Awarded the RAIA gold medal in 1965
and knighted in 1966, Sir Osborn was good
humoured and boundlessly energetic. He took
up sailing in 1954, a passion that saw him win
titles and help to establish a new class of yacht,
the Flying Fifteen, in Australia. Conferred an
honorary LL D (1968) by Monash University
and an honorary D.Arch (1983) by Melbourne,
he was elected a life fellow of the RAIA in
1970 and of the Royal Australian Planning
Institute in 1979. After retiring from active
practice in 1977, he remained associated with
BSM as a consultant and campaigned against
his ‘pet hate’, ‘the tyranny of the motor car’
over urban living. Survived by his wife and
their two sons and daughter, he died on 6 May
1983 at Frankston and was cremated.
J. M. Freeland, The Making of a Profession (1971);
G. Wilson, History of the Faculty of Architecture &
Building, Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology,
Part I (1983); P. Goad, Bates Smart (2004); Architect
(Melbourne), vol 3, no 39, 1976, p 8; Herald
(Melbourne), 27 Sept 1972, p 2; C. McPherson,
Biography of Sir Osborn McCutcheon (B.Arch
thesis, Univ of Melbourne, 1983); Bates, Smart &
McCutcheon archives (Bates Smart, Melbourne);
private information. JuLie wiLLiS
McDONALD, LOUISE WARDEN (1903-
1988), headmistress, was born on 14 July
1903 at Belfast, Ireland, daughter of Silas
Crooks, manufacturer, and his wife Theresa,
née Hogan. The Crooks family migrated to
Australia in 1912 and settled at Paddington,
Brisbane; Silas was a draper. Louise was
educated at Brisbane Normal School and at
St Margaret’s Church of England High School
for girls where, in 1922, she was school
captain, dux and president of the Literary
and Debating Society. She studied science
at the University of Queensland (B.Sc.,
1926; Dip.Ed., 1939). While a student she
sang in the Queensland University Musical
Society choir; later she became a member
of the University of Queensland Women
69
McDonald
Graduates’ Association. She started work
as a student demonstrator in biology at the
university. In 1926-38 she taught science at
St Margaret’s and, in 1939, at Ipswich Girls’
Grammar School. Next year she joined the
staff of Brisbane Girls’ Grammar School as a
science teacher before assuming the position
of second-mistress. She succeeded Kathleen
Lilley [q.v.10] as headmistress in 1952.
Although Miss Crooks was not a tall woman,
she had presence and a reputation for not
being intimidated; the students respected
her. She encouraged girls to study science
although, at the time, it was not easy to obtain
well-qualified, experienced and competent
teachers. Facing a major challenge within
the board of trustees when she wanted
state-of-the-art science laboratories built, with
the support of the chairman she persuaded
the trustees to apply for Commonwealth
government grants. They were successful
and new laboratories opened in 1964 and a
science block in 1969.
On 20 December 1958 at St Andrew’s Presbyterian
Church, Brisbane, Miss Crooks had
married Hugh McCallum McDonald (d.1968),
a sales representative and a divorcee. She
was active in the Association of Heads of
Independent Girls’ Schools in Australia, serving
as treasurer (1955-58) and as president
(1969-71). Convinced that potentially valuable
members of staff, in particular people from
overseas, were being lost to the education
system due to uncertainty regarding their
qualifications, she represented the headmistresses
at a meeting of the educational
sub-committee of the Commonwealth government’s
Committee on Overseas Professional
Qualifications. In her presidential address at
the association’s conference she criticised
the appointment of male principals to girls’
independent and co-educational schools; she
strongly believed that girls should have strong
female role models. Also, she observed that in
the 1970s ‘our accepted moral code, the basic
tenets of the Christian Religion, the whole
social structure as we have understood it for
centuries and the forms and contents of education
are being challenged’. Teachers would
need in-service training to prepare them for
‘gale-force’ changes in the syllabus.
Retiring in 1970, next year Mrs McDonald
was elected a fellow of the Australian College
of Education, which noted, in addition
to her main achievements, her contribution
to the education of Aboriginal children. She
served (1951-71) on the council of Women’s
College, University of Queensland; she was
a member of a Women’s Forum club and she
enjoyed bushwalking. Maintaining an interest
in St Margaret’s, she was made a life
member of the old girls’ association in 1970.
In her final years she became frail and was
cared for by her stepdaughter Helen Filmer.
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McDonald
She died on 20 November 1988 at Gympie and
was cremated with Anglican rites. In 2003 the
science laboratories that she had established
at BGGS underwent major refurbishment and
were named in her honour.
D. E. and I. V. Hansen, Feminine Singular
(1989); Brisbane Girls’ Grammar School, Annual
Report, 1952-71; St Margaret’s Anglican Girls’
School archives, Brisbane; private information and
personal knowledge. JuDith a. hancock
McEACHERN, CRANSTON ALBURY
(1905-1983), army officer and solicitor, was
born on 9 September 1905 at Dongarra, Western
Australia, only child of Archibald Hector
Cranston McEachern, tailor, and his wife
Lillian Emma, née Dumbrell; his father was
born in New South Wales and his mother in Victoria.
Educated at Brisbane Grammar School,
Cranston trained as a solicitor and, admitted
on 2 May 1928, immediately established his
own law firm. He had been commissioned in
the Australian Field Artillery, Militia, in 1924;
by 1936 he was commanding the 11th Field
Brigade as a major (1929). On 24 April 1936
at St John’s Anglican Cathedral, Brisbane,
he married Clarice Jean Lynagh Smith. They
separated in January 1940 and—shortly after
his divorce was finalised—on 17 October at the
Ann Street Presbyterian Church, Brisbane, he
married Hazel Lawson Lyon, a clerk.
In February 1937 McEachern had been
promoted to lieutenant colonel. Following the
outbreak of World War II, he gave up his law
practice and on 1 May 1940 joined the Australian
Imperial Force as a major. He regained
his lieutenant colonelcy in October on being
appointed to command the 2/4th Anti-Tank
Regiment, which deployed to Malaya (Malaysia)
with the 8th Division. The unit saw action
against the Japanese from 27 December 1941
until the surrender on 15 February 1942.
When enemy tanks appeared, particularly
at Bakri on the Muar-Parit Sulong Road on
18 January, they were promptly dealt with
and positions saved. McEachern’s superior,
Brigadier C. A. Callaghan [q.v.13], reported
that, throughout the operations, he was ‘an
inspiration to his Regiment owing to his outstanding
ability, command and control which
were exercised without regard for personal
safety’. He was awarded the Distin guished
Service Order (1947). From 6 February
he commanded the divisional artillery in
Callaghan’s absence.
In captivity McEachern was assigned to
command the Australian part (2220 men) of
‘D’ Force, sent in March 1943 to work on the
Burma-Thailand Railway. At the Hintok Road
camp, Thailand, he commanded the whole
70
A. D. B.
formation plus Dunlop Force, some 5000 Australian
and British troops. His men worked on
the ‘Pack of Cards Bridge’ and ‘Hell Fire Pass’.
He was promoted to colonel and temporary
brigadier with effect from April 1942. When
Japan surrendered in August 1945, he was
the senior Allied officer in Thailand. He took
charge of repatriating approximately 30 000
troops. Claiming an authority he did not hold,
he persuaded Japanese officers not to comply
with Allied orders to concentrate their former
prisoners in the Bangkok area. He knew that
the already emaciated and malnourished
soldiers would have been marched long distances,
sometimes more than one hundred
miles (161 km), and hundreds might have
died. In November he returned to Australia.
For his services while a prisoner of war he was
mentioned in despatches. He transferred to
the Reserve of Officers on 19 February 1946
as an honorary brigadier.
McEachern resumed his legal practice;
Cranston McEachern & Co. (sometimes as
a partnership) became a major Brisbane law
firm. In the 1946 Senate election he was a
candidate for the Service Party of Australia.
He was president (1946-61) of the United
Service Institute, Queensland, and chairman
of directors and honorary solicitor of the
Queensland Vasey [q.v.16] Housing Auxiliary
of the War Widows’ Guild of Australia, Queensland.
In addition, he was president (1964-69)
of the Young Men’s Christian Association of
Brisbane and honorary colonel (1966-70) of
the Australian Cadet Corps, Northern Command.
He continued in full-time practice until
his death on 15 October 1983 at Bridgeman
Downs, Brisbane. After a service with Presbyterian
forms, he was cremated. His wife and
their daughter and two sons, and the son of
his first marriage, survived him.
L. Wigmore, The Japanese Thrust (1957); Courier-
Mail (Brisbane), 4 Oct 1940, p 6, 2 Aug 1946,
p 3, 18 Oct 1983, p 17; autobiog notes by C. A.
McEachern and biog notes by D. McEachern (ts,
copies held on ADB file); J1795, item 1/257, and
B883, item QX6176 (NAA). John BLaxLanD
McEVOY, KEITH ALBERT (1918-1990),
soldier, was born on 9 November 1918 at
Northam, Western Australia, fourth child of
South Australian-born John Matthew McEvoy,
agent, and his Perth-born wife Hilda Martha,
née Dance. Keith attended school at Grass
Valley before working as a truck driver.
Standing 5 ft 8½ ins (174 cm) tall, with a
fair complexion, blue eyes and brown hair,
he enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force
at Claremont on 5 April 1941. After initial
training he joined the 7th Infantry Training
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1981–1990
Centre (later the Guerrilla Warfare School),
Wilson’s Promontory, Victoria. Transferred to
the 2/3rd Australian Independent Company
on 2 September, he embarked from Sydney
on 17 December for New Caledonia where
he helped to train the raw, largely National
Guard, American troops who began arriving
in March 1942. He was promoted to lance
corporal on 25 July and two weeks later he
returned to Australia.
From January 1943 McEvoy was engaged
in close-quarter fighting against the Japanese
in the Wau-Salamaua area, New Guinea. On
15-16 July his section spearheaded the attack
on the strongly entrenched Japanese position
at Ambush Knoll, about two miles (3.2 km)
south of the Francisco River. Although under
heavy fire, McEvoy ordered an assault, leaped
over a bamboo barricade across the ridge and
pushed forward towards the enemy. Only one
of his men could follow as the other five had
been wounded by a grenade. In McEvoy’s
words: ‘I noticed I had one man with me and
he had the light of battle in his eye and was
shouting above the din, “Come on Mac, let’s
go through the b-s”’. They forced the enemy
to withdraw from part of their forward trench,
enabling other members of the company to
move forward. Despite heavy resistance,
McEvoy continued his action throughout
the afternoon and maintained harassing fire
during the night. By morning the enemy
had withdrawn. For his ‘dash and courage
of the highest merit’, ‘Digger’ McEvoy was
awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal.
On 9 August he was wounded in action, and
three weeks later was promoted to corporal.
McEvoy returned to Australia in October
and was hospitalised for two months with
malaria. After training on the Atherton
Table land, Queensland, he left for Moratai,
Netherlands East Indies (Indonesia), in June
1945 with the 2/3rd Commando Squadron
to take part in the invasion of Balikpapan,
Borneo. He suffered further health setbacks
and in September reverted to the rank of
trooper at his own request. In February 1946
he returned to Sydney and was discharged
from the AIF on 16 April.
Under the repatriation scheme McEvoy
qualified as a jeweller and watchmaker, but
preferred a freer outdoor life working around
Northam, Western Australia, as a driver for
Wright & Co. Ltd, produce merchants, and
later as a gardener at Claremont, Perth. On
4 September 1948 at St Brigid’s Catholic
Church, West Perth, he married Marjorie
Joan Barker, a hairdresser. He was genial and
even-tempered, had a host of friends, liked a
drink and enjoyed bowls. A good horseman,
he was actively involved in the Riding for the
Disabled Association of Western Australia.
Survived by his wife and their three daughters,
71
McEwin
he died on 1 September 1990 at his home at
Yokine, Perth, and was cremated.
D. Dexter, The New Guinea Offensives (1961);
R. C. Garland, Nothing is Forever (1997); B883, item
WX11335 (NAA); private information.
G. P. waLSh
McEWIN, Sir ALEXANDER LYELL (1897-
1988), farmer and politician, was born on 29
May 1897 at Hundred of Hart, near Blyth,
South Australia, youngest of four children
of South Australian-born Alexander Lyell
McEwin, farmer, and his wife Jessie Smilie,
née Ferguson. After primary schooling at the
one-teacher school at Hart, he attended Prince
Alfred College, Adelaide, as a scholarship boy.
He left at 14, nursing resentment over treatment
he had received from the history master
J. F. Ward [q.v.12] for choosing music lessons
over history. For the next ten years he farmed
with his father, for keep and pocket money,
honing the values of thrift and self-reliance
that were to become the hallmarks of his personal
and public lives. On 16 February 1921 at
the Blyth Methodist Church he married Dora
Winifred Williams (d.1981). He began farming
on his own account on family-owned land at
Wyndora, Blyth.
Becoming prominent in local sporting,
cultural and agricultural activities, McEwin
represented the State (1925-27) in rifle-
shooting, played bowls, and belonged to
Blyth’s Literary and Debating and Agricultural
and Horticultural societies, and the Hart
Mutual Improvement Society. He also sat on
the Hart school committee and Blyth Public
Hospital management board, and played violin
in the Clare orchestra. Engaging more widely
in public life, he held leadership positions in
the Blyth branch of the Agricultural Bureau
of South Australia, and in 1930-41 was a
member (chairman 1935-37) of the State’s
Advisory Board of Agriculture. Early in the
1930s he sat on State and Federal government
advisory committees dealing with matters of
agricultural settlement, debt adjustment and
meat export. He served (1932-53) on Hutt
and Hill Rivers (from 1935 Blyth) District
Council. Standing in 1934 as a Liberal Country
League candidate for Northern District, and
campaigning as ‘a practical farmer’ with ‘a
full knowledge’ of both ‘agriculture in all its
phases’ and ‘the problems of the men and
women in the country’, he was elected to the
South Australian Legislative Council.
McEwin was to remain in parliament for
over forty years. In 1939-65 he was in successive
Playford [q.v.] cabinets, as chief secretary
and minister of mines and of health. His
political achievements were due, in part, to
timing. He was in office during a period of
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McEwin
rural prosperity, when limited franchise for
the Legislative Council and the malapportionment
of Lower House electorates ensured an
amplified voice for landed property interests
and greatly diminished Labor’s chances of
electoral success. His electoral support came
from the smaller towns, rural settlements
and farming and pastoral areas rather than
from the larger centres of Port Pirie, Port
Augusta and Whyalla. McEwin’s personal
values and skills also contributed to his success.
His ‘waste not, want not’ philosophy,
his fear of the corrosive effects of ‘welfare’
and his conviction that it was folly, in politics
as in farming, to ‘spend what you haven’t
got’, meant that he was temperamentally
well-matched to Playford, who valued him for
his ability to hold down expenditure in nonincome-earning
areas of government. He was
widely recognised as an able administrator.
Subsequent assessments of McEwin have
paid tribute especially to his work in public
health and in mines and energy. As minister
of health he urged local boards of health to
use their legislative muscle to ensure good
sanitation, food purity and effective infectious
diseases control. He supported the Mothers
and Babies’ Health Association, school health
services and the national campaign against
tuberculosis. Throughout his time in office,
and beyond, he was held in high regard in
rural communities because of his commitment
to building and expanding district hospitals
through a policy of capital expenditure grants,
based on a two-for-one subsidy of local fundraising.
This policy guaranteed him warm
receptions at ‘his’ country hospitals. Within
the metropolitan area, he was the force
behind the provision of what became the
Lyell McEwin Hospital—‘a country district
hospital [built] at minimal cost with the barest
essentials’—in the satellite town of Elizabeth.
When it opened in 1959 its pared-back design
attracted criticism, but McEwin extolled it
as ‘economic efficiency in operation’. By
contrast, the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in
Adelaide’s western suburbs, opened in 1954
as part of a policy of decentralisation of
Adelaide’s hospital services, was touted as
the most modern in the southern hemisphere.
As minister of mines McEwin benefited
from the vision of some senior public servants
and from Playford’s determination to secure a
reliable power supply for South Australia and
a more secure, diversified and decentralised
basis for the State’s economic development.
Like other conservative LCL members of the
Legislative Council, he was initially wary of
the ‘socialistic’ intervention by government
in economic matters that this development
entailed. However, he was loyal to Playford,
and adamant that the Upper House was a
house of review and not of veto. Thus he was
prepared to support the 1940s legislation that
72
A. D. B.
enabled the development of the Leigh Creek
coalfield, the establishment of a power station
at Port Augusta, and the formation of the
Electricity Trust of South Australia through
government takeover of the Adelaide Electric
Supply Co. Ltd. He worked in concert with
Playford to foster uranium mining in South
Australia, and was closely associated with the
Radium Hill project which, although shortlived,
secured international sales of uranium
and employed many postwar migrants. He also
supported legislation that fostered successful
exploration for oil and gas by private industry.
President of the Legislative Council from
1967, McEwin retired from parliament in
1975; he had been knighted in 1954. Declaring
himself ‘an old square on the outer’, he
railed against such ‘depravities’ of the modern
world as the impact of television on family life,
a general excess of freedom and indulgence,
the ‘political bribery’ of the welfare state, the
undue influence of the trade unions and the
destruction of initiative and the will to work.
He criticised his political successors as being
improperly concerned with personal publicity
and financial gain, maintaining the view that
political life should be about service.
Tall, heavily built and with a friendly expression,
McEwin was, in private, a man of blunt
speech and firm views, not easily convinced
by others and not lavish with praise. Although
he tended not to bring his work home nor
to initiate political discussion, he expected
his family to share his political stances, his
values of hard work and frugality and his
down-to-earth approach to life. His extrapolitical
interests included music, theatre,
Freemasonry, and the promotion of Scottish
culture. An active member, and chieftain for
ten years, of the Royal Caledonian Society
of South Australia, he encouraged the establishment
of the Adelaide Highland Games
in conjunction with the inaugural Adelaide
Festival of Arts in 1960.
Sir Lyell was a devout Presbyterian; opposed
to the formation (1977) of the Uniting Church,
he eschewed involvement with it, and in his
final years worshipped regularly at St Andrew’s
Presbyterian Church, North Adelaide. Survived
by his four sons and daughter, he died on
23 September 1988 at Aldersgate Village,
Felixstow, and was cremated. His ashes were
interred at Blyth. A portrait of him, painted in
1971 by (Sir) Ivor Hele, is held by the South
Australian parliament.
N. Blewett and D. Jaensch, Playford to Dunstan
(1971); S. Marsden, Business, Charity and Sentiment
(1986); W. N. Johnson (comp), Blyth, a Silo
of Stories 1860-1990 (1991); B. O’Neil et al (eds),
Playford’s South Australia (1996); PD (LC, SA),
7 Nov 1945, p 813, 20 Nov 1945, p 982, 19 Dec
1945, p 1401, 3 Apr 1946, p 100, 9 Apr 1946, p 136;
Advertiser (Adelaide), 10 June 1954, p 3, 22 Apr
1959, p 3, 9 Mar 1967, p 3, 2 Feb 1982, p 5, 24 Sept
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1981–1990
1988, p 10; B. O’Neil, interview with A. L. McEwin
(ts, 1980, SLSA); S. Marsden, interview with A. L.
McEwin (ts, 1981, SLSA); A. L. McEwin papers
(SLSA); private information. JuDith raFtery
MACFARLANE, WALTER VICTOR (1913-
1982), physiologist, was born on 27 September
1913 at Christchurch, New Zealand, eldest of
three children of Walter Macfarlane, builder,
and his wife Ada Constance, née Westerman,
both born in New Zealand. The family lived in
the Cashmere hills, north of Christchurch, and
at an early age Victor acquired an interest in
natural history as he explored the countryside
on foot and by bicycle. Encouraged by his parents,
he became an avid reader and developed
a propensity for expounding knowledgeably
on a vast range of topics. He was educated at
Cashmere primary and Christchurch Boys’
High schools, and at Canterbury University
College (BA, 1935; MA, 1937), where he
majored in zoology, history and chemistry.
His choice of an unusual combination of subjects
was strongly influenced by the chemist
Hugh Parton, a family friend. For two years,
while still an undergraduate, Macfarlane
was an honorary laboratory assistant in the
department of zoology. He continued to study
zoology for his master’s degree.
First employed by the Department of Agriculture
at the Wallaceville Animal Research
Station as a parasitologist, he investigated two
problems relating to sheep: the intermediate
host of the New Zealand liver fluke and, later,
‘blowfly strike’. Becoming aware of his lack
of training in physiology and biochemistry,
he decided to undertake a medical course at
the University of Otago, Dunedin (MB, Ch.B.,
1945; MD, 1950). He read widely in the biomedical
literature, came under the influence
of distinguished scientists and clinicians, and
participated in many non-academic university
activities. While a student, he used himself as a
guinea pig to establish that larval schistosomes
present in local lake water were responsible
for a type of dermatitis known as ‘swimmer’s
itch’. In his final examinations he topped his
year and won numerous academic awards.
As a resident medical officer at the Dunedin
Hospital he assisted the neurosurgeon Murray
Falconer and attended neuro physio logi cal
seminars in the university’s department of
physiology of which Professor (Sir) John
Eccles was head. Developing an interest in
the mechanisms underlying nerve and brain
function, in 1947 he was appointed senior
lecturer in physiology. In addition to teaching,
he collaborated in research with Eccles,
acquiring expertise in electrophysiological
techniques.
Moving to Australia, in February 1949
Macfarlane became professor of physiology at
73
Macfarlane
the University of Queensland. On 12 December
that year at Christ Church, Claremont, Perth,
he married with Anglican rites Pamela Felicia
Margaret Sinclair, a zoologist and university
lecturer whom he had met in Dunedin. Heavily
involved in teaching and administration, he
oversaw major changes in the department and
actively encouraged his staff to pursue their
research interests. He directed most of his
personal research to the problems of thermal
regulation and the adaptation by animals and
humans to different environments, and the
associated mechanisms of water and salt
metabolism. Field-work took place on Toorak
station, near Julia Creek, at the height of summer.
The Macfarlanes travelled in the United
States of America and Europe in 1951-52 and
1958. He was a council-member (1956-59) of
the Queensland Institute of Medical Research.
In the mid-1950s he helped to organise
Australian and international symposia related
to the problems experienced by humans and
animals in the tropics.
Early in 1959, wishing to have more time
for his multiple interests and research activities,
Macfarlane took up a post as professorial
fellow in the department of physiology, John
Curtin [q.v.13] School of Medical Research,
Australian National University, Canberra,
again under Eccles. He continued his studies
on water and salt balance, involving laboratory
experiments and field-work in Australia and
Africa, and diversified his research to include
the electrical activity of cardiac muscle and
habituation of mammalian spinal reflexes.
Maintaining his associations with Australian
and international arid zone organisations, he
was the prime mover in founding (1960) the
Australian Physiological (and Pharmacological)
Society. In Canberra his wife became a
painter of note.
Administrative and funding problems
within JCSMR, and lack of contact with
under graduates, led Macfarlane to accept
appointment in 1964 to the foundation chair
of animal physiology at the Waite [q.v.6]
Agricultural Research Institute, University of
Adelaide. This was his final and most satisfactory
academic post: he had contact with both
undergraduate and postgraduate students;
he carried out field-work in outback Australia
and overseas—New Guinea, Israel, Kenya and
Alaska—as well as laboratory studies related
to his wide interests in group behaviour,
brain mechanisms, ecophysiology of a range
of animals, and climatic adaptation. He and his
wife entertained visitors from many countries
at the house that he had designed himself at
Crafers, in the Adelaide Hills.
Macfarlane won the William F. Petersen
gold medal award in animal biometeorology
and, in 1968, the decennial medal of the
Negev Institute for Arid Zone Research,
Israel. In 1972 he was elected a fellow of the
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Macfarlane
Australian Academy of Science. Retiring late
in 1978, he was appointed professor emeritus.
He continued to research, write papers, teach
and actively participate in local and overseas
scientific meetings. Recognised as a polymath,
he pursued his interest in wider fields
of science, architecture, history, arts and
languages. The Australian and New Zealand
Association for the Advancement of Science
awarded (1979) him its Mueller [q.v.5] medal
and made him a fellow in 1981. Survived by
his wife and their daughter, McFarlane died
of myocardial infarction on 26 February 1982
in Canberra and was cremated. A second
daughter had predeceased him. Professor
A. K. McIntyre said of him that despite his
‘iron determination and penetrating wit’, he
was ‘a warm, modest and caring soul, with a
deep concern for fellow humans as well as for
the whole biosphere’.
International Jnl of Biometeorology, vol 26,
no 4, 1982, p 261; Hist Records of Austn Science,
vol 6, no 2, 1985, p 247; Macfarlane papers (Univ
Adelaide Lib); personal knowledge.
D. r. curtiS
McGAHEN, BRIAN PATRICK (1952-1990),
city councillor, social worker, gay activist and
social libertarian, was born on 3 March 1952
at Camperdown, Sydney, elder son of Patrick
James McGahen (d.1963), hairdresser, and
his wife Monica Marie Anderson, née Pettit,
both born in New South Wales. Brian was
educated at De La Salle College, Ashfield, and
the University of Sydney (B.Soc.Stud., 1974).
At the age of 17 he opposed the Vietnam
War; he refused to register for conscription
and was convicted of sedition for advocating
draft resistance. He joined the Eureka Youth
League of Australia, the Communist Party
of Australia and the Draft Resisters’ Union.
In 1974-75 McGahen was employed as
a social worker and drug counsellor in the
methadone program of the Health Commission
of New South Wales. When the Australian
Social Welfare Union was created in 1976, he
was a founding member. After travelling overseas
that year, in 1977 he was an organiser
for the Chile Solidarity Campaign. Over the
next three years he worked on projects for the
State Department of Youth and Community
Services. With Social Research and Evaluation
Ltd in the early 1980s, he reviewed the New
South Wales Family Support Services Scheme.
Sexual politics had emerged as a social
force worldwide by the mid-1970s. McGahen
found like-minded activists in the Sydney Gay
Liberation and subsequently in the Socialist
Lesbians & Male Homosexuals. In 1978
he was part of a collective that organised
the National Homosexual Conference on
74
A. D. B.
discrimination and employment. He was chairman
(director) of the Sydney Gay Mardi Gras
Association from 1981 to 1984, providing the
young organisation with structure, direction
and vision.
Remaining a member of the CPA until 1984,
McGahen stood unsuccessfully in 1980 as its
candidate in the election for the lord mayor
of Sydney. In 1984, having campaigned as
a leader of the gay community against the
Australian Labor Party State government’s
failure to repeal anti-homosexual laws, he was
elected (as an Independent) to the Sydney
City Council for the Flinders ward. A member
of various council committees, he served from
14 April 1984 until the council was dismissed
on 26 March 1987. Policies were implemented
to prevent discrimination against homosexuals
in council services.
McGahen became a director of a Sydney
home care service in 1986, hoping to extend
the service to people suffering from acquired
immune deficiency syndrome. He was also
concerned about immigration rights for the
partners of gay men. Throughout the 1980s
he was a consistent advocate for a permanent
gay and lesbian community centre, preferably
a registered club. In 1989 he joined the Pride
steering committee, became treasurer, and
soon gained support to set up such a club.
In 1987 McGahen was diagnosed positive
for the human immunodeficiency virus. He
decided to show that his carefully considered
choice of voluntary euthanasia could be
achieved in a dignified manner. Never married,
he died on 3 April 1990 at his Elizabeth Bay
home, accompanied by five close friends,
and was cremated. He had fought with
determination and enthusiasm for what he
believed in, often against great opposition. In
1986 a homosexual social group, Knights of
the Chameleons, had made him the Empress
of Sydney, and in 1992 he was inducted into
the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras
Association Hall of Fame.
G. Wotherspoon, City of the Plain (1991);
R. Perdon (comp), Sydney’s Aldermen (1995); SMH,
17 Sept 1984, p 4, 23 June 1990, p 69; Sydney
Star Observer, 6 Apr 1990, p 1; McGahen papers
(SLNSW). PhiLLiP BLack
McGILL, ARNOLD ROBERT (1905-1988),
ornithologist and businessman, was born on
3 July 1905 at Box Ridge, New South Wales,
second of three children of Thomas James
McGill, farmer (formerly a shearer), and his
wife Annie Evelyn, née Colless, both born in
New South Wales. His parents ran a store,
which they transferred to nearby Armatree in
1913. Arnold left school aged 13. He roamed
the district, armed with a catapult, but his
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1981–1990
observation of a diamond sparrow (firetail)
(Emblema guttata) at close quarters in 1921
prompted an admiration for its beauty and a
desire to watch birds. The only resources he
had for identification were ‘a “treasured” full
set of 100 cigarette cards’ and J. A. Leach’s
[q.v.10] An Australian Bird Book, purchased
from his pocket money; he did not yet have a
pair of binoculars. His journal, ‘My Personal
Ornithological Observations’, retyped in 1972-
73, recorded his bird sightings from 1913.
In 1925 the McGills moved to Arncliffe, Sydney,
where they conducted a family grocery,
which Arnold subsequently took over. He
enjoyed cricket, tennis and bushwalking, as
well as birdwatching. On 7 November 1936
at Taree Methodist Church he married
Bertha Olive Redman. ‘Bertie’ became a
devoted companion in the field, beloved by
the birding fraternity. As a result of problems
from a perforated duodenal ulcer in 1931,
Arnold was ruled medically unfit for service
in World War II. He was president (1952-62)
of the St George Grocers’ Association, a buying
co-operative formed to meet the growing
competition from ‘supermarkets’. In 1962
he became secretary and bookkeeper of the
newly formed Major Food Centre Pty Ltd;
from 1964 until 1968 he was manager as well.
He retired in 1972.
In Sydney McGill’s rambles focused first on
Wolli Creek and the lower Cooks River, where
his interest in wading birds was kindled. By
the late 1930s he had established contact with
many leading ornithologists. His mentor and
‘closest ornithological mate’ was Keith Hindwood
[q.v.14]. Association with scientifically
trained ornithologists honed his interest in
avian classification and, aided by a prodigious
memory, he attained an expertise that was
widely recognised abroad. He joined the Royal
Australasian Ornithologists Union in 1941.
Honorary secretary (1944-60) and chairman
(1960-62) of the State branch, he also served
as national president (1958-59) and assistant
editor (1948-69)—in truth the real force—of
the RAOU’s journal, the Emu. He became a
fellow of the Royal Zoological Society of New
South Wales in 1954, and of the RAOU in
1965, as well as being patron and honorary
life member of several bird clubs. In 1984 he
was awarded the OAM.
From 1942 McGill contributed many
articles and reviews to the Emu and other
journals. He had a gift and a passion for
pain staking, meticulous recording—from
1940 to 1988 he made daily lists of his bird
observations, including the actual numbers
of birds of each species he saw. His work
formed a valuable record of the changing bird
population, particularly of Sydney and surrounds.
Another contribution to ornithology
was his compilation of A Species Index to the
Emu (1953) covering the first fifty volumes
75
McGinness
(1901-51), supplemented by ten-year indices
to 1960 and 1970, then indices of authors and
species for each volume up until his death.
McGill’s publications included Field Guide
to the Waders (1952) with H. T. Condon, which
ran to six editions, The Birds of Sydney (County
of Cumberland) New South Wales (1958) with
Keith Hindwood, A Hand List of the Birds of
New South Wales (1960), published by the
Fauna Protection Panel, forerunner to the
National Parks and Wildlife Service, and
Australian Warblers (1970). With two others,
he comprehensively revised Neville Cayley’s
[q.v.7] classic, What Bird is That? (1958). He
contributed information on forty-two species
to the Reader’s Digest Complete Book of Australian
Birds (1976) and was scientific editor and
honorary consultant for The Wrens & Warblers
of Australia (1982), published by the National
Photographic Index of Australian Wildlife.
An affable and unpretentious man, McGill
was generous with his time and his knowledge,
a kindly mentor to the young. He found
it amusing that he, professionally unqualified,
was consulted by professional ornithologists
and university professors, but it rankled when
arriviste ‘overseas pseudo-academics’ in the
RAOU seemed to disparage the contribution
of the native-born, who were much more
familiar with Australian birds in the field. He
was active in the Arncliffe Methodist Church.
Predeceased (1981) by his wife and survived
by their son, he died on 29 July 1988 at
Liverpool and was cremated.
Corella, vol 12, no 4, 1988, p 131; Emu, vol 89,
pt 3, 1989, p 182; Austn Zoologist, vol 25, no 3,
1989, p 87; Newsletter (NSW Field Ornithologists
Club), Oct 1988, p 1; McGill papers (Austn Museum
archives, Sydney); private information.
c. e. v. nixon
McGINNESS, VALENTINE BYNOE (1910-
1988), rights activist for Aboriginal people of
mixed ancestry, musician and songwriter, was
born on 14 February 1910 at the Lucy tin mine,
Bynoe Harbour, west of Darwin. His parents,
Irish-born Stephen Joseph McGinness, miner
and prospector, and his wife Alngindabu
(Alyandabu) [q.v.13], a Kungarakany woman
also known as ‘Lucy’, raised their four
sons and a daughter as Catholics. Officially
designated ‘half-castes’, Val, his elder brother
Jack and younger brother Joe, were to become
anti-discrimination activists.
Val spent the first eight years of his life
with his family at the Lucy mine. Following
the death of their father in 1918, Val and
Joe became wards of the chief protector of
Aborigines and were taken to the Kahlin
Compound for half-caste children at Darwin.
Forced to abandon the mine, Alngindabu
accom panied the two boys into Kahlin, where
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McGinness
she found employment as a cook. Val often
recalled the grim living conditions that he
experienced as a child in the compound, but
most of all he resented the poor standard of
education he received. He was to be in his
thirties before he learned to read and write
properly, after enrolling in Bible studies and
becoming a Jehovah’s Witness.
The boys absconded from the home in
1923. Their sister Margaret and her husband
Harry Edwards, who lived in Darwin, took
them in and the authorities chose not to interfere.
Val was apprenticed to his brother-in-law
and in 1927 became a qualified blacksmith
and wheelwright. On 20 December 1930
at Christ Church of England, Darwin, he
married Isabella Hume, from Borroloola; they
later divorced.
Streetwise and tough, respectful of the
police but incensed by injustice, McGinness
held a variety of jobs in the ‘Top End’, including
truck driving, railway maintenance,
highway construction and catching brumbies.
During the Depression he worked on a government
peanut-farming scheme near Katherine,
before becoming a highly skilled self-taught
motor mechanic. A noted Australian rules
football player, he was an outstanding member
of the legendary Darwin Buffaloes club; he
was also an athlete, a boxer—he had won the
welterweight championship of North Australia
in 1928—and a woodchopper.
In the 1930s McGinness, while working in
Darwin as a wardsman, driver and general
handyman for the medical service, formed a
firm (but sometimes tempestuous) friendship
with Xavier Herbert [q.v.17], a pharmacist in
the hospital. Herbert, convinced of the ‘racial
strength’ of people of mixed Aboriginal and
European ancestry, described McGinness as
‘a great Australian’, and ‘the truest Australian
I have ever met’. He used McGinness as the
inspiration for the character of Norman Shillingsworth
in Capricornia (1938). McGinness
family members also provided material for
Poor Fellow My Country (1975). When Herbert
was appointed relieving superintendent of
Kahlin Compound for eight months in 1935-
36, the two men collaborated in an attempt
to improve the living conditions of inmates,
with small success. In the late 1930s they
prospected together and formed a short-lived
partnership to mine tantalite.
Herbert and McGinness helped to form
the Euraustralian League (later the Northern
Territory Half-caste Association) to press for
full citizenship rights for people of mixed
descent. The association played a major role
in convincing the Commonwealth government
to make provision for exemption from the
1936 Aboriginals Ordinance of adult halfcastes
who could show that they were ‘worthy’
citizens. Curiously, in view of his involvement
in the association, McGinness rejected the
76
A. D. B.
authorities’ blandishments to request exemption,
claiming that he had been born a British
subject and should not need to apply for his
rights. The chief protector C. E. Cook [q.v.17]
exempted him from the ordinance anyway—
an indication of the regard authorities had
developed for this strong-willed young man.
McGinness was a fine mandolin and
Hawaiian steel-guitar player, composer of local
folk music and prominent performer with the
Darwin String Band during the flourishing
string-band era of the 1930s. Living in North
Queensland in 1938-60, where he worked
as a mechanic in and around Cairns, on the
goldfields, aboard pearling boats and for the
Queensland Irrigation and Water Supply
Commission, he maintained his interest in
music. Back in Darwin from 1960 he was
again involved in the Top End music scene.
Jeff Corfield described him as the ‘keeper’ of
many of the tunes and songs played during the
early string-band days; in order to preserve
them, tape recordings were made in 1988
and deposited in the Northern Territory
Archives. On 27 March 1967 at the Country
Women’s Association hall, Darwin, he married
Jaina Thompson, née Assan, according to the
customs of Jehovah’s Witnesses.
Knowing that he was terminally ill,
McGinness returned to Queensland in 1988.
Survived by his wife and the daughter and
two sons of his first marriage, he died on
1 November that year at Atherton and was
buried in the local cemetery with Jehovah’s
Witness forms.
J. McGinness, Son of Alyandabu (1991);
T. Austin, I Can Picture the Old Home So Clearly
(1993); D. Carment and H. Wilson (eds), Northern
Territory Dictionary of Biography, vol 3 (1996);
F. de Groen, Xavier Herbert (1998); F. de Groen and
L. Hergenhan (eds), Xavier Herbert Letters (2002);
J. Corfield, String Bands and Shake Hands (2010)
and Keep Him My Heart (ms, 2005, copy on ADB
file); K. Mills and T. Austin, ‘Breakfast Was One
Slice of Bread’, Northern Perspective, vol 11, no 1,
1988, p 1; Northern Territory News, 19 Nov 1988,
p 4; J. Dickinson, interview with V. McGinness,
NTRS 226 (NTA); personal knowledge.
tony auStin
McGRATH, Sir CHARLES GULLAN (1910-
1984), company manager and director, was
born on 22 November 1910 at Sebastopol,
Victoria, fourth child of Victorian-born parents
David Charles McGrath [q.v.10], member of
the Legislative Assembly (and later of the
House of Representatives), and his wife
Elizabeth Johnson, née Gullan. Educated at
Ballarat High School, Charles worked locally
until moving to Melbourne in 1928 and
joining as a messenger, Replacement Parts
Pty Ltd (from 1930 Repco), then a fledgling
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1981–1990
distributor of largely imported motor vehicle
spare parts. Known as ‘Dave’ within the company
(so christened by Bill Ryan, founder of
Repco’s merchandising arm, on the basis that
‘there are too many Charlies here already’),
McGrath demonstrated a quick, accurate
memory, and a close understanding of the
plethora of components required for the many
vehicles on the roads. On 24 March 1934 at
Brunswick Presbyterian Church he married
Madge Louisa Maclaren, an office clerk.
Becoming Ryan’s protégé, McGrath showed
a flair for leadership. Shrewd and ambitious,
he had a grasp of wider business issues that
led to rapid promotion in a growing company.
In 1935 he was appointed manager of a Repco
subsidiary at Launceston, where he resolved
a difficult position with a partner company.
During World War II his responsibilities in
Tasmania expanded into the production and
repair of military vehicle components. Back
in Melbourne as Repco’s general manager
(1946-53), he built on this experience in
both the merchandising and factory arms.
Sponsored by the chairman, Sir John Storey
[q.v.16], he became managing director in 1953
and succeeded Storey as chairman in 1957.
Repco’s progress was enormous in the
quarter century after 1945. Publicly listed and
expanding nationally, it became the leading
distributor and manufacturer of spare parts
and new vehicle components at a time of rapid
increase in the number of cars in use and of
public support for the Australian manu facture
of them—especially for the Holden [q.v.9],
a major consumer of Repco-made parts.
McGrath became a leading spokesman for
the industry, arguing for the maintenance of
the licensing restrictions that substan tially
protected local producers from overseas
com petition. A versatile advocate, in 1960
he met the lifting of import restrictions with a
proposal to allow duty-free access to imported
components for producers who retained a
95 per cent local parts content in vehicles
manufactured in large numbers. This plan was
largely adopted in 1965, and maintained until
major industry reforms were implemented
through the 1970s.
While gaining publicity for protection
through bodies such as the Australian Industries
Development Association (president,
1958-60) and the Export Development Council
(chairman, 1966-69), McGrath also built
personal relationships with the politicians and
public servants involved in maintaining this
policy. Both he and Repco donated healthily
to the major political parties, especially the
Liberal and Country (later National) parties.
Enjoying friendship with (Sir) John McEwen
[q.v.15], who as minister for commerce then
trade and industry (1949-71) upheld protec
tion for the vehicle and parts industry,
he was also a background supporter of the
77
MacGregor-Dowsett
anti-communist Industrial Groups within
the Australian Labor Party, and then for the
Democratic Labor Party. He served as federal
treasurer of the Liberal Party of Australia
(1968-74), a role understood as involving
‘twisting arms’ in business for donations.
In 1967 McGrath stepped down as managing
director of Repco. Having been appointed
OBE in 1964, he was knighted in 1968. Sir
Charles remained part-time chairman until
1980 and a director until 1981. During this
period Repco was challenged by difficulties
with succession and authority, declining
political support for protection, and massive
changes in the car industry associated with
longer-lasting components, Japanese competition,
increasing automation and skill requirements,
and more ‘globalised’ approaches to
manufacturing. Nominated by the Herald
in 1978 as one of Australia’s ‘top ten businessmen’,
McGrath remained strenuously
opposed to market liberalisation. By 1971 a
director of many public companies including
Capel Court Corporation (1969-80), he was
chairman of Nylex Corporation (1971-84) and
Petersville Australia Ltd (1971-82). He served
on the Victorian Pipelines Commission (1967-
71) and the Defence Industrial Committee
(deputy chairman, 1969-77), and joined an
expert panel (1978-82) to advise the Victorian
premier, (Sir) Rupert Hamer, on economic
policy. He was appointed AO in 1981.
By temperament a merchant rather than
technician, Sir Charles possessed a warmth,
vision and friendly ebullience that made
him a leading figure in the era of Australian
economic nationalism. He valued moderate
unionism and often called for participatory
incentives to achieve industrial harmony. In
1976 an annual award for significant achievement
was established by the Australian
Marketing Institute in his name. A member of
the Melbourne, Australian, Athenaeum, and
Commonwealth (Canberra) clubs, he relaxed
on a modest cattle farm on Phillip Island and
was a devoted supporter of the Carlton Football
Club. Survived by his wife, their four daughters
and son, Sir Charles McGrath died on
12 May 1984 at Cowes, Phillip Island, and was
cremated. His estate was sworn for probate
at $1 166 438.
A. Capling and B. Galligan, Beyond the Protective
State (1992); Herald (Melbourne), 19 Jan 1973,
p 13, 1 Feb 1978, p 20; Canberra Times, 14 May
1984, p 7; private information.
roBert Murray
MacGREGOR-DOWSETT, JAMES HARVEY
HAMILTON (1899-1990), community leader
and charity worker, was born on 14 August
1899 at Launceston, Tasmania, second of five
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MacGregor-Dowsett
children of Frank Herbert Dowsett, draper,
and his wife Mary, née Harvey. Jim’s family
moved to Geelong, Victoria, when he was 4.
Attending Matthew Flinders and Ashby State
schools, he won a scholarship to Geelong
Church of England Grammar School. He
also attended Gordon Technical College and
studied accountancy at Hemingway & Robertson.
A member of the Royal Australian Naval
Reserve, on 29 January 1921 he joined the
Australian Naval and Military Expeditionary
Force and served in New Guinea until May,
when he transferred to the New Guinea Public
Service. In 1926 he resigned to join the Edie
Creek gold rush. He married Jessie Margaret
McDowell, a nurse, on 30 June 1928 at Salamaua
Beach. They settled at Kavieng, New
Ireland, and he managed the Kavieng Club.
In 1931 they moved to Rabaul, New Britain,
where he operated a store before establishing
a cocoa plantation on the north coast.
Having joined the New Guinea Volunteer
Rifles on the outbreak of World War II, on
1 July 1940 Dowsett transferred to the Australian
Imperial Force and in the following
February was posted to the Middle East with
the 2/14th Field Company. He served in intelligence
and returned to Army Headquarters in
Australia in March 1942 before transferring
in December to the Australian New Guinea
Administrative Unit; he worked with the
native labour section. Promoted to lieutenant
in June 1943, he rose to temporary captain
in December 1945. He joined the Reserve of
Officers on 9 November 1946.
Dowsett’s plantation was destroyed during
the war and he was forced to leave the tropics
because of poor health. Now styling his
surname MacGregor-Dowsett, he returned
to Geelong, where he operated a grocery
and ironmongery business for ten years and
then worked as an insurance agent. He served
(1952-79) on the Geelong City Council and
was mayor (1971-73). In 1955 he stood unsuccessfully
as an Independent Liberal for the
seat of Geelong West in the Legislative Assembly.
He had been a foundation member (1921)
in New Guinea of the Returned Sailors’ and
Soldiers’ Imperial League of Australia (from
1965 the Returned Services League of Australia),
and served (1954-66) on the league’s
Victorian State council; he was named a life
member in 1957. A member from 1964 of the
council of the Victorian branch of the Royal
Commonwealth Society, he was named a life
member in 1974.
A ‘tireless charity worker’, MacGregor-
Dowsett was appointed OBE in 1972 and
CBE in 1976. In 1974 he became the first
president of the Victorian Association of the
Most Excellent Order of the British Empire.
He was a life governor of the Royal Victorian
Institute for the Blind, was chairman (1970-
73) of the University for Geelong Committee,
78
A. D. B.
which pressed for the establishment of Deakin
University, and was an active member of the
Sovereign Order of St John of Jerusalem.
Interested in music, he was a noted bagpiper
and a life member of several Geelong bands.
Survived by his wife and their four daughters
and two sons (a daughter and son having
predeceased him), he died on 13 February
1990 at Highton and was buried with Uniting
Church forms in Eastern cemetery, Geelong.
Geelong Advertiser, 14 Feb 1990, p 1; 16 Feb
1990, p 2; Corian, Dec 1990-Aug 1991, p 130;
B2455, item DOWSETT J H, and B883, item
NGX61 (NAA). charLeS Fahey
McINNIS, RONALD ALISON (1890-
1982), surveyor and town planner, was born
on 20 November 1890 at Te Kowai, near
Mackay, Queensland, son of Duncan McInnis,
accountant, and his wife Amelia Sophia
Elizabeth, née Cunningham. Although both
parents had been born in England, Ronald
was to take pride in his Scottish ancestry.
Educated at Maryborough Grammar School,
he started articles in 1909 with the surveyor
B. C. Dupuy at Mackay, and three years later
became a computing draughtsman in the
Brisbane Survey Office, Department of Public
Lands. He was registered as an authorised
surveyor on 8 October 1912. Enlisting in the
Australian Imperial Force on 21 May 1915, he
served with the 5th (later 8th) Field Company,
Australian Engineers, on Gallipoli, where he
surveyed Quinn’s Post, then on the Western
Front. In September 1916 he transferred to
the 53rd Battalion as a second lieutenant
and next year was promoted to lieutenant.
His AIF appointment ended in Australia on
21 July 1919.
On 18 June 1919 at St Andrew’s Church of
England, South Brisbane, McInnis married Ivy
Gertrude Taylor Harris (d.1937). He became
a partner in the prosperous surveying firm
McInnis & Manning and served as president
(1923-25) of the Queensland Institute of
Surveyors. Helping to revive the Town Planning
Association of Queensland in 1922, he
gave evidence in 1925 at the Brisbane City
Council’s Cross River Commission and in
1929-35 he represented the association on
several groups such as the Royal Automobile
Club of Queensland’s traffic committee. He
was elected in 1927 to membership of the
Town Planning Institute (Great Britain).
Increasingly interested in town planning,
in 1929 McInnis designed, surveyed, and
zoned the town of Noosa. Three years later
he prepared a comprehensive plan for Mackay
which, when accepted by the local council in
1934, was the first town plan in Queensland
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1981–1990
for an existing city. In 1935 the Brisbane
City Council engaged him for two years part
time to work on a civic survey, and in April
1938 formally appointed him city planner; he
submitted his report to the town clerk in February
1940. The council adopted his zoning
scheme, which had received strong support
from interest groups, in February 1944. In
1932-44 he was active in the Legacy Club of
Brisbane. On 7 November 1938 at St John’s
Church of England, Wagga Wagga, New South
Wales, he had married Maysie Hardy, an X-ray
technician and sister of Charles Hardy [q.v.9].
Late in 1940 McInnis was seconded to
prepare a plan for Darwin. He took suggestions
from leading citizens and put them into
‘workable form’, but the escalation of World
War II, and especially the bombing of Darwin
in February 1942, prevented implementation.
In 1942-43 McInnis was Queensland’s deputydirector
of camouflage in the Commonwealth
Department of Home Security.
Doubting that Brisbane City Council aldermen
and the city architect were committed to
his zoning scheme, in January 1945 McInnis
took up the new post of town and country planning
commissioner for Tasmania. He quickly
produced a pamphlet, The Application of Planning
Under the Town and Country Planning
Act 1944 (1945), in which he argued that town
planning was the province of local government
because ‘local problems, local desires and
local prejudices’ can ‘only be appreciated by
those living on the spot’. Travelling around
Tasmania, he urged municipal councils and
citizens’ groups to act together to adopt
planning schemes. Progress was slow, but
gradually local authorities involved him in
their projects. When McInnis retired in March
1956, forty-one of the forty-nine municipalities
had adopted the town and country planning
acts. Local authorities exercised much tighter
control over subdivisions and many had initiated
surveys and zoning schemes. The (Royal)
Australian Planning Institute awarded him an
honorary fellowship in 1959.
In retirement McInnis cultivated his garden
at Lindisfarne and enjoyed listening to its
birds. He was a council-member (1946-67)
of the National Fitness Council of Tasmania
and an active parishioner of his local Anglican
church until he became blind. Photographs
show a tidy, well-dressed man with a thoughtful
demeanour. Predeceased by his wife
(d.1978) and daughter, he died on 8 May 1982
in Hobart and was cremated.
R. Freestone, Model Communities (1989);
D. Carment and B. James (eds), Northern Territory
Dictionary of Biography, vol 2 (1992); E. Gibson,
Bag-Huts, Bombs and Bureaucrats (1997);
S. Petrow, ‘The Diary of a Town and Country
Planning Commissioner: R. A. McInnis in Tasmania
1945-1956’, in C. Garnaut and S. Hamnett (eds),
Fifth Australian Urban History Planning Conference
79
McIntyre
Proceedings (2000), and ‘Planning Pioneer: R. A.
McInnis and Town Planning in Queensland 1922-
1944’, Jnl of the Royal Hist Soc of Qld, vol 16, no 7,
1997, p 285; Mercury (Hobart), 13 May 1982, p 4;
Austn Surveyor, June 1983, p 440.
SteFan Petrow
McINTYRE, Sir LAURENCE RUPERT
(1912-1981), diplomat, was born on 22 June
1912 in Hobart, eldest of four children of
Tasmanian-born parents Laurence Tasman
McIntyre, schoolteacher, and his wife Hilda,
née Lester. Educated at Launceston’s Scotch
College and Church Grammar School, where
he was captain (1930), ‘Jim’ won numerous
prizes for academic and sporting achievement.
In 1932 at the University of Tasmania, he cofounded
and was the first editor of Togatus, the
student newspaper. As the Tasmanian Rhodes
scholar (1933), he entered Exeter College,
Oxford (BA, 1936; MA, 1954); he was captain
of the university cross-country running team.
In 1936 he joined the staff of the Australian
High Commission, London. He married Judith
Mary Gould on 3 September 1938 at St Jude’s
Church of England, Kensington.
Returning to Australia in 1940, McIntyre
was appointed a third secretary in the political
section of the Department of External Affairs,
Canberra. In 1942 he was posted as acting
second secretary at the Australian legation in
Washington, DC, and served as first secretary
(1946-47). With H. V. Evatt as minister for
external affairs, and with (Sir) Owen Dixon
[qq.v.14], Sir Frederic Eggleston [q.v.8] and
Norman Makin [q.v.] as heads of the mission,
McIntyre developed his diplomatic skills in
dealing with his compatriots as well as with
the United States State Department. In his
memoir, (Sir) Alan Watt [q.v.], deputy-head of
the mission, referred to him as ‘my patient,
long-suffering and uncomplaining colleague’.
McIntyre was one of a group of talented
young diplomats that included Ralph Harry,
(Sir) James Plimsoll, (Sir) Keith Shann [qq.v.],
(Sir) Patrick Shaw [q.v.16], (Sir) Arthur
Tange and (Sir) Keith Waller. In 1947 he was
counsellor in charge of the Pacific division in
Canberra. Counsellor (1950-51) to the Australian
commissioner for Malaya in Singapore, he
returned to the department as one of three
assistant secretaries. He contributed to the
negotiations leading to the signature in 1951
of the Australia, New Zealand, United States
Security Treaty. Again in Singapore as the
Australian commissioner (1952-54), he held
a key position in Australian diplomacy in the
early years of the Malayan Emergency. When
he was transferred to London as the senior
external affairs representative in the High
Commission, his service coincided with the
1956 Suez crisis and its immediate aftermath.
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McIntyre
Appointed OBE (1953) and CBE (1960), he
was knighted in 1963.
McIntyre was Australia’s ambassador
to Indonesia (1957-60) during the dispute
between that country and the Netherlands
over West New Guinea (West Papua). In 1959
he accompanied the Indonesian foreign minister,
Dr Subandrio, on his visit to Australia,
and shared in the drafting of the controversial
Casey-Subandrio communiqué. Again promoted,
he served (1960-65) as ambassador
to Japan. In 1965 he was appointed deputysecretary
of the Department of External
Affairs, a new position created to support
the secretary, Plimsoll. His strengths and
weaknesses, however, tended to duplicate
rather than to complement those of Plimsoll.
Although he was highly able as a diplomat
abroad, he was, like Plimsoll, less successful
as a departmental administrator in Canberra.
From 1970 to 1975 McIntyre was Australia’s
permanent representative to the United
Nations in New York. President of the Security
Council for the month of October 1973, when
the unexpected Yom Kippur war in the Middle
East broke out, he showed coolness, fairness,
and forbearance under pressure to negotiate
a ceasefire amidst conflicting opinions from
the warring parties, their superpower supporters
and the other Security Council members.
Retiring in 1975, he was director (1976-79)
of the Australian Institute of International
Affairs. He was the inaugural chairman
(1979-81) of the Uranium Advisory Council,
a body recommended by the Ranger Uranium
Environmental Inquiry to control and regulate
the mining and export of uranium.
Of medium height and lean build, with heavylidded
eyes and dark, bushy eyebrows, Sir
Laurence was widely regarded as a congenial
colleague. Modest, mild-mannered and steady,
he was a keen jogger for most of his life. In
1975 the University of Tasmania conferred
on him an honorary LL D. He was appointed
AC in 1979. Survived by his wife and their two
sons, he died of cancer on 21 November 1981
in Canberra and was cremated. The McIntyre
Bluffs in Antarctica were named after him.
A. Watt, Australian Diplomat: Memoirs of Sir
Alan Watt (1972); National Times, 26 Nov-1 Dec
1973, p 48; Canberra Times, 22 Nov 1981, p 1;
M. Pratt, interview with L. McIntyre (ts, 1975,
NLA); L. McIntyre papers (NLA).
Peter eDwarDS
McKAY, IAN CALDER (1943-1990), potter,
was born on 14 August 1943 at Mackay,
Queensland, eldest of four children of
Queensland-born parents Frank Alexander
McKay, fitter with the Royal Australian Air
Force, and his wife Jessie Burnett Gordon,
née Allan. Four of Ian’s uncles, including
80
A. D. B.
Rev. Fred McKay of the Australian Inland
Mission, were Presbyterian ministers. Raised
in Brisbane, Ian attended Coorparoo and
Moorooka State, and Brisbane and Cavendish
Road State High schools. He studied English
and music at the University of Queensland
(BA, 1966). In 1968 he started a librarianship
course at the University of New South Wales
(Dip. Lib., 1970). A promising painter and
pianist, he became, in his own words, ‘obsessively
interested in pottery’; he returned to
Brisbane to tutor (1970-73) in English at UQ.
In vacations he learned about pottery from Col
Levy at Bowen Mountain, New South Wales,
and locally from Errol Barnes. On 2 December
1972 at St Thérèse’s Catholic Church,
Kedron, he married Mary Elizabeth Baartz,
then a student. His wife supported him in his
decision to be a full-time potter; neither was
‘under any illusion that it would be easy to
make a living’.
Briefly assisted (1974) by the Australia
Council’s Crafts Board while he worked
with Levy, McKay then occupied his own
studio-workshops at Mullumbimby, New
South Wales (1974-76), and at Stanthorpe,
Queensland (1976-77). Refining his skills, he
searched for an Australian aesthetic based
on local materials and made ‘things to be
used and to enhance the lives of the users’,
in what he termed ‘loosely the “[Michael]
Cardew tradition”’. He lived frugally, close to
nature, inspired by traditional Japanese tea
ceremony ware and Chinese Song dynasty
tenmoku bowls. After suffering a perforated
ulcer in 1976, he had periods of ill health, but
exhibited and also taught (1978-81) ceramics
at Queensland College of Art and at the
Gold Coast College of Technical and Further
Edu cation. In 1981 he gained Australia-Japan
Foundation funding to study tea ceremony
pots for two months in Japan. Manager (1982-
86) of Sturt Pottery, Mittagong, New South
Wales, he incorporated the approach of its
founder Ivan McMeekin into an Australian
variant of the Song idiom. He taught (1985-
87) at the National Art School, Sydney, and
travelled in 1986 to Hong Kong and Taiwan,
and to Japan where he studied tenmoku.
With Australia-China Council sponsorship
he investigated Song dynasty-type glazes in
China in 1987.
That year McKay established a studioworkshop
at Mittagong. He had separated
from his wife and formed a relationship with
Mary Taguchi. Single-mindedly he produced
much-admired oil-spot and celadon-glazed
pots. He exhibited jointly with Levy, Peter
Rushforth, and Gwyn Hanssen Pigott at David
Jones’ [q.v.2] Art Gallery, Sydney, in 1989, and
in other group and solo shows in Brisbane,
Sydney, Mittagong and Canberra.
McKay, an aesthete in appearance, with
black hair and expressive hands, was darkly
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1981–1990
ironic and waggish. He wrote on ceramics
and reviewed the work of other Australian
potters; observant and astute, he could be
provocative. Survived by his wife and their
two sons, and by his partner, he died suddenly
of a subarachnoid haemorrhage on 30 March
1990 at Westmead Hospital, Sydney, and
was buried in Welby cemetery, Mittagong.
Retrospective exhibitions were held at Victor
Mace Fine Art Gallery, Brisbane, and at David
Jones’ gallery. McKay’s work is represented in
the Queensland Art Gallery, the Powerhouse
Museum, Sydney, civic galleries, and private
collections in Australia and Japan.
A. Moult, Craft in Australia (1984); B. Anderson
and J. Hoare (introd), Clay Statements (1985);
J. Hoare (ed), Clay Statements 2 (1987); Ceramics,
Art and Perception, no 2, 1990, p 45; Pottery in Aust,
vol 29, no 3, 1990, p 34; private information and
personal knowledge. aLiSon ranSoMe
MACKAY, KATE (1897-1983), medical
practitioner, was born on 29 April 1897 at
Bendigo, Victoria, third of seven children
of Scottish-born James Hannah Mackay,
Presbyterian minister, and his Victorianborn
wife Mary, née Fawcett. Kate was educated
at Presbyterian Ladies’ College, East
Melbourne, and the University of Melbourne
(MB, BS, 1922; MD, 1924). She was one of
four to graduate in medicine with first-class
honours, in a class that included Lucy Bryce,
Jean MacNamara, Roy Cameron, George
Simpson, Rupert Willis, Macfarlane Burnet,
Kate Campbell [qq.v.7,10,13,16,17], Mildred
Mocatta and Jean Littlejohn [qq.v.]. Mackay
was resident medical officer at (Royal)
Melbourne (1922), (Royal) Women’s (1923)
and the Children’s (1924) hospitals.
Entering the Victorian Public Service in
1925 because of financial considerations,
Mackay became the first female medical
inspector of factories and shops in the Department
of Labour. Her investigations into the
effects of industrial conditions on women’s
health and well-being were undertaken during
a period of mounting trade-unionist fear of
female workers’ penetration of industries that
formerly had been male preserves. In 1927
she accompanied an Australian industrial
delegation to the United States of America,
as co-observer with May Matthews [q.v.10] of
women’s working conditions. On her return,
with Muriel Heagney and Ethel Osborne
[qq.v.9,11] she was appointed to a committee
of inquiry into female workers’ health at the
Sunshine Harvester Works, Melbourne. The
committee recommended that a wider inquiry
be conducted into women’s work in Victoria,
which Mackay then undertook in collaboration
with Dr Marion Ireland of the Commonwealth
81
Mackay
Department of Health. Conveying her findings
and views through lectures and radio talks,
Mackay generally supported the extension
of women’s industrial employment, subject to
strict regulation of working conditions and the
mandatory medical examination of all female
juvenile workers.
In 1933 Mackay resigned from the public
service and in 1934 entered private practice
in Collins Street as a specialist physician.
About this time she began a long association
with the Myer [q.v.10] Emporium Ltd as consultant
physician at the staff medical clinic.
Cardiology and endocrinology became her
chief interests. She was a physician (1927-
57) to the Queen Victoria Memorial Hospital,
where she was the founder of, and physician
(1946-53) to, the diabetic clinic, continuing
as the first consultant physician after her
retirement in 1957. In 1940-45 she served as
medical officer-in-charge of the diabetic clinic
at RMH and from 1946 as assistant-physician
to the clinic. She was also physician (1943-
45) to the military annex at Queen Victoria
Memorial Hospital and an honorary part-time
major (1942-52) in the Royal Australian Army
Medical Corps. In 1938 she had become a
foundation fellow of the Royal Australasian
College of Physicians. That year she studied
at Boston, USA, with the cardiologist Dr Paul
Dudley White, the first of many postgraduate
visits to North America, undertaken at a time
when Britain was an Australian physician’s
usual destination. She was appointed OBE
in 1977.
A cultivated woman with an interest in
contemporary art, Mackay enjoyed friendships
that extended beyond medicine to
include artists, businessmen and members
of the Lyceum Club, which she had joined
in 1925. She was admired for her skill and
integrity, and also for her warmth and sense of
humour. Unmarried, she died on 1 September
1983 at East Melbourne and was cremated
after a service at Toorak Uniting Church.
J. C. Wiseman and R. J. Mulhearn (eds), Roll of
the Royal Australasian College of Physicians, vol 2,
1976-1990 (1994); MJA, 14 Apr 1984, p 498; private
information. John Lack
MACKAY, KENNETH DONALD
(‘SLASHER’) (1925-1982), cricketer, was
born on 24 October 1925 at Northgate, Brisbane,
eldest child of Queensland-born parents
Alexander Mackay, ironworker, and his wife
Lillie Elizabeth, née Goebel. While serving on
the Western Front in World War I, Alexander
had been awarded the Military Medal. As a
schoolboy at Virginia State School Ken was
known as the ‘Virginia Bradman’ because of
his heavy scoring in cricket matches. From
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Mackay
the age of 14, when he left school, he worked
in the insurance industry. At 15 he began
playing A-grade cricket for the Toombul District
Cricket Club. Enlisting in the Australian
Imperial Force in November 1943, he served
in New Britain in January-April 1945 with
the 22nd Battalion before being discharged
in Brisbane in December 1946. In November
that year he made his début as a State
cricketer, against the touring English team.
On 4 August 1951 at St Paul’s Presbyterian
Church, Brisbane, he married Mavis Jean
Kenway, a clerk.
Early in his first-class career Mackay
played predominantly as an obdurate, purely
defensive left-handed batsman and was not
considered for Test selection. During his first
southern tour in 1946-47 Aubrey Carrigan, a
member of the Queensland team, ironically
nicknamed him ‘Slasher’ because of his slow
batting. Having improved his scoring capacity
and developed his medium-paced bowling, he
was selected in 1956 to tour England under
Ian Johnson’s captaincy. He played usefully
in his début in the second Test at Lords, but
failed in later matches against the mesmeric
spin bowling of Jim Laker. His Test career
appeared to be over but, next year, the
withdrawal of Ron Archer from the Australian
team to tour South Africa gained him a
reprieve; in seven Test innings he averaged
125 with the bat. For the next six years he
was an automatic selection in the Australian
team. As a right-arm bowler, he approached
the wicket with a shuffling, hesitant run and an
action that disguised subtle changes of pace.
His best performance was taking 6 wickets for
42 runs to help Australia defeat Pakistan at
Dacca in the first Test of the 1959-60 series.
A fierce competitor, Mackay was not naturally
gifted but in 1958-63 he made himself into
an indispensable member of Richie Benaud’s
Australian teams. Sir Donald Bradman considered
that he was a ‘very, very valuable
member of the Australian side’. Of medium
height, Mackay was easily distinguished in
the field by a peculiar slouching gait, the
rakish angle of his cap and his incessant gumchewing.
He is remembered for his defiance of
the West Indies attack in an unbroken tenthwicket
stand with Lindsay Kline that denied
victory to the tourists in the fourth Test of the
1960-61 series, in Adelaide. In recognition of
his feat, the Brisbane Courier-Mail organised
a collection for him that netted £800.
During the fourth Test (his last) at Adelaide
Oval in 1963 Mackay was appointed MBE.
In 37 Tests he had scored 1507 runs at an
average of 33.48 and a highest score of 89.
He had taken 50 wickets at an average of
34.42. Mackay, who was Queensland captain
from 1960, retired at the end of the 1963-64
season. In 100 first-class matches he had
scored 10 823 runs at an average of 43.64
82
A. D. B.
with 23 centuries and a highest score of 223,
and had captured 251 wickets at an average
of 33.31. On his retirement a public appeal
raised 400 000 shillings for him.
Mackay wrote (with Frank O’Callaghan)
Slasher Opens Up (1964), a cricketing memoir,
and Quest For The Ashes (1966), an account of
the 1965-66 English tour of Australia. He was a
State selector (1964-65, 1967-79); coach of the
Queensland team (1977-79); and a life member
of the Queensland Cricket Association from
1976. In his playing days, he was a teetotaller
and non-smoker. A keen fisherman and golfer,
he was president (1969-72) of the Queensland
division of the Sportsmen’s Association of
Australia. He died on 13 June 1982—sixteen
days after his wife—of myocardial infarction
at Dunwich, North Stradbroke Island, and
was cremated. His four daughters survived
him. The Ken Mackay cricket oval at Nundah,
Brisbane, was named after him in 1982.
J. Pollard, Australian Cricket (1982); C. Harte,
A History of Australian Cricket (1993); R. Cashman
(ed), The Oxford Companion to Australian Cricket
(1996); I. Diehm, Green Hills to the Gabba (2000);
Courier-Mail (Brisbane), 14 June 1982, p 1;
Telegraph (Brisbane), 14 June 1982, p 23; SMH,
14 June 1982, pp 2 and 22. ian DiehM
McKELL, Sir WILLIAM JOHN (1891-
1985), boilermaker, premier and governorgeneral,
was born on 26 September 1891 at
Pambula, New South Wales, eldest of four
children of New South Wales-born parents
Robert Pollock McKell, butcher, and his wife
Martha, née Shepherd. In 1892 the McKells
moved to Candelo, where Billy attended the
local primary school, helped his father as a
delivery boy and had his own pony. Robert
sold his business in December 1898 and
took the family to Sydney; they lived at Surry
Hills, a slum neighbourhood near where
bubonic plague broke out in 1900. In 1901
Robert deserted his wife and family and left
for Broken Hill, and then Western Australia,
with a young woman from Bega and their oneyear-old
son. McKell would later claim that his
father died about this time whereas, in fact,
Robert died in 1934, at Kalgoorlie. Close to
poverty, Martha worked as a laundress and
took in shirts for sewing; she soon moved
with her children to nearby Redfern, which
was to be McKell’s refuge and stronghold for
the next half-century.
At Surry Hills South Public School, Billy
was a bright student. He received a good
education—including Latin lessons—that was
to stand him in good stead when he studied
law. His mother was a devout member
of the Church of England and he attended
St Saviour’s Church and Sunday school,
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1981–1990
Redfern. In later life, however, he was not a
regular churchgoer. In boyhood he revelled
in community activities, finding comradeship
particularly in sport—cricket, boxing and football—but
he was a responsible youth, not a
carefree one. Leaving school at 13, he first
worked as a druggist’s messenger boy. His
lifelong frugality, independence, caution and
social conscience stemmed from his mother’s
strength of character, his father’s betrayal and
the ensuing hardship and tragedy; the elder of
his two sisters died of tubercular meningitis
in 1905. He retained a special bond with his
mother, who was the major influence on him;
she was to live with him and his family until
she died in 1951.
In 1906, at her urging, McKell began an
apprenticeship at Mort’s [q.v.5] Dock &
Engineering Co. as a boilermaker, which he
later described as ‘the hardest, the dirtiest
and the most dangerous trade’. Angered
when he was treated poorly by his employer,
in 1911 he organised a group of apprentices
in protest and moved to Poole & Steel’s
Engineering and Dredging Works, Balmain,
where he completed his articles. Next year he
began working as a journeyman boilermaker
and formally joined the Federated Society of
Boilermakers and Iron and Steel Ship-Builders
of New South Wales, although he had been
actively associated with that trade union for
at least twelve months. In 1913-14 he was
employed in the Eveleigh railway workshops,
Redfern. A member of the Australian Labor
Party from about 1908, he became full-time
assistant-secretary of the Boilermakers’
Society in 1914 and resigned from the railways.
He never worked at his trade again.
McKell was a union official at a time of
uproar in the ALP, when militants known
as the Industrial Section, comprising trade
unionists and others influenced by the Industrial
Workers of the World, were attempting to
pressure the State government, led by William
A. Holman [q.v.9], to effect political reforms.
The ‘industrialists’, including McKell, dominated
the 1916 Labor conference, at which
opposition to conscription became party
policy. Following the failed referendum of
October 1916, individuals who had supported
conscription were expelled from the ALP;
Holman and James McGowen [q.v.10] were
among them. McKell secured party endorsement
to challenge the latter in the electorate
of Redfern and won the seat in March 1917;
at 26 he was the youngest member of the
Legislative Assembly.
The ‘baby of the House’ joined the Opposition,
led by John Storey [q.v.12]. Holman
(representing the National Party) remained
premier. Although Holman was now a political
opponent, McKell retained an admiration
for the former ALP leader’s style, intellect
and eloquence. Holman advised him, the
83
McKell
political theorist V. G. Childe [q.v.7] coached
him and Storey mentored him, as he studied
law. On 7 January 1920 at St Aidan’s Church
of England, Annandale, he married Minnie
May Pye, a tailoress, and bought a house in
Dowling Street, Redfern, that became his
constituency office as well as his home.
After a move to proportional representation,
and electoral changes that abolished the seat
of Redfern, McKell was one of five members
returned to parliament for the seat of Botany
in the March 1920 election, won narrowly
by Labor; next month Storey’s patronage
ensured his election to cabinet. He became
minister of justice in 1920 and retained the
position in the James Dooley [q.v.8] ministry
(1921-22). In arranging the appointment of
N. K. Ewing [q.v.8] as royal commissioner
to inquire into the trial and conviction and
the sentences imposed on Charles Reeve and
others (1920), McKell had helped to secure
the early release of imprisoned members of
the IWW.
In Opposition from 1922, McKell grew close
to John (Jack) Lang [q.v.9]. When the ALP
won the 1925 election, he became minister of
justice and assistant to the treasurer (Lang).
The New South Wales branch of the ALP, however,
was riven by competing rivalries. While
McKell was overseas negotiating government
loans in 1927, party ructions led to Lang’s
resignation and subsequent reappoint ment
as premier. Unclear about the situation,
McKell declined the offer of a portfolio in
the premier’s reconstructed ministry and
hurried home. Seen by Lang as an enemy, he
was forced to seek absolution from the ‘Big
Fella’, who issued a public statement excusing
his former colleague’s errant behaviour.
Retaining preselection for the reconstituted
seat of Redfern, McKell won it at the October
election that year, and went into Opposition.
In Lang’s second ministry, he was minister
for local government (1930-31) and minister
of justice from 1931 until the dismissal of
the Lang government by Governor Sir Philip
Game [q.v.8] in May 1932.
Having been admitted to the Bar on 20
November 1925, McKell worked as a barrister
while in Opposition. In 1933 he purchased a
grazing property near Goulburn, where the
family enjoyed a retreat from the public gaze.
Labor continued in the political wilderness. In
August 1939 a party conference ended Lang’s
disastrous domination; next month the parliamentary
caucus elected McKell leader. Before
the May 1941 election McKell proposed a
‘master plan’ of moderate government intervention.
Paying careful attention to selecting
candidates, sometimes personally, especially
for rural seats, he employed W. S. (Stewart)
Howard [q.v.17] as his publicity officer. Labor
had a famous victory: from a pre-poll strength
of 34, Labor won 54 seats in a Legislative
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McKell
Assembly total of 90, with 50.79 per cent of
the vote. The return of a Labor government
after nine years of Opposition was a notable
achievement, and led to the party’s retention
of power for twenty-four years.
One of the State’s most effective premiers,
McKell was also treasurer (1941-47). He presented
balanced budgets and worked closely
with prime ministers John Curtin and Ben
Chifley [qq.v.13] in World War II. Japan’s
attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941 had
introduced a new level of danger, culminating
in a midget submarine raid in Sydney Harbour
on 31 May 1942. Although an uninspiring
speaker, he was a solid and efficient wartime
administrator.
McKell enacted major legislative reforms.
He set up the Housing Commission of New
South Wales (1942), the Cumberland County
Council (1945) and the Joint Coal Board
(1947); he re-established the State dockyard at
Newcastle and rehabilitated the Government
Insurance Office. Social and industrial reforms
were achieved through the implementation
of workers’ compensation, miners’ pensions,
improved health and safety provisions and
increased annual leave for workers. Reforming
the horse-racing industry, he established in
1943 the Sydney Turf Club, which was to run
the first annual W. J. McKell Cup in 1962. He
was close to hotel and brewery interests, as
were his Labor predecessors and successors,
and he introduced the Liquor (Amendment)
Act (1946) that led to licensed clubs becoming
a feature of the State’s popular culture.
Interested in water and soil conservation,
McKell strongly supported the New South
Wales Soil Conservation Act (1938) and, as
premier, expanded the Soil Conservation
Service. In 1943 he set up an expert committee
to look into a plan to divert the waters
of the Snowy River—an important step in
the development of the Snowy Mountains
hydro-electric scheme. After taking advice
from conservationists, in 1944 he introduced
legislation to create the Kosciusko State (later
Kosciuszko National) Park—his lasting legacy.
He also declared 44 000 acres (17 807 ha)
of the Macquarie Marshes, in western New
South Wales, a national fauna reserve.
Unlike earlier Labor administrations,
McKell’s government succeeded in getting
much of its legislation passed in the Legislative
Council. This was in spite of the council’s
reorganisation by the Stevens [q.v.12]
government in 1935 to ensure a conservative
majority. Legislative attempts in 1943
and 1946 to reverse that distortion failed.
Nevertheless, the efficient and loyal R. R.
(Reg) Downing shrewdly handled business
in the Upper House. In April 1946, despite
opposition from the British government, McKell
succeeded in obtaining the appointment
of (Sir) John Northcott [q.v.15] as governor
84
A. D. B.
of New South Wales—the first Australian to
become a State governor.
In cabinet McKell was an active, interventionist
chairman; his ministers were in
general loyal and only Clive Evatt [q.v.17]
was a ‘thorn in his side’. A cautious innovator,
McKell usually set up an inquiry before
introducing new legislation. During his long
political apprenticeship he had formed close
contacts with the professional public service,
and in parliament he used them to good effect.
He worked with the chairman of the Public
Service Board, Wallace Wurth [q.v.16], who,
with McKell and his education minister, R. J.
Heffron [q.v.14], set up the New South Wales
University of Technology (from 1958, the
University of New South Wales), to meet the
postwar need for professional engineers and
technologists. Treating Opposition members
with civility, Premier McKell never used the
‘gag’ or guillotine to stifle debate. When his
government comfortably won the May 1944
State election, despite a breakaway group of
dissidents led by Lang, he became the first
Labor premier in New South Wales to win two
elections in succession. As the conservative
Sunday Telegraph noted, the result reflected
‘a personal vote of confidence’ in him.
McKell was not inclined to hang on to power;
in 1946 he announced that he would retire to
his Goulburn farm. Chifley had other plans for
his old friend, however, and persuaded him
to accept appointment as governor-general.
Widespread press and political condemnation
of the choice of an Australian—and an
active politician—greeted the January 1947
announcement. The Opposition leader (Sir)
Robert Menzies [q.v.15] attacked the selection
as ‘shocking and humiliating’. Resigning
from State parliament on 6 February that year,
McKell took up office on 11 March. He was
only the second Australian to be appointed
governor-general: Sir Isaac Isaacs [q.v.9] had
been the first.
In the face of press criticism of his political
connections and lack of military service,
McKell began quietly and his relaxed and
friendly style, and obvious Australian roots,
soon turned around public opinion. His
appearance in civilian clothes helped the
office of governor-general, whose previous
incumbents had often presided in ceremonial
uniform, to blend into the postwar community,
and he became a popular vice-regal figure.
The defeat of Chifley’s government in the
December 1949 election might have precipitated
tension but, despite a prior hint that
Menzies might sack McKell, the new prime
minister treated him with careful deference.
In a notable instance of vice-regal impartiality,
in March 1951 McKell granted Menzies a
double dissolution of Federal parliament, amid
Labor politicians’ objections. Labor lost the
subsequent election, and some in the party
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1981–1990
harboured a grudge against McKell. This
feeling heightened when, despite his previous
opposition to British honours, he was
appointed GCMG in 1951, and during a visit
to England was invested personally by King
George VI. In 1952 the University of Sydney
conferred on him an honorary LL D. After an
extension of his term, he retired from office
on 8 May 1953. Menzies paid tribute to his
‘dignity, knowledge of affairs, and impartiality’.
In retirement Sir William worked on his
farm. In 1956 Menzies nominated him to be
a member of the Malayan Constitutional Commission.
Interested in sport throughout his
life, he had always enjoyed horse racing and
was a moderate punter; now he bred trotters
and had time to attend boxing bouts. An
active member (1931-47, chairman 1938-47)
of the Sydney Cricket Ground Trust, he was a
patron of the New South Wales Rugby League.
Transferring the farm to their son Bill in the
1970s, Sir William and Lady McKell moved
to Double Bay.
The 1960s and early 1970s saw the astonishing
resurrection of Lang as a latter-day Labor
hero. To many, this was a distortion of history,
and State Labor leaders, such as Neville Wran
and Bob Carr, began to rehabilitate McKell’s
remarkable record of achievement. William
McKell Place, Redfern, a high-rise tower
built by the New South Wales Housing Commission,
opened in 1964. The first William
McKell lecture was held in 1982. In recognition
of his work for the environment, the
McKell medal for outstanding contribution
to soil conservation was inaugurated in 1984.
Short and lightly built, Sir William had a
cheery grin and a broad Australian accent.
Survived by his wife and their two daughters
and son, he died on 11 January 1985 at Waverley,
Sydney, and was cremated. A memorial
service was held at St Andrew’s Anglican
Cathedral. A portrait by Joshua Smith (1974)
is in the historic memorials collection,
Parliament House, Canberra.
C. Cunneen, William John McKell (2000); PD
(LA, NSW), 19 Feb 1985, p 3434; PD (LC, NSW),
26 Feb 1985, p 3717; Sunday Telegraph (Sydney),
28 May 1944, p 1; SMH, 1 Feb 1947, p 1, 20 Feb
1953, p 1; M. Pratt, interview with W. McKell (ts,
1971, NLA); C. Lloyd, interview with W. McKell (ts,
1981, NLA); W. McKell papers (SLNSW).
chriS cunneen
McKENZIE, FLORENCE VIOLET (1890-
1982), signals trainer, was born on 28 September
1890 in Melbourne, second child of
English-born parents James Granville, miner,
and his wife Marie Annie, née Giles. In 1894
her widowed mother married a commercial
traveller, George Wallace, and Violet adopted
his surname. Educated at the Girls’ Public
85
McKenzie
High School, Sydney, she enrolled in the
science faculty at the University of Sydney in
1915 but because of financial difficulties was
unable to continue her studies. Having shown
a keen interest in electricity by ‘fooling around
with the wiring in their home’, Wallace studied
electrical engineering at Sydney Technical
College, from which she graduated in 1923
with a diploma—probably the first woman in
Australia to have received such a qualification.
In 1921 Wallace bought a radio sales and
repair shop in Royal Arcade, Sydney, which
she ran while studying. She also worked as
an electrical engineer and contractor and
experimented with television. In 1924 Wallace
became Australia’s first female certificated
radio telegraphist, the first female member
of the Wireless Institute of Australia, and the
first woman in Australia to hold an amateur
wireless licence.
At St Philip’s Church of England, Auburn,
Sydney on 31 December 1924, Wallace married
Cecil Roland McKenzie, an electrical
engineer with the Sydney County Council; she
closed her radio shop. In 1934 she founded the
Electrical Association for Women (Australia)
where women could learn to use an electric
kitchen and modern appliances, and attend
meetings and lectures. She published the EAW
Cookery Book (1936), the first women’s guide
to cooking with electricity; an educational
book for children, The Electric Imps (1938),
and numerous articles on electrical safety. A
keen letter writer, McKenzie corresponded
with Albert Einstein, to whom she sent a
didgeridoo and information on Aborigines.
In July 1938 McKenzie joined the Australian
Women’s Flying Club; she was elected
treasurer and became responsible for training
women pilots in Morse code. With war
approaching, she foresaw a need for trained
female wireless telegraphists, initially to
replace men in civilian roles but eventually
to serve in the forces. McKenzie was the
only female electrical engineer in New South
Wales at the time, and early in 1939, aided
by her husband, she formed the Women’s
Emergency Signalling Corps, which ran free
courses. When World War II began, McKenzie
had already trained nearly a thousand women
in signalling subjects; she went on to train
some two thousand more, a third of whom
joined the forces. Corps members wore a dark
green and gold uniform that she had designed.
McKenzie hoped that the Royal Australian
Air Force would recruit her telegraphists but
even when the Women’s Auxiliary Australian
Air Force was formed in March 1941, the Advisory
War Council resisted. Growing impatient
and still battling official opposition, in April
she persuaded the Naval Board in Melbourne
to accept fourteen of her operators for the
navy. These women formed the nucleus of
the Women’s Royal Australian Naval Service.
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Meanwhile, the role of the WESC expanded
to include pre-enlistment signals training for
prospective Australian servicemen and continuing
instruction for American personnel.
Her former students were highly regarded in
the services and many became instructors.
In appreciation of her work, McKenzie was
appointed an honorary flight officer in the
WAAAF in April 1941. By August 1945 her
school had trained some twelve thousand
men in Morse code, visual signalling and
international code.
After the war, with the increase in worldwide
commercial travel, McKenzie’s school
continued voluntarily teaching signalling
courses, training 2450 civil airline crewmen
and 1050 merchant navy seamen by 1952.
Aircraft radio equipment was provided by the
Department of Civil Aviation. Although she
was an official examiner for the department,
the school never received official status. In
1950 McKenzie was appointed OBE. She
closed her school in 1955 and became patroness
of the Ex-WRANS Association in 1964.
Her leisure pursuits included scientific study,
reading, gardening and jam-making.
Barely five feet (153 cm) tall, McKenzie had
a studious and determined appearance that
contrasted with her friendly and unassuming
manner. ‘Dainty and essentially feminine’
(according to Smith’s Weekly), she took a personal
interest in each of her students, to whom
she was affectionately known as ‘Mrs Mac’.
Following a stroke that confined her to a wheelchair
in 1976, McKenzie unveiled a plaque in
her honour at the Mariners’ Church, Flying
Angel House, Sydney, in 1980. Predeceased
by her husband and childless, she died at
Greenwich on 23 May 1982 and was cremated.
G. H. Gill, Royal Australian Navy 1939-1942
(1957); J. Thomson, The WAAAF in Wartime Australia
(1991); Austn Women’s Weekly, 10 Mar 1971,
p 15, 12 July 1978, p 41; Ex-WRANS Ditty Box, June
1982 (whole issue). MichaeL neLMeS
McKENZIE, MARGARET DAWN (1930-
1984), hockey and softball player, sports
administrator, coach and schoolteacher, was
born on 23 February 1930 at Victor Harbor,
South Australia, elder daughter of Sydney
Raymond Wallage, hire-car proprietor, and
his wife Margaret Blanche, née Davidson,
both born in South Australia. Margaret was
educated at Victor Harbor Primary School, at
Methodist Ladies’ College, Adelaide, and at
the University of Adelaide (1949-52), where
she studied physical education but failed to
gain a diploma. A member (1950-52) of the
South Australian softball team, she was a
spectacular player; she was a strong batter
and considered the best infielder. In 1952 she
was a reserve for the national side.
86
A. D. B.
Wallage’s favourite sport, however, was
hockey. In 1950-53 and 1955-56 she represented
South Australia and was selected as
goal-keeper for national teams in 1951, 1952
and 1953. Quiet, unassuming and determined,
she demanded one hundred per cent commitment
from herself and others: for example,
during training sessions she ran 100-yard
sprints in full goal-keeping gear. In 1953
she played for Australia in the International
Federation of Women’s Hockey Association’s
tournament at Folkestone, Kent, England,
when Australia defeated England for the first
time on British soil.
In 1951-55 Wallage was sports mistress at
Woodlands Church of England Girls’ Grammar
School. On 18 May 1954 at the Church
of St Columba, Hawthorn, she married with
Anglican rites John Oswald McKenzie, a technical
assistant. They lived at Brighton and
had four children. Mrs McKenzie resumed
teaching at Woodlands in 1966.
Vice-chairman (1972-77) of the South
Australian Women’s Hockey Association,
McKenzie was a State selector (1968-79)
and president (1976-79) of Aroha (Adelaide)
Hockey Club. She was awarded life membership
of the SAWHA in 1977, and of the Aroha
club in 1978. For many years she coached
Aroha and, for a time, the South Australian
under-19 team. A founding member (president
1982) of the South Australian Hockey Coaches
Federation, she was a driving force behind
the setting up of residential training camps
for junior talent squads. She also helped to
implement the accreditation scheme that
raised the standard and number of coaches
in South Australia. The McKenzie medal,
instituted in 1981 and originally presented
each year to the most outstanding coach, male
or female, is now awarded to the best female
coach in the women’s premier league.
In 1973 McKenzie had been diagnosed with
breast cancer, but she continued to teach and
to coach. Forced to resign from full-time work
in 1980, she taught part time until her death.
She carried on with her work for the hockey
coaches’ federation, conducting a course
at Mount Gambier in 1983. On 3 February
1984 she died at her Brighton home and was
cremated. Her husband and their daughter
and three sons survived her. That year the
main playing field at Woodlands was named
after her. In 1998 the school closed, and next
year became part of St Peter’s Woodlands
Grammar School. The oval continues to bear
her name and the school awards the Margaret
McKenzie prize for service to sport each year.
H. Jaensch et al, Hat Pins to Bodysuits (2003);
K. Correll and L. Mildren, Diamond Duels (2005);
Advertiser (Adelaide), 11 Feb 1984, p 21.
vaL nairn
heLen JaenSch
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1981–1990
MACKERRAS, NEIL RICHARD MACLAURIN
(1930-1987), barrister, solicitor and advocate
for Aborigines, was born on 20 May 1930 at
Vaucluse, Sydney, third of seven children of
Sydney-born parents Alan Patrick Mackerras,
electrical engineer, and his wife Catherine
Brearcliffe, née MacLaurin. Ian Mackerras
[q.v.15] was his uncle. Neil was educated at
St Aloysius’ College, Milsons Point, Sydney
Grammar School and the University of Sydney
(BA, 1951; LL B, 1956). While studying, he
worked for the Mutual Life & Citizens’ Assurance
Co. Ltd. He married Elizabeth Margaret
Moultrie Connolly on 13 November 1954 at
the Holy Family Catholic Church, Lindfield.
Admitted to the Bar on 8 February 1957,
Mackerras became a leader in the field of
rent-control litigation and co-authored the last
three editions of the standard text Landlord
and Tenant Practice and Procedure in New
South Wales (1958, 1966, 1971). Land law
provided his income but the ideal of the
land itself and his Roman Catholicism were
his capital. An occasional correspondent in
the Sydney Morning Herald, he once wrote
to it of ‘the most dangerous of our modern
vices—materialism, atheism and Communism’.
Mackerras’s values explained his role in
the nascent Democratic Labor Party. After
leaving the Liberal Party of Australia, he
was the DLP’s first branch secretary in
New South Wales, a member of the State
executive and four times an unsuccessful
candidate for parliament. In 1972 he resigned
at least partly because he believed that the
DLP had fulfilled its objective of keeping the
Australian Labor Party out of Federal office
until it was considered fit to form a government.
He also supported the New England
New State Movement and (anti-communist)
Asian immigration.
Deeply concerned by the lack of legal
representation for Aboriginal youths at
Moree, Mackerras impetuously accepted an
appointment there, as a solicitor (admitted
9 November 1973) with the Aboriginal Legal
Service. His enthusiasm was intense but the
move had a serious impact on his family and
together they left Moree in 1975. Living at
Kellys Plains near Armidale, Mackerras hoped
to establish a local Bar. The idea failed and he
returned to being a solicitor, at Uralla, south
of Armidale. For the remainder of his life, he
worked either as a private practitioner determined—with
considerable financial sacrifice—
to assist Aborigines or as a public employee
charged with the same task. He identified
closely with his underprivileged clients; when
an Aboriginal boy appealed successfully to a
judge against the gaol sentence imposed by
a magistrate, so outspoken was Mackerras
on the youngster’s behalf that a condition of
the bond imposed in lieu of custody was that
the boy not associate with him.
87
Mackey
In a newspaper interview in 1975 Mackerras
expressed the controversial view that
Aborigines should be able to manage their
own affairs, adding that he ‘began to be
a human being in Moree’. A friend, John
Goldrick, described him as the Don Quixote
of the Mackerras clan. He died of myocardial
infarction on 1 August 1987 at Armidale and
was buried in the local cemetery. Predeceased
(1980) by his wife, he was survived by his five
daughters and four sons.
J. Priest, Scholars and Gentlemen (1986); Austn
Law Jnl, vol 61, no 11, 1987, p 758; SMH, 27 Apr
1957, p 2, 27 Oct 1972, p 3, 14 July 1975, p 4,
12 Aug 1987, p 10. DaviD aSh
MACKEY, DENIS PETER (1934-1990),
medical practitioner, was born on 8 May
1934 at Richmond, Melbourne, second child
of Victorian-born Alphonsus Denis Mackey,
commercial traveller, and his New South
Wales-born wife Dulcie Edith, née Reid.
Taught by the Christian Brothers, he was to
maintain his connection with the Catholic
church throughout his life. He studied medicine
at the University of Melbourne (MB, BS,
1959). On 30 December 1959 at Our Lady
of Mount Carmel Church, Middle Park, he
married Noelle Lucy Mooney, a secretary.
Early next year they moved to Tasmania; he
worked at the Royal Hobart Hospital until
1963, before establishing a general practice
at Lindisfarne, on Hobart’s eastern shore.
Making himself available after hours, he did
his own X-rays, set fractures, gave general
anaesthetics and delivered babies. When the
Tasman Bridge collapsed in 1975 he bought
a small boat so that he could commute, faster
than by road, to attend patients in hospital.
In 1973 Mackey had joined the General
Practitioners’ Society in Australia (from 1985
Private Doctors of Australia). Soon becoming
the Tasmanian ‘official spokesman’, he
served as national vice-president (1976-79)
and president (1979-81). He was also editor
(1974-78) and assistant-editor (1978-80) of the
Australian GP. An advocate of private medicine
in Australia for over twenty-five years,
he opposed the introduction of the national
health insurance scheme Medibank and its
successor Medicare, as he disagreed with
third-party interference in private medical
practice. He publicly opposed governmentfunded
community health centres. His tussles
with health departments were frequently
played out in the press: he expressed his views
in many articles, often published in Australian
GP, and in letters to newspapers. In 1977 he
travelled around the United States of America
with two other members of the GPSA, warning
of the dangers of socialised medicine.
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Mackey
Refusing to use prescription pads provided
free of charge to all Australian doctors under
the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme, Mackey
had his own printed. He would not accept
money from Medicare or the Department of
Veterans’ Affairs; insisting that his patients
make their own claims to these government
agencies. In 1985 he sparked a row with the
Tasmanian Trades and Labour Council and the
local branch of the Federated Clerks’ Union
of Australia by alleging that workers were
using repetitive strain injury as an excuse
to take ‘sickies’. However, he treated many
people, including members of the clergy,
free of charge. Well liked by his patients and
medical colleagues, he was respected by his
opponents. He was the Tasmanian spokesman
for Private Doctors of Australia until his death.
Mackey had a good sense of humour and a
zest for life, enjoying horse racing and photography.
Survived by his wife and their four
sons, he died of cancer on 8 January 1990
in Hobart and, after a service in St Mary’s
Cathedral, was buried in Hobart regional
lawn cemetery, Kingston. The University of
Tasmania awards a scholarship in his name
annually to a medical student undertaking an
elective in general practice.
Mercury (Hobart), 16 Mar 1985, p 4, 11 Jan 1990,
p 5; Austn Private Doctor, Jan/Feb 1990, p 4.
PhiLiP thoMSon
McKEY, JOSEPH SIMON (1904-1982),
Catholic priest, was born on 16 July 1904 at
Warwick, Queensland, second of three children
of Queensland-born John Thomas McKey,
labourer, and his wife Bridget, née Kelly, from
Ireland. Educated at Thane State School and
Christian Brothers’ College, Warwick, at 15
Joe joined his father on the family farm at
Rodgers Creek and also worked at a nearby
cheese factory. He played football and cricket
and trained as a boxer, becoming at 19 the
lightweight champion of the Darling Downs.
Deciding to join the priesthood, McKey
studied Latin and other required subjects,
entered St Columba’s College, Springwood,
New South Wales, in 1928, and transferred
to St Patrick’s College, Manly, in 1931.
On 18 November 1934 he was ordained in
St Mary’s Church, Warwick; he spent the next
two years in parish work at Stanthorpe and
Chinchilla. Diagnosed with tuberculosis, he
was sent to a sanatorium at Leura, New South
Wales; he returned eighteen months later to
his mother’s home at Warwick, where he was
to live for the rest of his life. While never well
enough to resume the full responsibilities of
parish life, he performed chaplaincy duties at
the hospital and the convent, and said Masses
at outlying churches.
88
A. D. B.
In 1945-53 McKey worked as a dental
mechanic and learned to repair clocks and
watches. An amateur astronomer, he had
bought a second-hand telescope in 1941. Later
he made several reflector telescopes, observed
the movements of the planets, and correlated
them with sun spots and solar flares. Joining
the Astronomical Society of Queensland in
1945, he occasionally addressed its members
on meteorology. He read up on geology and
in 1953 built the first of five seismographs,
laying the essential components on bedrock,
deep in his back yard. He recorded graphs of
earthquakes, disturbances on the ocean floors
and local tremors. Geologists at the University
of Queensland assisted and encouraged him,
and requested copies of his recordings.
To strengthen his lungs McKey learned
to play the bagpipes and joined the Warwick
Thistle Pipe Band. A growing interest in Scottish
history, music, and folk lore culminated
in a brief tour of Scotland in 1974. He was a
keen photographer and painter; he attended
William Bustard’s [q.v.7] art classes at Southport
and won prizes for his watercolours at
the Warwick show. Knowledgable about local
history, he wrote The Warwick Story (1972),
Dawn Over the Darling Downs (1977), The
Light of Other Days (1978), Linger Longer
(1979) and Wattle Scented Warwick (1982).
He took flying lessons and for ten years after
earning his pilot’s licence in 1971 put in many
hours of solo flying; he also built and operated
several motor-boats. In 1977 he was awarded
the Queen’s Silver Jubilee medal for service
to the community.
‘Father Joe’ was retiring and unassuming
yet driven by a restless inquisitiveness to learn
more about God’s world. At heart he remained
simple and sentimental. He delighted in
driving, accompanied by his dog, to the scenes
of his childhood, boiling a billy, and sketching
or scratching around for relics to put on his
mantelpiece. McKey died on 1 June 1982 at
Warwick and was buried in the local cemetery.
L. J. Ansell, Joseph McKey (1983); Warwick Daily
News, 4 June 1982, p 2; McKey papers (Catholic
Diocesan archives, Toowoomba, Qld); personal
knowledge. DeniS Martin
MACKIE, JOHN LESLIE (1917-1981),
philosopher, was born on 25 August 1917
at Killara, Sydney, younger child of Scottishborn
Alexander Mackie [q.v.10], principal
of Teachers’ College, Sydney, and his wife
Annie Burnett, née Duncan, a Sydney-born
schoolteacher. John was educated at Knox
Grammar School and the University of Sydney
(BA, 1938), graduating with first-class honours
in Greek and Latin and the G. S. Caird
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1981–1990
[q.v.3] scholarship in philosophy. Having won
the (William Charles) Wentworth [q.v.2] travelling
fellowship, he went to England to read
literae humaniores at Oriel College, Oxford
(BA, 1940; MA, 1944) and graduated with
first-class honours. He began a doctorate but
abandoned it for war work. In January 1942
he was commissioned in the Royal Army
Ordnance Corps (later Royal Electrical and
Mechanical Engineers). After serving in the
Middle East (1942-43) and Italy (1943-45), he
was mentioned in despatches and demobilised
as a temporary captain in 1946.
That year Mackie returned to Sydney to
become a lecturer in moral and political
philosophy at the university. On 7 November
1947 at the district registrar’s office, North
Sydney, he married Joan Armiger Meredith, a
civil servant. He was appointed to the chair of
philosophy and psychology at the University
of Otago, New Zealand, in 1955, but went
back to Sydney in 1959 to succeed his former
teacher John Anderson as Challis [qq.v.7,3]
professor of philosophy. During his tenure
he did much to acquaint Sydney with current
debates and discussions in the wider world
of English-speaking philosophy. In 1963 he
left for England to become the inaugural
professor of philosophy at the University of
York. In 1967 he was elected a fellow and tutor
in philosophy at University College, Oxford,
and in 1978 the university promoted him to
a personal readership. He was a Radcliffe
philosophy fellow in 1971-73 and a fellow of
the British Academy from 1974.
The influence that Mackie exerted on British,
American and Australian philosophy was
largely through the books he wrote late in
his career. His first, Truth, Probability and
Paradox was published in 1973. The Cement
of the Universe (1974), Problems from Locke
(1976), Ethics: Inventing Right and Wrong
(1977), Hume’s Moral Theory (1980) and The
Miracle of Theism (1982) followed quickly.
Some of his articles were published posthumously
in 1985 in two volumes, Logic and
Knowledge and Persons and Values.
Mackie’s works continued to be read and discussed.
His fundamental theoretical position
was empirical realism; his method was close
analysis of argument, relying on the inherent
rationality of common sense and eschewing
unnecessary logical technicalities. The influence
of Anderson was apparent, but Mackie
was far from an uncritical disciple, distancing
himself from the more polemical and purely
programmatic aspects of Andersonianism.
Though a shy and reserved man, Mackie
was an avid participant in philosophical discussions.
His lucid writing style was a model
of analytic elegance. Courteous, genial,
modest and unpretentious, he was a patient,
dedicated teacher and a wise, conscientious
administrator. Survived by his wife and their
89
McKie
two sons and three daughters, he died of
cancer on 12 December 1981 at Oxford and
was cremated.
S. A. Grave, A History of Philosophy in Australia
(1984); J. Franklin, Corrupting the Youth (2003);
ODNB (2004); Procs of the British Academy, vol 76,
1990, p 487. Peter MenzieS
McKIE, Sir WILLIAM NEIL (1901-1984),
church musician, was born on 22 May 1901
at Collingwood, Melbourne, second of six children
of Victorian-born parents William McKie,
Church of England minister, and his wife Mary
Alice Ethel, née Doyle. Taught Greek and
Latin by his mother, Will was educated at Melbourne
Church of England Grammar School,
where his music teacher, A. E. H. Nickson
[q.v.15], became a mentor to whom he owed
‘more than I can possibly say’. His organ lessons
were supplemented by sitting frequently
during services in St Paul’s Cathedral beside
the organist, Dr A. E. Floyd [q.v.8], who, like
Nickson, encouraged perfectionism.
Awarded the (Sir William) Clarke [q.v.3]
scholarship in 1918, McKie studied at the
Royal College of Music, London (associate
1921; fellow 1957—the first organist to gain
this award since Nickson in 1895). Two years
at the RCM, where he was taught by the organist
Henry Ley and the composer Gustav Holst,
were followed by three as organ scholar at
Worcester College, Oxford (BA, B.Mus., 1924;
MA, 1930; Hon. D.Mus., 1944). Organist
(1920-21) at St Agnes’ Church, Kennington
Park, he was given access to the organ loft in
Westminster Abbey; vacations from Oxford
were sometimes spent as assistant to the
organist at Ely Cathedral.
McKie began teaching music at Radley
College, Abingdon, Oxfordshire, in 1923.
Concern for his father’s health prompted a
visit in 1925 to Melbourne, where he gave
two organ recitals in St Paul’s Cathedral.
Appointed director of music at Clifton College,
Bristol, in 1926, he also coached the
rowing VIII; his strong personality matched
the progressive character of the school.
In 1930 McKie was invited to return to
Melbourne as the city organist, taking charge
of a newly built Hill, Norman & Beard organ in
the town hall. Travelling via North America, he
arrived ‘boyish, fresh-faced [and] enthusiastic’
in March 1931. He performed regular midday
and evening recitals. ‘I have no “mission” to
raise taste’, he declared, but his diverse and
sometimes challenging programs, including
works by Franck and Widor, along with a
more popular repertoire of Bach and Elgar,
lifted musical expectations in a city already
accustomed to high standards. The demands
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McKie
imposed in 1932 by a Bach festival, and in
1934 by the celebration of Melbourne’s centenary,
were met by his meticulous planning.
From 1934 McKie was also director of
music at Geelong Church of England Grammar
School, where he inspired affection among
students. The poet Geoffrey Dutton recalled
that, while McKie was ‘a perfectionist’, ‘there
was also a lot of fun in him’. Temperamental
outbursts at less than perfect performances
were readily forgiven, and his contribution
to GCEGS endured in the establishment of
a well-equipped music school, the design of
which resulted from discussions between
McKie, the headmaster (Sir) James Darling
and the architects. The building was opened by
the visiting English conductor and composer
(Sir) Malcolm Sargent on 14 August 1938.
These commitments and residual resentment
among some Melbourne councillors who
wanted ‘lighter’ music played at recitals, took
their toll. In 1937 McKie was granted leave
of absence to regain his health and, in 1938,
he accepted the post of instructor in music at
Magdalen College, Oxford. His departure was
widely regretted; he was the last Melbourne
city organist.
McKie’s presence attracted Australians to
Magdalen. He trained its choir for the daily
services, gave occasional organ recitals,
played for university functions and was music
critic for the Oxford Magazine. In 1941 he was
appointed organist and master of choristers at
Westminster Abbey but, before taking up this
position, he enlisted in the Royal Air Force,
graduating from an officers’ training school
and serving as a flying officer (1942) and
flight lieutenant (1944) in the Administrative
and Special Duties Branch in England and
the Bahamas.
Demobilised in November 1945, McKie
began rebuilding Westminster Abbey’s musical
tradition. His self-discipline and strong
features (jutting chin, penetrating gaze and
tall, upright bearing) gave him an aura of
authority, belying a natural diffidence. He
could be fiercely demanding but was sensitive
to choristers’ needs. Their routine of
daily services was paramount, but was often
interrupted by the abbey’s obligations as the
parish church of nation and Commonwealth—
for example the wedding in 1947 of Princess
Elizabeth and the Duke of Edinburgh (the
music of which included McKie’s own antiphon
‘We Wait for Thy Loving Kindness’) and her
coronation in 1953 as Queen Elizabeth II, for
which he was director of music. Appointed
MVO in 1947, he was knighted in 1953.
Among many offices, Sir William was organ
professor (1946-62) at the Royal Academy of
Music, honorary associate director (1946-62)
of the Royal School of Church Music, president
(1950-52) of the Incorporated Association
of Organists, and president (1956-58) and
90
A. D. B.
honorary secretary (1963-67) of the Royal
College of Organists. He visited Australia
in 1953 to raise money for the restoration
of the abbey, giving organ recitals in the
Anglican cathedrals of all State capitals. On
5 April 1956 at Westminster Abbey he married
Phyllis Birks, née Ross (d.1983), the widow
of a Canadian businessman. On one of several
private journeys back to Australia he was made
an honorary D.Mus. (1961) by the University
of Melbourne; other awards included honorary
membership (1958) of the American Guild of
Organists and appointment as commander
with star of the Royal Norwegian Order of
St Olav, bestowed on a visit to Norway in 1964.
While not gregarious, McKie had a gift for
friendship. He lived in the abbey precincts
until retiring in 1963, moving then to a country
house in Kent, and in 1970 to Ottawa.
After a period of decline due to Alzheimer’s
disease, he died on 1 December 1984 and was
cremated. His ashes were interred in Westminster
Abbey. A portrait by Eileen Newton
is held by Melbourne Grammar School, and
another by Hugh Colman by Geelong Grammar
School, where the McKie Strings commemorate
him. The University of Melbourne
offers a travelling scholarship in his name.
H. Hollis, The Best of Both Worlds (1991); ODNB
(2004); Herald (Melbourne), 2 Mar 1931, p 1; Vic
Organ Jnl, Apr 1985, p 3; Corian, July 1985, p 22;
private information and personal knowledge.
MichaeL D. De B. coLLinS PerSSe
McKINNON, ARCHIBALD VINCENT
(1904-1985), psychiatric nurse and a founder
of Alcoholics Anonymous in New South Wales,
was born on 12 June 1904 at Temora, New
South Wales, younger son of Hugh Archibald
McKinnon, a New South Wales-born farmer,
and his wife Teresa Mary, née Brett, from
Victoria. Archie’s father died in 1904; his
mother remarried (1910) and the family
moved to Sydney. Educated until 1921 by the
Christian Brothers at Waverley College, he
began farming in the Camden area. During
the Depression he became a shearer, working
in western Queensland and New South
Wales. While visiting his brother, who lived
at Morisset, south of Newcastle, he learned
to cut railway sleepers for a living. In 1933 he
took employment as an attendant at Morisset
Mental Hospital. On 17 November 1934 at
the local Catholic Church he married Agnes
Dulcie Wellings. After transferring in 1935 to
the Reception House for the Insane, Darlinghurst,
Sydney, he developed an interest in the
treatment of alcoholics.
In 1944 Fr R. J. Murphy [q.v.15] and others
tried, without success, to form a Sydney group
of Alcoholics Anonymous. Independently,
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1981–1990
McKinnon next year organised at the Darlinghurst
reception house what is generally
recognised as the first meeting in Australia of
AA. Two alcoholics attended: Rex, a returned
soldier and member of a wealthy banking
family, and Jack, a house-painter; meetings
soon moved to the Hasty Tasty all-night
café at Kings Cross. Making contact with
Dr Sylvester Minogue, the superintendent of
Rydalmere Mental Hospital, Frs Tom Dunlea
[q.v.14] and Murphy, McKinnon co-operated
with them to establish the AA organisation in
Sydney, in July 1945. The radio broadcaster
Frank Sturge Hardy provided publicity.
Feeling that he could no longer cope with
violent patients, McKinnon resigned in 1949
and took up sheep-farming near Morisset.
Before long, however, he returned to nursing,
at Morisset, and set up an AA group at the
hospital. Retiring in 1964, he became a housebuilder
in the Lake Macquarie area. He and
his wife formed a dance band, with Archie on
violin and Dulcie on piano. In 1969 he was
appointed MBE.
McKinnon published two histories of AA in
New South Wales: Castle of Shadows (1972)
and They Chose Freedom (1985). In his second
book he wrote that, having watched AA’s
work for nearly forty years, ‘how it works’
still eluded him. Sociologists described it as
‘a psycho-social re-educating tool’, anthropologists
as ‘a process of acculturation’,
theologians as ‘a framework for spiritual
conversion’, and psychiatrists as ‘a form of
therapy’. He concluded that ‘The inability of
medicine, psychiatry or religion to deal with
a problem of this magnitude led alcoholics
themselves to try and find answers to what
they consider an illness’.
In 1975 a unit for people with alcoholrelated
problems at Rozelle Psychiatric
Centre, Callan Park (Rozelle Hospital from
1976) was named after McKinnon. Survived
by his wife, he died on 29 November 1985
at Rathmines and was buried in Cooranbong
cemetery. He had no children.
Sun-Herald (Sydney), 7 Apr 1985, p 51; SMH,
2 Dec 1985, p 27; Archie McKinnon papers
(SLNSW). tony StePhenS
MACKINNON, EWEN DANIEL (1903-
1983), grazier, politician and diplomat, was
born on 11 February 1903 at Prahran, Melbourne,
sixth of seven children of Victorianborn
parents Donald Mackinnon [q.v.10],
barrister, and his wife Hilda Eleanor Marie,
née Bunny, sister of Rupert Bunny [q.v.7].
His grandfather, Daniel Mackinnon [q.v.5],
had been a squatter at Mordialloc on Port
Phillip Bay in 1839. Educated at Geelong
91
Mackinnon
Church of England Grammar School, where
he played cricket in the first XI and, like his
brother Donald [q.v.15], edited the Corian,
Dan followed his father and brother’s path to
New College, Oxford (BA, 1924), and studied
modern history. Back in Australia, he worked
on family properties, first as a jackeroo on
Marion Downs, south-west Queensland, and
then on Marida Yallock, near Terang, Victoria.
After his marriage on 1 June 1933 at Scots
Church, Melbourne, to Muriel Jean Russell,
a grazier, he farmed the Russells’ property,
Langi Willi, Linton.
Having been commissioned in the Militia
before World War II, Mackinnon joined the
Australian Imperial Force and served in the
Middle East (1940-42) as a captain in the 7th
Division Cavalry Regiment and as a major
in the 2/31st Battalion, before returning to
Australia. He transferred to the Volunteer
Defence Corps in 1944.
Mackinnon unsuccessfully contested the
Federal seat of Wannon for the Liberal Party
of Australia in 1946, but won it in 1949 and
joined a large group of ex-servicemen elected
to the newly enlarged parliament of that year.
He lost the seat in 1951. At a 1953 by-election
he gained the seat of Corangamite; regarded
as a very good local member, he held it at five
subsequent general elections. In parliament
his speeches focused on country roads and
telephone services, and other interests of primary
producers. A member (1956-63) of the
Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs (chairman
1962), he was recognised as a man of sound
judgment. Frequently asked for advice by
members from both within and outside the
Liberal Party, he had actively encouraged, and
campaigned for, a young farmer, (Sir) Henry
Bolte [q.v.17], who first sought election to
the Victorian parliament in 1945. Mackinnon
retired from parliament in 1966. Appointed
CBE that year, he was ambassador to Argentina
(1967-70) and concurrently to Uruguay
(1968-70) and Peru (1969-70).
Moustached, and silver-haired in his later
years, Mackinnon was active in community
organisations and was an elder of the Presbyterian
Church. He was a director (1933-67) of
Strachan & Co. Ltd, woolbrokers and stock and
station agents, and a member (1934-50) of the
Victorian board of the Commercial Banking
Co. of Sydney Ltd. A bastion of the Victorian
establishment and more conser vative than
his father, he followed him and his brother
as president (1972) of the Melbourne Club.
Anthony Street, who succeeded Mackinnon
in the seat of Corangamite, described him as
‘old-fashioned, subscribing to orthodox views,
supporting those things that had stood the test
of time and resisting the trend for alteration
and latitude’. Keen on tennis and golf as a
young man, he later owned and raced horses.
Survived by his wife and their daughter and
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Mackinnon
son, he died at South Yarra on 7 June 1983
and was buried in Skipton cemetery.
N. Abjorensen, Leadership and the Liberal Revival
(2007); PD (HR), 12 Nov 1953, p 136; Herald
(Melbourne), 27 July 1968, p 22; Corian, Sept
1983, p 208. norMan aBJorenSen
McKNIGHT, ALLAN DOUGLAS (1918-
1987), public servant and academic, was born
on 14 January 1918 at Drummoyne, Sydney,
youngest of three children of Sydney-born
parents George McKnight, customs clerk, and
his wife Alice Emma, née Stephen. Allan was
educated at Fort Street Boys’ High School—
excelling as a scholar, debater and sportsman—
and the University of Sydney (LL B, 1938). In
May 1939 he joined the Commonwealth Public
Service, working first in the Department of the
Treasury and then in the Attorney-General’s
Department; from February 1940 he was
private secretary to W. M. Hughes [q.v.9]. On
10 August 1940 at St Paul’s Church of England,
Burwood, Sydney, he married Marion Etta
Quigg, a clerk. He was admitted to the New
South Wales Bar on 16 December.
Having been commissioned in the Royal
Australian Naval Volunteer Reserve on
15 August 1940, McKnight instructed at
the Anti-Submarine Warfare School, HMAS
Rushcutter, Sydney, and served at sea in HMA
ships Bendigo (1941-42) and Burdekin (1944).
He was demobilised as a lieutenant (1943) on
22 August 1945. Returning to Canberra, he
worked in the Crown Solicitor’s Office and
was a part-time lecturer in law (1946-51) at
Canberra University College.
In 1951 McKnight joined the Prime
Minister’s Department and was effectively
second-in-charge under (Sir) Allen Brown.
McKnight oversaw the department’s mainstream
operations, which from 1953 included
the servicing of the cabinet; he worked closely
with (Sir) Eric Harrison and Prime Minister
(Sir) Robert Menzies [qq.v.14,15]. In 1955
McKnight was appointed secretary to the
Department of the Army. Ambivalent about the
continuing rationale of separate departments
for each of the services, he strongly supported
the proposals of the committee headed by Sir
Leslie Morshead [q.v.15] for a more integrated
defence organisation. These recommendations
were not adopted and McKnight found himself
at odds with both the Military Board and with
(Sir) Edwin Hicks [q.v.17], appointed head of
the Department of Defence in 1956.
McKnight became the executive member
of the Australian Atomic Energy Commission
in 1958, and that year was appointed CBE.
Uncomfortable about the nuclear ambitions
of the chairman, (Sir) Philip Baxter [q.v.17],
McKnight was likewise unable to forge a
92
A. D. B.
working relationship with the minister for
national development, Senator (Sir) William
Spooner [q.v.16]. To reach a modus vivendi
McKnight transferred to Australia House,
London, as the commission’s representative
in Europe. Although he acquitted himself
with distinction as chairman of the meetings
leading to the convention on civil liability for
nuclear damage, his prospects in Australia
were circumscribed by an unfavourable review
of his handling of AAEC business as the
executive member.
In 1964-68 McKnight was inspector-general
at the International Atomic Energy Agency,
Vienna. He established a nuclear safeguards
administration under the 1963 Partial Test
Ban Treaty. This entailed devising a detailed
record about the movement and use of nuclear
materials, particularly to ensure that they
were not diverted to military purposes except
with express approval. His understanding of
the politics surrounding safeguards inspections
helped him to succeed in this initiative.
Although recognised as a ‘tough and effective
administrator’, he had ‘cool relations’ with
the agency’s director-general, Dr Sigvard
Eklund, who would have preferred that scientists
undertook the work. McKnight left
the agency, affronted by the introduction of
one-year contracts for safeguards staff that he
believed would restrict their effectiveness in
dealings with signatories to the 1968 Nuclear
Non-Proliferation Treaty.
Returning to Britain McKnight was a visiting
fellow at the science policy research unit,
University of Sussex: he published Nuclear
Non-Proliferation (1970), Atomic Safeguards
and Scientists Abroad (1971), co-edited and
contributed to Environmental Pollution Control
(1974) and wrote World Disarmament Draft
Treaty (1978), revised as The Forgotten Treaties
(1983). He was short-listed for the foundation
vice-chancellorship of Murdoch University,
Perth, Western Australia, but withdrew before
the final decision. From the mid-1970s he
lectured at the Civil Service College, London.
McKnight’s ability took him to the highest
ranks of government in Australia and to significant
positions internationally. He might have
gone higher: one contemporary attributed the
vicissitudes of McKnight’s later career to the
fact that he was not an ‘intriguer’. Conspicuously
erudite and colourful, at a time when
senior officials were vocationally anonymous,
he liked the lectern and the microphone. He
was often outspoken. Predeceased by his wife
and survived by their son and two daughters,
he died of a thrombotic cerebrovascular
accident on 28 January 1987 at Brighton,
England, and was cremated.
Nucleonics Week, 9 May 1968, p 7, 20 June 1968,
p 7; Austn Financial Review, 3 May 1967, p 3; SMH,
22 Jan 1968, p 11, 25 Apr 1968, p 3, 11 Feb 1987,
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1981–1990
p 4; A6769, item McKNIGHT A D, A1361, item
34/1/12 PART 1201 (NAA); A. McKnight papers
(NLA); private information and personal knowledge.
J. r. nethercote
McLEAN, ALLAN ROBERT CHARLES
(1914-1989), cricketer, Australian Rules footballer
and sporting administrator, was born
on 1 February 1914 at Mile End, Adelaide,
son of South Australian-born parents George
Robert McLean, motorman, and his wife
Adelaide Annie Barker, née Thompson. Bob
was educated at Norwood Central Public and
Norwood Boys’ Technical High schools; his
mother died when he was 14. Leaving school
at 15, he showed early promise as a cricketer;
bowling leg-breaks and googlies, he was also
an adept defensive batsman. In 1931-39 he
played in the East Torrens District Cricket
Club’s A-grade team.
Six feet 4 ins (193 cm) tall, McLean was
a powerful Australian Rules footballer, who
appeared (1934-38) in seventy-five league
matches as a ruckman with the Norwood
Football Club. ‘Big Bob’ transferred to the
Port Adelaide Football Club when it secured
him a job with the local fire brigade. As first
ruckman he was one of a brilliant triumvirate
(also comprising the ruck-rover Allan ‘Bull’
Reval and the rover Bobby Quinn) that helped
Port to win the premiership in 1939. In 1939-
48 McLean represented Port in 147 games,
for a league total of 222. On nine occasions
he appeared for South Australia.
In March 1941 McLean enlisted in the
Militia. He served briefly in Melbourne and,
while there, played five games for St Kilda in
the Victorian Football League. Categorised
as being in a restricted occupation, he was
withdrawn from military training in September.
On 2 December 1944 at Pirie Street
Methodist Church, Adelaide, he married Jean
Drew, a member of the Australian Women’s
Army Service.
Playing cricket for Port Adelaide from 1939,
McLean was a steadfast opening batsman.
His leg-spinning gifts gained him eighty-eight
wickets in 1944-45, the second highest tally
ever achieved in a South Australian Cricket
Association district-cricket season. In December
1945 he appeared for South Australia in
the first of twenty interstate matches. Improving
with age, in 1949-50 he led the Australian
batting averages, with a highest score of 213,
against Queensland. In a district career that
extended with Port Adelaide until 1953-54,
he scored over 5000 runs and took more than
500 wickets.
McLean had left the fire brigade and
sub sequently pursued a sales career with
J. Craven & Co. Pty Ltd’s department store,
and worked as a representative for the H. J.
Heinz Co., Australia, Ltd and as State manager
93
McLeay
for Cottee’s Ltd. In 1949 he was appointed
honorary secretary (full-time general manager
from 1969) of the Port Adelaide Football Club.
In the post for thirty-one years, he created
a league record in a top executive position
and guided the Magpies to thirteen premierships.
Much of the club’s success was due
to his leadership skills, integrity, judgment,
loyalty and trust. He represented Port on the
South Australian National Football League for
twenty-nine years, sitting at various times as
chairman and as a member of the permit, ovals
and general purposes committees. A State
selector for sixteen years, he chaired the panel
on several occasions. In 1959 he was awarded
SANFL life membership. He compiled a club
history, 100 Years with the Magpies (1971).
Retiring in 1980, McLean was appointed
OBE in 1983; in 1986 he was named honorary
chairman of Port Adelaide Football Club
for life. He was also president (1981-86) of
the Port Adelaide District Cricket Club. To
colleagues he was a much-respected man of
strong character and ‘dry and sometimes
cutting wit’; his family saw a softer side.
Widowed in 1987, he died on 9 November
1989 at Christies Beach and was buried in
Centennial Park cemetery. His son and two
daughters survived him. He was inducted into
the Australian Football Hall of Fame in 2007.
B. Whimpress, The South Australian Football
Story (1983); J. Wood, Bound for Glory (1991);
Advertiser (Adelaide), 5 Aug 1980, p 16, 11 Nov
1989, p 30. BernarD whiMPreSS
McLEAY, Sir JOHN (1893-1982), politician
and businessman, was born on 23 November
1893 at Port Clinton, South Australia, second of
six children of Australian-born parents George
McLeay, farmer, and his wife Marguaretta, née
Barton. Educated at Port Clinton and Unley
public schools, Jack left at 14; he worked as an
errand boy, attended Muirden [q.v.10] College
and became a commercial traveller.
Enlisting in the Australian Imperial Force
on 13 May 1915, McLeay served in medical
units on Lemnos, in Egypt and on the Western
Front. As a stretcher-bearer with the 13th
Field Ambulance, he was awarded the Military
Medal for bravery near Villers-Bretonneux,
France, on 24 April 1918. Discharged from
the AIF on 17 October 1919, he opened, with
his brother George [q.v.15], McLeay Bros,
an Adelaide accountants and general agents
firm (later a wholesale and retail furnishing
business). On 8 June 1921 at St Augustine’s
Church of England, Unley, he married Eileen
Henderson Elden (d.1971).
McLeay joined Unley council in 1924 and
became mayor (1935-37). Elected to the
State House of Assembly in March 1938
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McLeay
as the Independent member for Unley, he
was defeated in 1941. He was lord mayor
of Adelaide in 1946-50. In December 1949
he entered the House of Representatives
as the Liberal and Country League member
for Boothby, a seat he was to hold until his
voluntary retirement on 31 October 1966.
His son John Elden McLeay succeeded him.
Serving on many House and joint committees,
McLeay chaired (1954-56) the privileges
committee. He was elected Speaker in August
1956. Presiding over parliamentary proceedings
with impartiality, good humour and
common sense, he sometimes applied his
own interpretation of the standing orders by
judging the mood of the House and acting
accordingly. He supported a major review
(1960-63) of the standing orders that resulted
in significant changes to the procedural rules.
As Speaker, he had neither censure nor want
of confidence motions moved against him and
there were only three dissent motions against
his rulings. Re-elected Speaker unopposed in
1959, 1962 and 1964, he served a record ten
and a half years. From 1958 to 1965, he had
represented the Australian government on
visits to Ceylon (Sri Lanka), the Territory of
Papua and New Guinea, Denmark and Britain.
He was appointed KCMG in 1962.
Respected and well liked, McLeay defused
difficult situations. In 1964 Prime Minister
Sir Robert Menzies [q.v.15] thanked him for
‘the uniform good temper with which you have
presided over us’. The leader of the Opposition,
Arthur Calwell [q.v.13], stated that, ‘had
we won one more seat in 1961, we would have
kept you as Speaker’. He added: ‘you know my
opposition to the wearing of wigs; I would have
waived that objection to keep you in office’.
Gough Whitlam, the prime minister from
1972 to 1975, wrote: ‘In my experience and
observation the House has not had a better
Speaker. By deportment and temperament
he was ideal for the post’. The journalist Alan
Reid described him as ‘Australian as an inland
bullocky’. Prominent in Adelaide civic affairs
and active in community organisations, he had
effectively managed McLeay Bros until 1955.
Tall and well built, McLeay played football,
cricket, tennis and lacrosse in his younger
days. In sport, as in life, he played by the
rules and gave his opponents a fair go. A
humble person, he was a devoted family man
and a proud South Australian. Survived by
his two sons and his daughter, Sir John died
on 22 June 1982 at Ashford. He was buried
in Centennial Park cemetery after a state
funeral. A portrait by Jack Carington Smith
[q.v.13] hangs in Parliament House, Canberra.
S. Cockburn, The Patriarchs (1983); PD (HR),
12 Nov 1964, p 2865; 17 Aug 1982, p 8; SMH,
23 June 1982, p 11; private information.
L. M. BarLin
94
A. D. B.
McLENNAN, ETHEL IRENE (1891-1983),
botanist and educator, was born on 15 March
1891 at Williamstown, Melbourne, second
child of Victorian-born parents of Scottish
origin George McLennan, warehouseman,
and his wife Eleanor, née Tucker. Educated
at Tintern Ladies’ College and the University
of Melbourne (B.Sc., 1915), Ethel graduated
with first-class honours and exhibitions in
botany. Appointed a lecturer and demonstrator
in the school of botany at Melbourne in
1915, she began preparing her first scientific
publications under the supervision of her
professor, A. J. Ewart [q.v.8].
Mycology and plant pathology became
McLennan’s main areas of teaching and her
abiding interest. Her early research, focusing
on the endophytic fungus associated with the
seed of the grass Lolium, led to a detailed
scholarly study, including her own illus trations,
which was awarded a D.Sc. (1921). A second
publication in this area won the David Syme
[q.v.6] research prize (1927). Appointed a
senior lecturer in 1923, two years later she
received from the American Association of
University Women a Scandinavian fellowship,
which provided free passage to England and
enabled her to work at Rothamsted Experimental
Station, Harpenden. With Professor
W. B. Brierley she experimented on the
growth of fungi in soil, a subject which also
occupied her for many years. Before taking up
her duties she travelled in Europe with Isabel
Cookson [q.v.13], purchasing in Bonn a Zeiss
hand lens, which became her constant aid in
field-work and a cherished memento of her
only journey abroad.
‘Dr. Mac’, as she was known, became a
formidable strength in the school. In 1929
botany moved to a new building which she
helped to plan and furnish. Her influence
was evident in Ewart’s many publications,
including his use of her illustrations. An
asso ciate professor from 1931, she steadily
attracted postgraduate students and was
recog nised throughout Australia as a leading
plant pathologist and mycologist. She was
widely consulted regarding diseases affecting
primary industry, including peas and hops in
Tasmania and bananas in Queensland. Travelling
extensively and undertaking thorough
laboratory investigations, she was frequently
able to identify pathogens and make recommendations
for their treatment.
Following Ewart’s death in 1937 McLennan
served as acting head of school and was
widely supported as a potential successor to
the chair. While disappointed at the appointment
in 1938 of Dr J. S. Turner, a young plant
physiologist from Cambridge, she welcomed
the new professor and gave him loyal professional
and personal support. During World
War II, when botany staff were involved in
solving problems of ‘bioterioration’ in optical
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instruments, particularly those used in tropical
war zones, she helped to devise a new
fungicide treatment that was adopted by the
Australian armed forces. Her other major
task was the establishment, maintenance
and enlargement of Penicillium and other
fungal cultures with a view to establishing an
Australian source of antibiotics.
Active in organisations including the Australian
Pan-Pacific Women’s Com mittee (chair,
1929) and the Australian Federa tion of University
Women (president, 1934), McLennan was
an inspiration and support to women students.
She was welcoming to visitors and newcomers,
either at the Lyceum Club (which she joined
in 1920) or in her Hawthorn home. A keen,
skilful gardener, she served for fifteen years
on the National Trust’s garden committee
at the historic house Como, at South Yarra.
Championing the use of indigenous flora in
design, she conceived for the botany school
a Ewart memorial window—created by Napier
Waller [q.v.12]—which depicted Victorian
ground orchids. In addition to illustrating her
own publications, she used the work of other
artists, including Ellis Rowan [q.v.11].
Fair skinned with brilliant blue eyes, already
white haired in her late thirties, McLennan
was a small plump figure, always smartly
dressed. Even on field-trips she managed to
look immaculate. Quick witted, and sharp
tongued when her hackles were raised, she
was a discerning judge of people and their
achievements. She read widely and her command
of botanical literature was sometimes
astonishing. She developed a departmental
library which became one of the best in the
southern hemisphere. Taking her responsibility
to education seriously, she never
arrived late for her well-prepared lectures
and prac tical classes, and expected the same
dedication from colleagues and students. She
retired in 1955, then became part-time keeper
of the university herbarium (1956-72).
In 1982 Ethel McLennan was awarded
an hononary LL D by the University of Melbourne.
On 12 June 1983 she died at Kew, and
was cremated. The Melbourne botany department’s
field station at Wilsons Promontory
was named in her honour.
F. Kelly, Degrees of Liberation (1985); H. Radi
(ed), 200 Australian Women (1988); F. Fenner
(ed), History of Microbiology in Australia (1990);
J. Flesch and P. McPhee, 150 Years: 150 Stories
(2003); A’asian Plant Pathology, vol 18, no 3, 1989,
p 47; Univ of Melbourne Gazette, Dec 1983, p 12;
McLennan papers (Univ of Melbourne Archives).
SoPhie c. Ducker*
McLEOD, MALCOLM ATHOL WALLACE
(1894-1989), sheep-classer, was born on
27 April 1894 at Coolac, New South Wales,
95
McLeod
fifth of seven children of Donald McLeod,
farmer, and his wife Lydia Letitia, née
Glasscock, both born in New South Wales.
After his father’s death in 1897 his mother
ran the family property, Valley Vista, Coolac.
Educated at Goulburn schools, Malcolm completed
the sheep and wool course at Sydney
Technical College where he won awards for
wool classing and sheep judging. He worked
on Valley Vista and as a wool-classer before
undertaking training in classing sheep under
Alexander (‘The Wizard’) Morrison, starting
at Garangula stud, Harden. When Morrison
died (1925), McLeod took over many of his
clients. On 4 March 1920 in the vestry of St
Patrick’s Catholic Church, Sydney, McLeod
married Margaret Julia Sullivan.
From 1936 to 1971 McLeod classed sheep at
G. B. S. Falkiner’s [q.v.14] Haddon Rig merino
stud, Warren. He and the manager A. B.
Ramsay made the stud famous throughout the
world for its soft, attractive medium-type wool.
The popularity and influence of the stud were
promoted by the sale of thousands of stud
sheep a year; for thirty-five consecutive years
from 1936 it took the highest aggregate at the
Sydney sheep sales. McLeod served (1965-76)
as a director of the Falkiner family company,
formed in 1961. Among other notable studs
classed by McLeod were Mungadal (Hay),
Dalkeith (Cassilis), Havilah (Mudgee) and
Gingie (Walgett). He also advised a number
of small stud-owners, and (from 1927) ran his
own merino stud at Valley Vista.
Interested in animal genetics and all aspects
of the wool industry, McLeod made two overseas
tours. In 1950, with assistance from
the Federal government, he studied sheep
genetics in the United States of America. In
1969 he visited Britain, the Continent and
South Africa, examining sheep breeding and
the requirements of textile manufacturers.
He judged at New South Wales country shows
and at major sheep shows including those in
Sydney and at Christchurch, New Zealand.
A successful breeder in the 1960s of poll
Shorthorn cattle at Valley Vista, he also won
trophies for rearing and training sheepdogs.
On 2 December 1961 at St Canice’s Church,
Elizabeth Bay, Sydney, McLeod, a widower,
had married with Catholic rites Coralie Lillian
Mater, née Taylor, a widow and a nurse. He
sold his Coolac property in 1974 and two
years later retired to Dubbo. In 1979 he
published Handbook on Merino Sheep Breeding,
based on his Haddon Rig experiences.
He believed in inbreeding, and opposed the
embargo on the export of Australian merinos.
While he supported fleece measurement (in
microns), he averred that it could never
replace visual classing.
Called by Sir John McEwen [q.v.15] ‘the
top sheep man in Australia’, McLeod was
an inspirational and practical educator of
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generations of jackeroos on Haddon Rig who
benefited from his knowledge and enthusiasm
for the merino. Survived by his wife, he died on
1 December 1989 at Dubbo and was cremated
with Anglican rites. He had no children.
75 Years’ Progress at Haddon Rig (1957);
S. Falkiner, Haddon Rig, the First Hundred Years
(1981); C. Massy, The Australian Merino (1990);
Daily Liberal and Macquarie Advocate, 4 Dec 1989,
p 4; The Land (Sydney), 14 Dec 1989, p 38.
G. P. waLSh
McLEOD, MURDOCH STANLEY (1893-
1981), businessman and philanthropist,
was born on 18 October 1893 at Carrieton,
South Australia, eldest of six children of
South Australian-born parents John McLeod,
farmer, and his wife Harriet Caroline Ann,
née Symonds. Raised in a staunch Scottish
Presbyterian family, Murdoch was educated
locally and at 14 went to work in the general
store at Spalding. Two years later he became
a station hand and joined the Australian Workers’
Union. Fascinated by motorcycles, he
bought one when he was 20 and rode it to
Adelaide, where he found work in a motorcycle
shop and studied mechanical trade skills
at the South Australian School of Mines and
Industry. In 1915 David Woolston employed
him in his bicycle and motorcycle shop at
Jamestown. Woolston retired the following
year and offered McLeod the business, to be
paid off over two years. At first a repairer of
bicycle tyres, M. S. McLeod’s Cycles became
an agent for Goodyear tyres, later adding Ford
motor parts, and began re-treading motor
vehicle tyres. On 22 March 1920 at Prospect,
Adelaide, he married with Presbyterian forms
Katherine Hunter, a tailoress.
In 1930 McLeod bought a second shop at
Peterborough, next year opened a third office
in Currie Street, Adelaide, and in 1932 bought
a bankrupt competitor, the Adelaide Tyre Co.
He built up a distribution network supplying
tyres, batteries and parts to motor garages
throughout the region. Despite the risks of
expanding operations in the Depression, he
had calculated shrewdly. Concentrating on
efficient re-treading of tyres for commercial
fleet owners, a niche market that survived the
economic downturn, the business remained
so profitable that McLeod opened two more
branches, at Port Pirie in 1934 and at Mount
Gambier in 1935. He consolidated the
Adelaide operations in new premises in 1938.
During World War II the company was
affected by labour and material shortages,
and some country branches were closed.
After the war McLeod diversified his business,
expanding into home wares, mail-order
sales within South Australia, and the manufacturing
of prefabricated Galeprufe sheds.
96
A. D. B.
The company M. S. McLeod Pty Ltd was
registered in 1946, and floated as a public
company in 1954, with McLeod as chief
executive officer and chairman. In the 1950s
the company extended its core business of
tyres, batteries and motor accessories, opening
branch offices in Victoria, New South
Wales, Queensland and Western Australia.
It benefited from the upsurge in demand as
car registrations in Australia quadrupled in
the twenty years after 1945. In the 1960s,
however, it faced a campaign by international
tyre manufacturers to squeeze local retailers
out of the Australian market; this eventually
stopped when the Trade Practices Act was
passed in 1974. By the mid-1970s McLeod
had added rural finance and motor vehicle and
farm machinery franchises to the company’s
business lines, was operating more than seventy
sales and service centres nationally, and
was the largest independent tyre distributor in
Australia, paying annual dividends of between
10 and 16 per cent.
McLeod had consolidated his business
empire slowly and conservatively. Although
a brisk, no-nonsense manager, he instituted
generous employment policies, probably
influenced by his own rise from poverty and
perhaps from his experience as a member of
a union. The firm provided superannuation,
and life and incapacity insurance schemes for
employees, decades before such benefits were
mandatory; it also rewarded long service and
loyalty with cash bonuses, and, after becoming
a public company, with share allocations. As a
result, it maintained a stable workforce and
a number of its senior figures had risen from
the workshop to executive offices. McLeod
retired in 1978 but he remained a director
until his death.
Unassuming and frugal, McLeod travelled
little and entertained rarely. He did not practise
his religion in later life, but retained its
discipline and, by all accounts, was a man of
integrity. To compensate for his lack of an
early education, he had attended Workers’
Educational Association classes on a wide
range of topics, from 1931 until well into middle
age, and read voraciously. He encouraged
his employees to improve their knowledge,
establishing a company lending library and distributing
lists of recommended books. In later
years he was a member of three bowling clubs.
During the 1970s McLeod financed medical
research and teaching at the University of
Adelaide; the Australian Postgraduate Federation
in Medicine made him an honorary
life governor in 1977. Survived by his wife
and their son and two daughters, he died on
24 April 1981 in Adelaide and was cremated.
His estate was valued at about $10 million. In
his will he provided funding for the Adelaide
(Women’s and) Children’s Hospital; a research
fund and medals for excellence in research
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were named after him. M. S. McLeod Ltd
was delisted in 1985 and acquired by Swissair
Associated Companies Ltd in 1995.
S. Kelen, Uphill All the Way (1974); M. S.
McLeod Ltd, Annual Report, 1965-81; Advertiser
(Adelaide), 25 Apr 1981, p 4. Peter BeLL
McMAHON, JOHN THOMAS (1893-1989),
monsignor and educationist, was born on
13 December 1893 at Ennis, County Clare,
Ireland, one of seven children of Thomas
Joseph McMahon, grocer, and his wife Kate,
née Costello. John was educated at Ennis by
the Christian Brothers, at St Vincent’s College,
Castleknock, Dublin, where he was a
boarder and was tutored in mathematics by
Eamon de Valera, and at University College,
Dublin (BA, 1915; H.Dip.Ed., 1917; MA, 1920;
Ph.D., 1928, National University of Ireland).
In 1913-19 he also attended All Hallows
College; he was ordained there on 22 June
1919. He met Archbishop Daniel Mannix
[q.v.10] in London in 1920 and became a
lifelong admirer. After serving as secretary to
Archbishop Patrick Clune [q.v.8], he sailed for
Fremantle in the Osterley with the Benedictine
abbot Anselm Catalan [q.v.13] and others of
the church hierarchy who were returning from
ad limina visits to Rome.
Arriving in Perth on 17 February 1921,
McMahon was immediately appointed to
the cathedral staff and to chaplaincy duties
at (Royal) Perth Hospital. He was diocesan
inspector of schools (1921-41) and director of
Catholic education (1941-50), and also chairman
of the diocesan council of education. In the
1920s, as organiser of religious instruction, he
travelled throughout the State, visiting schools
at timber settlements, on the goldfields and
in the wheat-belt, where the group settlement
scheme offered further social and pastoral
challenges. Taking the Education Department’s
correspondence lessons for isolated
children as a model, in 1923 he introduced
‘religion-by-post’. Residential camps, at which
rural children received intensive instruction
on matters of religion, followed from 1925.
Popularly known as the Bushies’ Scheme, the
program was generously supported by T. G.
A. Molloy [q.v.10] and the wider community.
McMahon wrote several guides for teachers.
In 1926-28, at UCD and the Catholic University
of America, Washington DC, McMahon
undertook postgraduate studies that resulted
in his doctoral thesis, published as Some
Methods of Teaching Religion (1928). His
association with the National Catholic School
of Social Service in the Catholic University of
America led him to appreciate the contribution
of social workers and alerted him to the
need for adequate financial assistance for
97
McMahon
students. Back in Perth, as editor (1929-32)
of the archdiocesan newspaper The Record,
he promoted the Bushies’ Scheme and other
educational initiatives, including the ‘Boys
Town’ institutions. In 1932 he became parish
priest at St Columba’s, South Perth.
McMahon was closely involved with the
University of Western Australia. In 1924 he
had founded the Newman Society of Western
Australia and, in 1925, had introduced the
annual University Sunday service. A member
(1934-61) of the senate, he was a staunch
supporter of university life and was strongly
ecumenical. From 1930 he worked to establish
a residential Catholic college. St Thomas More
College eventually accepted its first students
in 1955. He was helped in his endeavour by
his long-standing friends Sir Walter Murdoch,
Dr J. L. Rossiter [qq.v.10,16], Rev. Dr G. H.
Wright of Trinity Congregational Church
and J. H. Reynolds, warden of St George’s
College. In 1961 the university conferred on
him an honorary D.Litt. In 1976 St Thomas
More College named its library after him. He
donated the central panel of the stained-glass
window in the college chapel. A foundation
member (1960) of the Australian College of
Education, he was elected a fellow in 1962.
McMahon had helped to organise in 1946
the celebrations marking the centenary of
the missionary party that had included Ursula
Frayne, Joseph Serra and Bishop Rosendo
Salvado [qq.v.4,6,2]. That year Pope Pius XII
had created him a domestic prelate. McMahon
approved of the Vatican II changes, believing
that the church ‘must be flexible and move
with the times’. He was the author of some
thirty books, including One Hundred Years:
Five Great Church Leaders (1946), College,
Campus, Cloister (1969) and Rottnest—Isle of
Youth (1974), and many pamphlets. In 1970
he was appointed OBE.
After forty-seven years at St Columba’s,
McMahon retired from parish work in 1979.
Known as ‘Mac’, he had an engaging personality
and a keen Irish wit; he was as much at
ease on the greens of the Royal Perth Golf
Club as he was at a gathering of clergy. He
died on 19 January 1989 at Subiaco and was
buried in Karrakatta cemetery.
F. Alexander, Campus at Crawley (1963); D. F.
Bourke, The History of the Catholic Church in
Western Australia (1979); Daily News (Perth), 17
June 1969, p 10; West Australian, 21 June 1979, p 7,
21 Jan 1989, p 15; Record (Perth), 26 Jan 1989, p 2;
Jnl of Religious Education, vol 56, no 1, 2008, p 2.
cLeMent MuLcahy
McMAHON, Sir WILLIAM (1908-1988),
prime minister, was born on 23 February
1908 at Redfern, Sydney, second surviving
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son of Sydney-born parents William Daniel
McMahon, law clerk, and his wife Mary Ellen
Amelia, née Walder. After his mother’s death
in 1917, he was brought up by relatives and
guardians, the most prominent among them
his maternal uncle, (Sir) Samuel Walder
[q.v.12]. Billy’s father died in 1926. Educated
at Abbotsholme College, Killara, and at Sydney
Grammar School (1923-26), where he rowed
in the first VIII (1926), he was later a student
of St Paul’s College, University of Sydney
(LL B, 1933). At university he was a boxer,
a lover of ballet, the theatre, music and art,
and keen on horse racing. He was articled to
the Sydney law firm Allen, Allen [qq.v.1,3] &
Hemsley, where (Sir) Norman Cowper [q.v.17]
influenced his political thinking. From 1939
to 1941 he was a partner.
On 26 April 1940 McMahon was commissioned
in the Citizen Military Forces. He
transferred to the Australian Imperial Force in
October. Employed on staff duties in Australia,
he was deputy assistant quartermaster general
(movements) at the headquarters of II Corps
(1942-43) and the Second Army (1943-45).
In 1943 he was classified medically unfit for
overseas service because of chronic catarrh
that impaired his hearing. He was promoted
to captain in 1942 and major in 1943. His
AIF appointment ended on 10 October 1945.
After making an extensive tour of Europe
to observe the problems created by World
War II, McMahon returned to the University
of Sydney (B.Ec., 1949). In 1948 (Sir)
Jack Cassidy [q.v.13] sought preselection
for the new Federal seat of Lowe and asked
McMahon to speak at Strathfield on his
behalf. So impressed were the Liberal Party
women whom he addressed that they encouraged
him to stand for preselection himself.
Elected in December 1949 as the Liberal
member for Lowe, he was to hold the seat
for thirty-two years, although he never lived
in the electorate.
McMahon’s maiden speech on 2 March
1950 displayed not only his attributes—
proficiency in economics and robust preparation—but
also an inclination to show off and
exaggerate, and weak attempts at humour.
Its theme was that the coalition parties had a
greater prospect of maintaining full employment
than the Australian Labor Party whose
‘lack of warmth for private enterprise’ and
tendency to increase the size of the public
service channelled employment into nonproductive
spheres.
After the 1951 election McMahon became
minister for the navy and minister for air.
He visited troops in Korea and approved Sir
James Hardman’s [q.v.17] reorganisation of
the Royal Australian Air Force along functional
command lines. Appointed minister
for social services in 1954, he supported the
building of more rehabilitation facilities to
98
A. D. B.
enable disabled people to enter the workforce.
The minister for trade, (Sir) John McEwen,
lobbied the prime minister, (Sir) Robert
Menzies [qq.v.15], to promote McMahon
and on 11 January 1956 he was elevated
to cabinet as minister for primary industry.
With no experience in agriculture, McMahon
was expected to comply with decisions made
by McEwen. Instead, by working hard and
mastering his brief, he often brought matters
to cabinet without McEwen’s knowledge and
argued against his senior minister.
In his longest held portfolio, as minister
for labour and national service (1958-66),
McMahon introduced the National Service
Act (1964) that authorised conscription for
army service. Australia was soon to send
troops to fight in South Vietnam and the
Borneo State of Malaysia. The government
also wished to increase army manpower in
case of wider conflicts involving the country’s
commitments under the South-East Asia
Treaty Organization and the Australia, New
Zealand, United States Security Treaty. He
pursued the Communist-dominated Waterside
Workers Federation, established an inquiry
into waterfront efficiency and employment,
legislated to strip the WWF of its authority
over recruitment and made deregistration
of the union theoretically possible. From
1964 to 1966 he was vice-president of the
Executive Council.
When Harold Holt [q.v.14] replaced Menzies
as prime minister on 26 January 1966,
McMahon defeated (Sir) Paul Hasluck for
the deputy leadership. As deputy, he was also
treasurer (1966-69)—the post he had always
wanted. He developed good relationships with
his department—which contained a number of
highly skilled economists—and was appointed
a governor (1966-69) of the Inter national
Monetary Fund and chairman (1968-69) of the
board of governors of the Asian Development
Bank. Extensive knowledge of his portfolio, his
understanding of economics, his inquisition of
public servants and his desire to keep control
of expenditure often made him unpopular, but
these qualities boosted his reputation as a
treasurer. He introduced four budgets, gradually
reducing the deficit from $644 million
in 1967-68 to $30 million in 1969-70. They
were characterised by significant increased
spending on defence, drought assistance,
pension benefits and grants to the States,
and by new Commonwealth programs for the
health, education and housing of Aborigines,
and for school libraries. Funding came from
increased company and sales tax rates, radio
and television licence fees, air navigation
charges and overseas borrowings. Together
with (Sir) John Gorton, he tried to resist State
demands for extra revenue.
Relations between the Treasury and the
Department of Trade were strained even when
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1981–1990
Holt was treasurer. When McMahon became
treasurer his relationship with McEwen
deteriorated further. They clashed over
industry protection, McMahon’s opposition to
the establishment of the Australian Industry
Development Corporation and his (ultimately
vindicated) decision not to devalue the Australian
dollar. McEwen accused McMahon of
being behind the Basic Industries Group, a
pro-free-trade agricultural lobby that funded
Western Australian and Victorian Liberals to
stand against Country Party members. The
governor-general, R. G. (Lord) Casey [q.v.13],
met with McMahon to encourage him to heal
relations with McEwen, but there were persistent
tensions that the affable Holt found
difficult to manage.
Following Holt’s disappearance on 17
Decem ber 1967, Casey installed McEwen
as ‘care taker’ prime minister. McEwen
announced that he and his party would not
serve in a coalition headed by McMahon.
Initially McMahon sought to contest the
leadership, notwithstanding the veto, but
soon withdrew in favour of Gorton. At the
November 1969 Federal election Gorton’s
government suffered a swing against it of
almost 7 per cent. (Sir) David Fairbairn and
then McMahon announced that they would
contest the leadership; Gorton survived
by only a few votes. Gorton then moved
McMahon, against his wishes, from Treasury
to the Department of External Affairs. There,
McMahon’s concerns were the spread of
communism, the growing Russian interest
in South-East Asia, British plans to withdraw
troops from the region and the increasingly
unpopular Vietnam War. Responsible for
creating specialist Asian and policy research
branches, he changed the department’s
name to the Department of Foreign Affairs
in November 1970. When Gorton lost office
on 10 March 1971 McMahon stood for the
leadership and easily defeated (Sir) Billy
Snedden [q.v.]. Gorton became his deputy.
Although McMahon came to the prime
ministership with longer ministerial experience
than anyone else who has held the
office, he inherited a divided and dispirited
party, and suffered from active undermining
of his leadership and cabinet instability. He
sacked (Sir) James Killen, Tom Hughes and
Gorton, and he removed Leslie Bury [q.v.17]
from foreign affairs, falsely claiming it was for
health reasons. Snedden announced, before
the 1972 election, that he would be a future
candidate for leadership and even the deputy
prime minister, Douglas Anthony, refused to
give unequivocal support, telling reporters
that the leader of any party could not be
determined until after the election.
McMahon’s prime ministership was a
blend of cautious innovation and fundamental
orthodoxy; he restored Sir John Bunting as
99
McMahon
secretary of the Department of the Prime
Minister and Cabinet and strove to placate
State premiers. He created the Department
of the Environment, Aborigines and the Arts,
the Australian Institute of Marine Science
and the Australian Wool Corporation, and
he gained full Australian membership of the
Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and
Development; he gave additional assistance
to independent schools on a per capita
basis, provided Commonwealth funding for
child-care centres, abolished the pensioner
means test and instigated the Henderson
commission of inquiry into poverty. He was
out manoeuvred on China policy, having criticised
the July 1971 meeting of the Opposition
leader Gough Whitlam with Chinese leaders,
just as the president of the United States of
America, Richard Nixon, announced his own
proposed visit to Peking. Unable to bring
the economy under control, his government
presided in 1972 over higher inflation and
unemployment rates and a low growth rate,
despite increased government spending. His
term as prime minister was probably the least
rewarding chapter of his career.
At all hours of the day and night McMahon
took soundings from contacts in business, the
media and government. His frequent phone
calls, some from Eric Robinson’s [q.v.] home
on the Isle of Capri at Surfers Paradise,
inspired Whitlam to dub him ‘Tiberius with
a telephone’. He assiduously cultivated the
media, and (Sir) Frank Packer [q.v.15] was a
longstanding friend and supporter.
In the December 1972 Federal election,
the Liberal Party-Country Party coalition
lost government to the ALP. Labor achieved
only a 2.5 per cent swing and a net gain of
eight seats. An additional 1917 votes in five
seats would have seen McMahon re-elected.
Whitlam conceded that without McMahon’s
skill, resourcefulness and tenacity the ALP
victory ‘would have been more convincing
than it was’. These qualities and his persistence
against adversity were the hallmarks
of his personal and political life.
Ambitious and pragmatic (‘Politics is trying
to get into office’) McMahon was accused of
leaking information, spreading calculated lies
and engaging in intrigue. He was a difficult
personality: Alan Reid [q.v.] wrote of his ‘nervy
intensity’. Indecisive and accident-prone, he
made damaging slips of the tongue: he once
stated in an interview that the government
‘looks forward to increasing opportunities for
unemployment in the new year’. Nevertheless
he made a major contribution to postwar
Australian politics, particularly in tariff
policy debates. Although he lacked the flair
of Whitlam, he was a capable administrator
and a shrewd negotiator.
Remaining in parliament until 4 January
1982, McMahon was a frequent commentator
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on economic and political issues, offering
advice and criticising both the government
and Opposition. His ill-timed retirement from
parliament caused a by-election in the then
marginal seat of Lowe, which fell to Labor.
McMahon received superannuation of more
than $500 000. He travelled, worked as a
consultant to the Bank of America and wrote
an unpublished autobiography.
Short (172 cm), wiry, with blue eyes, bald
from his 40s and with large ears, McMahon
was unkindly described by Killen as ‘a Volkswagen
with both doors open’. His deafness
had been surgically cured but had left him with
a tremulous, piping voice. In his later years
he was a fitness fanatic, enjoying golf and
swimming. At squash, he beat—and sometimes
accidentally injured—younger opponents. He
was always fashionably dressed. In February
1985 he underwent surgery for skin cancer
and his left ear was removed.
On 11 December 1965 at St Mark’s Church
of England, Darling Point, McMahon had
married Sonia Rachel Hopkins, an occupational
therapist and film production assistant.
Attractive and vivacious and twenty-four
years his junior, his wife caught the eye of
the international media in Washington, DC,
when she wore a dress with a thigh-length
split to a state dinner at the White House.
Steadfastly loyal, she provided both emotional
support and political counsel. They had two
daughters and a son. Appointed privy councillor
(1966), Companion of Honour (1972) and
GCMG (1977), McMahon was named New
South Wales Father of the Year in 1971.
Survived by his wife and their children,
Sir William died on 31 March 1988 at Potts
Point and was cremated. A state memorial
service was held on 8 April. A portrait by (Sir)
Ivor Hele (1973) hangs in Parliament House,
Canberra, and one by Charles Thompson
(1985) is in the dining hall of St Paul’s College,
University of Sydney.
L. Oakes and D. Solomon, The Making of an
Australian Prime Minister (1973); G. Freudenberg,
A Certain Grandeur (1977); G. Whitlam, The
Whitlam Government 1971-1975 (1985); P. Golding,
Black Jack McEwen (1996); M. Grattan (ed),
Australian Prime Ministers (2001); I. Hancock, John
Gorton (2002); PD (HR), 12 Apr 1988, p 1403;
Bulletin, 10 Aug 1963, p 17; Canberra Times,
1 Apr 1988, p 6; SMH, 1 Jan 2003, p 11; R. Hurst,
interview with W. McMahon (ts, 1985-86, NLA);
W. McMahon papers (NLA). JuLian LeeSer
McMANUS, FRANCIS PATRICK (1905-
1983), schoolteacher, party official and
politician, was born on 27 February 1905 at
North Melbourne, second of three sons of
Patrick McManus, a carrier from Roscommon,
Ireland, and his Melbourne-born wife
100
A. D. B.
Gertrude Mary Beale (known as Dorothy
Alice Marsden at least from the time of her
marriage). A gifted student, Frank was educated
at St Mary’s Christian Brothers’ School,
West Melbourne; St Colman’s Central School,
Fitzroy; St Joseph’s Christian Brothers’
College, North Melbourne; and St Kevin’s
College, East Melbourne. Gaining a Donovan
bursary to Newman College, University of
Melbourne (BA, 1926; Dip.Ed., 1927), he
majored in Latin and English. He then taught
at Essendon (1927-36) and Bairnsdale (1937-
39) High schools and Essendon Technical
School (1940-46). Inspectors described him
as earnest, conscientious and meticulous
in preparation, but possessing a somewhat
monotonous manner. On 9 January 1937 at
St Margaret Mary’s Catholic Church, North
Brunswick, he married Clare Mulvany.
As a member and president (1929) of
the Victorian branch of the Catholic Young
Men’s Society, McManus had received a
thorough grounding in public speaking and
in conducting meetings. A founding member
of the Debaters Association of Victoria and
the Debaters’ House of Representatives, he
won State and national debating competitions.
Harold Holt, Stan Keon and Arthur Calwell
[qq.v.14,17,13] were fellow debaters.
Influenced by Calwell, in 1925 McManus
had joined the Australian Labor Party’s
Flemington branch; he became branch president
and a campaign committee member for
William Maloney [q.v.10]. When he attended
his first Victorian ALP conference in 1932,
he was given two beers and instructed to go
and vote for the candidates on a list handed
to him. This was his first lesson in political
organisation. After moving to Bairnsdale, he
declined an invitation to contest a State seat
in Gippsland; with a wife and child, he felt that
he could not risk losing a secure job.
McManus’s return to Melbourne in
1940 coincided with the start of conflict in
the Victorian labour movement between
those regarded as sympathetic to the
Com munist Party of Australia, and groups
organised to oppose them. In 1941 he met
B. A. Santa maria and H. M. (Bert) Cremean
[q.v.13] and became involved in Santamaria’s
Catholic Social Studies Movement, formed
to encourage Catholic laity to work against
communist influ ence in unions and the ALP.
In the same year he was a delegate to the State
ALP conference representing the Teachers’
Union. Over the following years he spoke to
Catholic men’s groups on the theme of the
‘menace’ of communism, a subject he had
first addressed publicly in 1933. When ‘the
Movement’ became a national organisation in
1945, he worked in propaganda and assisted
in the training of members. The threat of
communism, both at home and abroad, and
the need for unceasing vigilance in opposing
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1981–1990
it were the dominant themes of McManus’s
public life.
In 1946 McManus resigned from the
Victorian Education Department to help
establish a Catholic adult education body, the
Institute of Christian Studies (subsequently
the Newman Institute). He served as a director
and lectured on industrial relations. In
1947 he was appointed State government
representative on the board of the newly
formed Council of Adult Education, a post he
retained until 1973.
At the urging of Premier John Cain and
the Labor ‘numbers man’ Pat Kennelly
[qq.v.13,17], McManus became vice-president
of the Victorian ALP in 1947; he succeeded
Denis (Dinny) Lovegrove [q.v.15] as assistant
secretary (1950-56). His organised mind and
administrative skills helped Victorian Labor’s
electoral success in 1952. He supported the
anti-communist industrial groups, originating
in New South Wales and established in
Victoria in 1948, with the aim of combating
communism in the trade unions. By the early
1950s the ‘groupers’, some of whom were
members of ‘the Movement’, were in the
majority on the Victorian executive. McManus
gave regular radio commentaries on radio
3KZ, and wrote the ‘Labor Speaks’ column
for the Melbourne Herald.
In the Labor split of 1955, McManus was
among those who refused to accept the dis missal
of the Victorian executive and its replacement
by a body purged of the ‘groupers’.
With several members of the old executive
he tried in vain to enter the ALP’s 1955
Federal conference in Hobart. Expelled from
the party on 7 April, he became secretary of
the Australian Labor Party (Anti-Communist);
two months later he unsuccessfully contested
the Legislative Council seat of Melbourne.
Elected to the Senate at the Federal election
in December 1955, McManus became
deputy-leader of the Australian Democratic
Labor Party in 1957. That year he vacated
his office in the Melbourne Trades Hall,
having endured a virtual state of siege for
two years. He left shortly before a team of
builders’ labourers ‘bashed down the solid
brick wall of the office’ with sledgehammers.
In his maiden speech in September 1956,
he had spoken of his regret at the cuts to
southern European immigration; in 1961
he described the White Australia policy as
‘needlessly offensive to Asian and African
people’. Defeated narrowly in 1961, he became
federal secretary of the DLP (1962-65); he
stood unsuccessfully for the Federal seat of
Maribyrnong in 1963 and was re-elected to
the Senate in December 1964.
To decide the parliamentary party leadership
in 1965, McManus and V. C. Gair [q.v.14]
drew from a hat: Gair won and McManus
became his deputy. McManus’s speeches,
101
McManus
well-prepared and forceful, made him the
DLP’s most accomplished parliamentarian.
The principal articulator of the party’s
concern with foreign affairs and defence,
he saw the maintenance of the Australian
New Zealand United States Security Treaty
as the ‘keynote of our defence policies’. He
warned against recognition of communist
China, comparing it to being ‘asked to marry
the drunkard to reform him’; and he was an
unbending supporter of the Vietnam War. On
domestic issues he sought more generous
social security measures, particularly pensions
and child endowment. He made thoughtful
and well-informed contributions to debates
on tertiary education and he led his party in
seeking government aid for non-government
schools. In 1961 he proposed that all parents
should receive an educational endowment to
be paid to the school of their choice.
A social conservative, McManus deplored
the ‘permissive’ values of the 1960s and 1970s
and condemned the Whitlam government
for its ‘humanist sponsored anti-social and
anti-family legislation’. He described himself
as ‘old-fashioned enough to accept the Ten
Commandments as the most desirable and
rewarding code of conduct’. Contemptuous
of the ‘clever young men’ from the public
service, and ‘university intellectuals’ in the
parliamentary ALP, he looked back to the
Labor Party of Chifley, Curtin and Scullin
[qq.v.13,11] whose representatives ‘had this
merit—that once in their life they’d been
hungry’. He complained frequently of media
bias against the DLP, and was a tireless writer
of letters to newspapers.
In October 1973 McManus became leader
of the party, which now had five senators. In
April 1974 the Whitlam Labor government
appointed Gair ambassador to Ireland in the
hope of securing an extra Senate seat for the
government. Disgusted by this ‘course of
bribery and corruption’, McManus claimed
that he too had been offered an ambassadorship,
to the Vatican, in 1973. Determined to
see the end of the Whitlam ministry, he supported
the Liberal-Country Party coalition’s
blocking of supply in the Senate, expecting
to gain a joint coalition-DLP ticket at the
ensuing election. (Sir) Billy Snedden [q.v.]
denied the alleged agreement. McManus’s
strategic miscalculation saw the DLP’s Senate
representation extinguished in May 1974. In
1977 he published his political memoir, The
Tumult & the Shouting. After the DLP was dissolved
in March 1978, McManus was among
those who sought to revive the party later that
year. He was appointed CMG in 1979.
Regarded by some as bitter and resentful,
McManus was glad to be reconciled with
Calwell shortly before the latter’s death. The
journalist Alan Reid described McManus as
long, lean, bespectacled and unforgiving,
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McManus
with a biting tongue. Despite his austere
public face, he was a congenial man and a
rich source of oral history, with, according to
Brian Harradine, ‘a dry sense of humour and
a well-developed sense of the ridiculous’. A
keen reader of history, biography and foreign
affairs, he had a strong sense of place, referring
to North Melbourne as his ‘native land’,
and he wrote with affection about Essendon,
where he had either taught or lived for nearly
fifty years. He was a trustee of the Melbourne
Cricket Ground (1975-83) and the patron of
the North Melbourne Football Club.
Survived by his wife, and their two sons and
two daughters, McManus died on 28 December
1983 at Kew and was buried in Fawkner
cemetery after a requiem Mass at St Patrick’s
Cathedral, Melbourne. Although his life had
been devoted to opposing communism, he
had maintained that the split was not based
on ideology: ‘it was a personality split caused
by internal hates’ and a struggle for power.
Months after his death his family was still
receiving abusive phone calls from those who
had never forgiven his role in the conflict.
R. Murray, The Split (1970); PD (Senate), 13 Apr
1961, p 487; 10 Apr 1974, p 889; 28 Feb 1984,
p 1; Advocate (Melbourne), 2 Mar 1933, p 9; 31
Jul 1946, p 8; Age (Melbourne) 14 Dec 1970, p 9;
15 May 1974, p 9; Sun News-Pictorial (Melbourne),
15 June 1974, p 25; Australian, 30 Dec 1983, p 2;
M. Pratt, interview with F. McManus (ts, 1976,
NLA); F. McManus papers (NLA).
GeoFF Browne
McMULLIN, Sir ALISTER MAXWELL
(1900-1984), grazier and politician, was born
on 14 July 1900 at Bingeberry, Rouchel, New
South Wales, youngest of seven children of
New South Wales-born parents William George
McMullin, grazier, and his wife Catherine,
née McDonald. Educated at Rouchel Public
School, after his father’s death in 1928 Alister
bought Yarramoor, where he raised prime
lambs. He took a keen interest in local government
and served on the Upper Hunter Shire
Council, the local Pastures Protection and
Scone’s Scott Memorial Hospital boards, and
on the district ambulance committee.
Enlisting in the Australian Imperial Force at
Paddington, Sydney, on 9 July 1940, McMullin
served briefly as a gunner in the 3rd Field
Artillery Training Battery. He was discharged
in January 1941 on being commissioned
as a pilot officer in the Administrative and
Special Duties Branch of the Royal Australian
Air Force. Appointed to No.24 Squadron,
he served at Townsville and Maryborough,
Queensland, and was promoted to flying
officer in July 1941 and to flight lieutenant in
October 1942. In 1944 he briefly commanded
No.42 Squadron and was appointed adjutant.
102
A. D. B.
He was demobilised on 22 February 1946.
On 23 November that year at St Stephen’s
Presbyterian Church, Sydney, he married
Thelma Louise Smith, daughter of W. J. Smith
[q.v.11]. He and his wife moved in 1956 to his
father-in-law’s St Aubins stud, Scone, where
he bred cattle and developed a keen interest
in racehorse breeding.
At the double dissolution election in 1951
McMullin was elected as a Liberal Party of
Australia senator for New South Wales. Serving
as president of the Senate from 1953 until
1971, he became chairman in 1956 of the
Senate standing orders and the parliamentary
library committees, and a member of the
house committee and of the joint committee
on the broadcasting of parliamentary proceedings.
A strong believer in the role of the
Senate and the bicameral system, he prepared
with (Sir) John McLeay [q.v.] An Introduction
to the Australian Federal Parliament (1959).
During parliamentary recesses he toured
extensively in country areas, developed an
affinity for school children and their parents,
and spoke on radio and television on the role
of parliament. He was appointed KCMG in
June 1957.
McMullin’s term as president was marked
by his strong interest in the planning of a
new and permanent Parliament House in
Canberra. He was chairman (1965-71) of
the joint select committee which developed
a number of concepts. His preference was
for a building on the shores of Lake Burley
Griffin, but when the government finally made
the decision to build on Capital Hill, he was
quite satisfied with the outcome.
Australian representative (1954-60) on the
Commonwealth Parliamentary Association,
McMullin served as chairman (1959-60 and
1969-70) of the general council. He saw the
CPA as the living embodiment of all that is
best in the Westminster system and as the
protector of democratic rights in all nations
within the Commonwealth. His diplomatic
skills were tested while chairing the CPA
conference held in Canberra in 1970, when
the Commonwealth was concerned about
South Africa’s apartheid policies. Tanzanian
delegates took affront when overnight their
flag outside Parliament House fell to the
ground; they accused Australia of failing to
maintain the necessary security and their
leader stated that, in his country, ‘we would
guard the flags with machine guns’. Sir Alister
travelled extensively in the service of the
CPA; he represented Australia at the funeral
of President J. F. Kennedy in Washington in
1963 and led the Australian delegation to the
opening (1964) of the Territory of Papua and
New Guinea’s first House of Assembly.
McMullin worked closely with the parliamentary
and national librarian, (Sir) Harold White.
Together they developed the Commonwealth’s
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1981–1990
first Legislative Research Service to assist
parliamentarians in preparing for debates.
Appointed a member (1960) of the interim
council of the National Library of Australia,
McMullin was deputy-chairman (1961-71) and
chairman (1971-73) of its council.
Elected the first chancellor (1966-77) of
the University of Newcastle, McMullin was
awarded an honorary D.Litt. in 1966; the
university named the McMullin Building
after him. He was a director of Muswellbrook
Industries Ltd (1966-74) and of Forestwood
Australia Ltd (1970-78). He did not contest
the 1970 Senate elections and retired from
the chamber the next year. Of large stature,
dignified and courteous, McMullin strove as
president of the Senate to give all members
a ‘fair go’. The Australian Democratic Labor
Party senator, Condon Byrne, praised him
for his ‘liberality and understanding’, and
for his impartiality and integrity. Sir Alister
himself described his parliamentary career
as ‘good fun’. Survived by his wife and their
daughter, he died on 7 August 1984 at
Scone and was buried in the Uniting Church
cemetery, Rouchel; their son had died in
infancy. A portrait by (Sir) Ivor Hele hangs
in Parliament House, Canberra.
Parliamentary Handbook of the Commonwealth of
Australia, 1968, p 168; PD (Senate), 12 May 1971,
p 1707, 21 Aug 1984, p 20; Sun (Sydney), 7 Jan
1960, p 15; Sun News-Pictorial (Melbourne), 28 May
1970, p 32; A9300, item McMULLIN A M (NAA);
private information and personal knowledge.
DaviD connoLLy
McNEILL, Sir JAMES CHARLES (1916-
1987), businessman, was born on 29 July 1916
at Hamilton, New South Wales, second surviving
child of Charles Arthur Henry McNeill,
assurance superintendent, and his wife Una
Beatrice, née Gould, both born in New South
Wales. Matriculating from Newcastle Boys’
High School, he joined the Broken Hill Proprietary
Co. Ltd in 1933 as an office boy in the
manager’s office of its Newcastle steelworks.
Over the next ten years he held appointments
as clerk, secretary and accountant in several
departments while undertaking accountancy
and secretarial studies. He was admitted to
the Commonwealth Institute of Accountants
in 1939 and next year was awarded the gold
medal of the Institute of Incorporated Secretaries.
On 31 January 1942 at St Peter’s
Church of England, Hamilton, he married
Audrey Evelyn Mathieson, a shop assistant.
Already demonstrating a detailed interest
in the technical operations of the steelworks,
McNeill was appointed chief clerk of the
accounts department in 1944. As a member
of BHP’s first group of commercial trainees
he travelled to all the company’s operations,
103
McNeill
gaining experience that would assist in
unifying accounting and costing procedures.
In 1947 he transferred to head office in
Melbourne as company accountant, rising to
assistant secretary (1954), assistant general
manager commercial (1956) and general
manager commercial (1959).
In 1964 McNeill played a major role in
negotiating the agreement with Esso Standard
Oil (Aust.) Ltd, by which BHP initiated the
exploration and development of Bass Strait
oil and gas reserves, and in 1966 he played an
equally important role in securing contracts to
develop the Mount Newman iron-ore mine that
took the company into the export of minerals
on a large scale. Appointed executive general
manager finance (1967), he became managing
director in 1971—the first in BHP’s history
to gain that position without an engineering
background.
‘Reserved and precise’ (so judged the
Australian), McNeill became chairman, and
director of administration in 1977, only the
third officer to have risen to that position
through the ranks of what was then Australia’s
largest company. He was closely involved in
the two-stage takeover of John Lysaght (Australia)
Ltd that led, by 1979, to BHP’s substantial
expansion in the manufacture of steel. The
acquisition of Utah International Inc. in 1984
achieved a further significant diversification
of the company’s interests and a major step
in operating overseas. Proud of these initiatives,
and of achieving broad co-operation in
a recovery plan for an ailing steel industry
in the 1980s, McNeill displayed an ability
to take a broad view of where BHP should
be heading while remaining in command of
detailed negotiations.
Although a devoted and quintessential company
man, McNeill still found time to contribute
to other organisations. He was a director
(1983-86) of the ANZ Bank ing Group and
chairman (1983-86) of Tube makers Australia
Ltd and a director of many mining companies.
He served (1969-87) on the council of Monash
University, where his contribution to the
reform of the university’s senior management
structure was particularly valued. In 1978-
85 he was a member of the Walter and Eliza
Hall [qq.v.9] finance committee. President
(1974-78) of the Australian Mining Industry
Council, he was also a member of the Australian
Manufacturing Council, the International
Iron and Steel Institute, the international
council of Morgan Guaranty Trust Co. of
New York, and the Australian Japan Business
Co-operation Committee.
A keen sportsman, McNeill played tennis,
cricket and golf, fished, and later took up
bowls. He also enjoyed gardening and weekend
farming at his property at Glenburn. With
a passionate interest in music, he studied
the organ; he was an active Anglican. He was
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McNeill
appointed CBE in 1972, KBE in 1978 and AC
in 1986. The University of Newcastle conferred
on him an honorary D.Sc. (1981) and
Monash University an honorary LL D (1986).
Despite his success, achieved through
ability and hard work, Sir James McNeill
remained a modest man. Retiring in 1984,
he died of myocardial infarction on 12 March
1987 at Canterbury, Melbourne, and was
cremated. His wife and their son survived
him. He was posthumously awarded the Order
of the Rising Sun, Gold and Silver Star, by
the government of Japan for his promotion
of trade and economic exchange. A postgraduate
scholarship was established in his
name at Monash University and a portrait
by Sir William Dargie is held by the National
Portrait Gallery, Canberra.
A. Trengove, “What’s Good for Australia ...!”
(1975); Jnl of Industry, vol 39, no 5, 1971, p 13;
Australian, 3 June 1970, p 15, 13 Mar 1987, p 10;
Austn Financial Review, 5 May 1971, p 14; Sun
(Sydney), 12 Jan 1978, p 29; SMH, 26 July 1984,
p 19; BHP Billiton Archives, Melbourne.
roBin StewarDSon
McNICOLL, Sir ALAN WEDEL RAMSAY
(1908-1987), naval officer and diplomat, was
born on 3 April 1908 at Hawthorn, Melbourne,
second son of Victorian-born parents (Sir)
Walter Ramsay McNicoll [q.v.10], civil servant,
and his wife Hildur Marschalck, née Wedel.
Raised at Geelong, Alan attended Scotch
College, Melbourne, and, after the family
moved to Goulburn, New South Wales, Scots
College, Sydney. In 1922 he entered the Royal
Australian Naval College, Jervis Bay, Federal
Capital Territory, as a cadet midshipman,
graduating in 1926 with excellent scholastic
and sporting results. In professional courses
in Britain he achieved first-class results.
From 1930 to 1933, during which time he
published Sea Voices, a small book of poems
on naval life, McNicoll served in cruisers of
the Australian Squadron. He then completed
torpedo specialist courses in Britain and in
1935 joined the new cruiser HMAS Sydney as
torpedo officer. On 18 May 1937 he married
Ruth Timmins at St Stephen’s Church of
England, Gardenvale, Melbourne. Promoted
to lieutenant commander in 1938, McNicoll
was posted the following year to Britain as
an instructor at the Royal Navy’s torpedo
school. Soon after the outbreak of World
War II he joined the cruiser HMS Fiji, which
was torpedoed on 1 September 1940 and
barely made harbour. His next posting was
to the submarine depot ship HMS Medway at
Alexandria, Egypt, where, beside his torpedo
duties, he was frequently involved in rendering
enemy ordnance safe. He was awarded the
George Medal in 1941 for removing inertia
104
A. D. B.
pistols from badly corroded torpedoes taken
from a captured Italian submarine.
In 1942-44 McNicoll served in the battleship
HMS King George V, in the Admiralty, and on
the planning staff for the 1944 D-Day landings
in France. Promoted to commander in 1943,
he returned to Australia in 1945, becoming
executive officer of the cruiser HMAS Hobart
with the British Commonwealth Occupation
Force in Japan. He was promoted to captain
in 1949 and successively commanded the
1st Frigate Squadron in HMAS Shoalhaven
and the 10th Destroyer Squadron in HMAS
Warramunga. McNicoll was appointed CBE
(1954) for his involvement in the British
atomic bomb tests at the Montebello Islands
off Western Australia in 1952. Two years
later when in command of the heavy cruiser
HMAS Australia, he rescued a Dutch naval
ship in difficulties off Hollandia, Netherlands
New Guinea (Jayapura, Irian Jaya), for which
he was appointed (1956) to the Order of
Orange-Nassau.
McNicoll’s marriage had ended in 1950.
Marked for senior command, he attended
the Imperial Defence College, London, in
1955. On 17 May 1957 he married Frances
Mary Chadwick, a journalist, at the register
office, Hampstead. Appointed as head of the
Australian joint service staff and made an
acting rear admiral in 1957, he returned to
Australia in 1958 as deputy secretary (military),
Department of Defence, and chairman
of the Joint Planning Committee. That year he
was promoted to the substantive rank of rear
admiral. Becoming second naval member of
the Naval Board in 1960, he was responsible
for personnel matters at a time when recruiting
and retention were lagging. He was posted
as flag officer commanding the Australian
Fleet in January 1962.
The RAN was about to implement major
changes in its structure and order of battle.
Commitments to the South-East Asia Treaty
Organisation and the Far East Strategic
Reserve kept the fleet busy, and during
McNicoll’s term as fleet commander he
suc cess fully organised the acceptance and
deploy ment of new minesweepers, modern
anti-submarine warfare ships and helicopters,
and afloat support capabilities. In January
1964 he returned to the Naval Board as
chief of supply. Following the collision of the
destroyer HMAS Voyager with the aircraft
carrier HMAS Melbourne in February, the
Spicer [q.v.16] royal commission removed
the investigation from naval control, and
subjected the Naval Board to unprecedented
and unwelcome public scrutiny. McNicoll was
posted to the somewhat less exposed position
of flag officer-in-charge East Australia
Area in June. However, when the term of Sir
Hastings Harrington [q.v.14] as chief of naval
staff was cut short, McNicoll was promoted
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1981–1990
to vice admiral and appointed in his place in
February 1965. He was appointed CB that
year and KBE in 1966.
McNicoll inherited a three-year naval program
with which he did not agree, and had to
work hard to correct its omissions. The drawnout
agony of the first and, in 1967-68, the
second Voyager royal commission continued to
damage public perception of the RAN and its
senior leadership. Indonesian ‘Confrontation’
with Malaysia demanded high commitment
from the RAN, and the Vietnam War required
a naval response that could not be met until
1967. The arrival of new classes of Britishdesigned
submarines and American-built
guided-missile destroyers brought challenges
in tactics, manpower, training, logistics and
technology, and the fate of fixed-wing aviation
in the RAN hung in the balance. There were
also many personnel issues to be resolved.
McNicoll managed all these actual and potential
crises with common sense, attention to
detail, charm and acute perception of the
tides of opinion. Both the Oberon-class submarines
and Adams-class destroyers became
successes, a new class of patrol boats was
commissioned, the Fleet Air Arm was reequipped
with American aircraft, and the RAN
commitment of destroyers, clearance divers
and helicopter units to Vietnam enhanced its
strategic and tactical development. The visible
legacy of McNicoll’s tenure is the Australian
White Ensign, which replaced that of the Royal
Navy in March 1967.
Retiring from the RAN in 1968, McNicoll
was appointed Australia’s first ambassador
to Turkey. As well as the physical difficulties
of opening a new embassy, he had to contend
with a lack of knowledge among people in
both Canberra and Ankara of each other’s
society and values. Despite these and other
challenges he established a firm basis for
cordial relations between the two countries.
Returning to Australia in 1973, McNicoll
spent his remaining years out of public life.
He indulged his interest in the arts, and in
1979 published his translation of The Odes
of Horace. He died at Canberra on 11 October
1987, survived by his wife and the son
and daughter of his first marriage. He was
cremated with full naval honours.
F. B. Eldridge, A History of the Royal Australian
Naval College (1949); P. Dennis et al (eds), The
Oxford Companion to Australian Military History
(1995); D. M. Stevens, The Australian Centenary
History of Defence, vol 3 (2001); F. McNicoll and
S. Lunney, Interview with Sir Alan McNicoll (ts,
1977, NLA); A6769, item McNICOLL A W R (NAA).
ian PFenniGwerth
McQUILLAN, ERNEST EDWARD (1905-
1988), boxing trainer and manager, was born
105
McQuillan
on 16 May 1905 at Newtown, Sydney, third
of eight surviving children of locally born
parents Thomas Albert McQuillan, carter,
and his wife Eva Alice, née Madden. While
training to be a cabinet-maker, Ern took up
boxing after a trainer, Yank Pearl, spotted
him fighting on the street. McQuillan lost
only two professional bouts out of twenty-two
before a bruising twenty-round encounter
against George ‘KO’ Campbell at Leichhardt
prompted him to become a trainer instead.
He married Alice Kathaleen Elizabeth Slack,
a machinist, on 6 February 1926 at St Paul’s
Church of England, Redfern.
In 1933 McQuillan produced his first
national champion when Pat Craig won the
bantamweight title. McQuillan trained and
managed thirty-eight national champions (who
won fifty-one titles) and another six Commonwealth
champions (who won seven titles). He
had a keen eye for spotting ability and, with
Stadiums Ltd, for setting up attractive bouts.
His loyalty to that organisation enabled him
to secure the services of the most talented
boxers. In that era boxing was big business
and attracted large audiences. He was a
brusque and tough negotiator, who helped
his star boxers to secure handsome returns
and made a comfortable living for himself.
For three decades McQuillan and an Irish
working-class trainer, Bill McConnell [q.v.15],
dominated Australian boxing. They had a bitter
feud and their verbal taunts and exaggerated
bluster assumed pantomime proportions,
degenerating into fisticuffs on four occasions
before they finally shook hands and made up.
Ern may have been jealous that McConnell
trained a world champion, Jimmy Carruthers
[q.v.17], because it was a matter of deep
disappointment to McQuillan that he could
not match this feat though he came close on
two occasions. War denied his favourite boxer,
Vic Patrick, the opportunity to contest a world
title. Patrick won his first national title in 1941
and lost only four of his fifty-five professional
fights, winning forty-three by knockout. Tony
Mundine fought for a world title in Argentina
in 1974 but was beaten by Carlos Monzón.
Some of McQuillan’s other boxers were Bobby
Dunlop, Jack Hassen, Ron Richards [q.v.11]
and Clive Stewart.
McQuillan’s gym, successively on various
sites at Marrickville and Newtown, was
adorned with boxing photographs taken by
his son Ernie. McQuillan was at the gym
seven days a week from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. He
recruited and managed boxers, supervised
their training, and massaged and seconded
them as well. A journalist, Phillip Derriman,
described him as ‘the sport’s most outstanding
personality—a sharp, smartly dressed man
with a reputation for toughness and colourful
language’. McQuillan loved to gamble on
horse racing, greyhounds and two-up. During
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McQuillan
the 1940s he trained greyhounds and achieved
success at Harold and Wentworth parks. In
addition to a stint as a bookmaker at the greyhound
tracks, he was, for a time, an SP bookie.
He had little interest in politics or religion.
Travel in the service of boxing was one of his
few diversions. He rarely drank alcohol but
had a sweet tooth that saw his weight increase
to 16 stone (102 kg) by the 1970s.
Because he was such a dominant figure in
boxing, McQuillan had his share of enemies
and suffered threatening phone calls and
home burglaries (two in one weekend). Litigation,
involving boxers and rival promoters,
was commonplace because most contracts
were verbal. He fell out with Tony Mundine
after taking him to a world title. McQuillan
was involved in a car accident in 1963 and
his Newtown gym burnt down in 1967. While
he was a hard man and a disciplinarian, he
was also generous. He organised functions to
raise money for pensioner Christmas parties
and when his arch rival Bill McConnell faced
hard times he organised a fund-raising event.
The closure of Sydney Stadium in 1970
symbolised the end of the boxing world as
McQuillan knew it. Although he later staged
boxing matches in League clubs such as
South Sydney, he became disillusioned with
the sport. In 1984 he was awarded the OAM.
After the death of his wife Alice in 1983, his
health deteriorated and he died on 16 July
1988 at Petersham and was cremated. His
two sons survived him; Ernie was awarded the
OAM in 1998 for his photography.
P. Corris, Lords of the Ring (1980); G. Kieza,
Australian Boxing (1990); People (Sydney), 6 Aug
1958, p 45; SMH, 22 July 1983, p 1; N. Bennetts,
interview with E. McQuillan (ts, 1980, NLA);
private information. r. i. caShMan
McRAE, DORIS MARY (1893-1988),
school teacher and headmistress, was born
on 25 January 1893 at Pakenham, Victoria,
first child of Victorian-born Donald McRae,
teamster, and his English-born wife Mary Jane,
née Broad. Attending Pakenham State School,
Doris won a scholarship to the Melbourne
Continuation School and while studying
there boarded with her uncle, James McRae
[q.v.10]. In 1910 she returned to Pakenham
as a junior teacher, then entered the Training
(later Teachers’) College and began an arts
degree at the University of Melbourne.
In September 1914 Miss McRae took up
her first post at Faraday Street State School,
Carlton. Recruited into the secondary teaching
service in 1916, she joined the staff of
Echuca High School. For the next thirty-four
years she taught in both rural and suburban
schools. Students found her a challenging and
106
A. D. B.
inspiring teacher. Her political activism developed
alongside her profession, beginning in
1914 when she joined the Australian Student
Christian Movement and the Student Peace
Group. By the 1920s she was a member of the
Free Religious Fellowship and, in 1935, of the
newly established Teachers’ Peace Movement
and the Movement Against War and Fascism.
From the 1920s McRae was an active
unionist, joining the council of the Victorian
Teachers’ Union in 1934, and serving as vicepresident
in 1941-47. She cared deeply about
the welfare of the children she worked with,
her fellow teachers and society in general,
and was a passionate advocate of equal pay
for women. A keen promoter of the VTU, she
was a key player in the establishment of an
independent teachers’ tribunal in 1946 and an
agitator, together with other left-wingers, for
VTU affiliation with the Trades Hall Council
and the Australian Council of Trades Unions.
In 1942 McRae was appointed headmistress
of Flemington Girls High School.
During World War II she sat on the Victorian
committee of the Women’s Charter Conference
and was a member of the Council for
Women in War Work. From 1945 she was
a member of Melbourne’s International
Women’s Day Committee. She had developed
an inter national perspective through overseas
travel. In 1929-30 she had gone on a teacher
exchange to Scotland and in 1937 attended
the Pan Pacific Women’s Conference in
Vancouver, Canada, later travelling to England
and the Soviet Union. On her return she had
joined the Communist Party of Australia,
written for its Guardian, lectured occasionally
at Marx House and became a member of
the Left Book Club and the Australian-Soviet
Friendship League.
At the peak of her teaching career, her
activities were closely monitored by the
Com monwealth Investigation Service and in
1946 she was the subject of heated debate
in the Victorian Parliament. In 1948 she was
defeated for office in the VTU. Mention of her
in the Lowe [q.v.15] royal commission into
communist activity in Victoria, and a relentless
anti-communist campaign, forced her to
retire in ill health in 1950.
After unsuccessfully contesting the Federal
seat of Henty for the CPA in 1951, McRae
devoted her energies to the Union of Australian
Women, of which she was a foundation
member (1950) and president (1964-66). In
1952 she was the Union’s Victorian delegate
to the Defence of Children conference in
Vienna. She was also active in the Flemington-
Kensington Progress Association, lobbying for
the establishment of a youth centre and for
the conversion of abandoned local tanneries
into recreational grounds. Vigorous and
prodigiously active well into her eighties,
Doris McRae died on 9 October 1988 at East
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1981–1990
Brighton. A memorial service was held at
Coburg High School and her body was donated
to the Department of Anatomy, University
of Melbourne.
M. Evans et al, Optima Semper (1995); S. Fabian
and M. Loh, Left-Wing Ladies (2000); C. Griffin,
A Biography of Doris McRae, 1893-1988 (PhD
thesis, Univ of Melbourne, 2005) and for bib.
cheryL GriFFin
MAC SMITH, BERTHA CHATTO ST
GEORGE; see SMith, Bertha
McTIERNAN, Sir EDWARD ALOYSIUS
(1892-1990), politician and judge, was born on
16 February 1892 at Glen Innes, New South
Wales, second of three sons of Irish-born
parents Patrick McTiernan, police constable,
and his wife Isabella, née Diamond. Edward
attended Metz Public School. After his family
moved to Sydney around 1900, he was taught
by the Christian Brothers at Lewisham, and
by the Marist Brothers at St Mary’s Cathedral
High School. Having matriculated in 1908, he
lacked the financial means to attend university
as a full-time student and instead joined the
fledgling Commonwealth Public Service.
Studying part time, McTiernan graduated
in arts from the University of Sydney (BA,
1912). He had undertaken two law subjects
and, like ‘an Antipodean Dick Whittington’, he
approached the law firm Sly & Russell, whose
brass plate he saw while walking along the
street. Taken on as a law clerk, he studied at
night at the University of Sydney (LL B, 1915),
graduating with first-class honours. Moving to
Allen, Allen [qq.v.1,3] & Hemsley, he learned
that Justice (Sir) George Rich [q.v.11] of the
High Court of Australia, whose son had died
in World War I, wished to employ an associate
who had been rejected for active service. He
chose McTiernan, who at age 7 had fractured
his arm, which was not properly set, and
who held a ‘rejected volunteers’ badge’. On
24 February 1916 McTiernan was admitted
to the Bar.
By now McTiernan was involved in politics
on the Labor side. He publicly opposed conscription
at the second referendum in 1917.
Elected in 1920 to the State seat of Western
Suburbs, he became, at age 28, attorneygeneral
(1920-22) in the Storey [q.v.12] government.
In his maiden speech he declared
himself an ‘idealist’, committed to fairness and
justice in the legal system. When Jack Lang
[q.v.9] led Labor to victory in 1925, McTiernan
was reappointed attorney-general. He initially
worked closely with Lang and was a ‘respected’
and moderate voice in the fractious world that
was New South Wales Labor politics. In 1956
107
McTiernan
Lang remembered ‘Eddie’ as an ‘almost timid’
soul, ‘ultra-cautious in his politics’ and ‘very
much attached to his parents’.
Falling out politically with Lang, McTiernan
did not recontest his seat at the 1927 election.
He returned to the Bar and in 1928 became
Challis [q.v.3] lecturer in Roman law at the
university. In 1929 he was elected to Federal
parliament as the member for the Sydney
seat of Parkes. As an austerity measure,
Prime Minister Scullin [q.v.11] decided in
1930 against filling two vacancies on the High
Court. When Scullin and the attorney-general
Frank Brennan [q.v.7] were overseas, against
their wishes ‘caucus resolved that the government
should appoint to the Bench two men
known to have social views sympathetic to
Labor’. McTiernan and H. V. Evatt [q.v.14]
thereby joined Australia’s highest court.
The appointments were strongly criticised
as ‘political’ by the conservative forces that
dominated the Australian legal community.
McTiernan also faced the charge that he
lacked the qualifications for high judicial
office, having spent relatively little time at the
Bar. Aged 38, he was sworn in on 20 December
1930. Justice (Sir) Hayden Starke [q.v.12]
ridiculed McTiernan and Evatt as ‘parrots’
whose judgments mimicked those of their
fellow High Court justice (Sir) Owen Dixon
[q.v.14]. McTiernan’s personality discouraged
him from retaliating to such provocations.
In 1948, however, he walked off a case in
response to ‘the continued hostility shown
to me by . . . Mr Justice Starke’.
McTiernan did not directly style himself
as a ‘Labor-judge’. Cautious and moderate,
he often took a centralist stance. In the
Garnishee case (1932), the Lang government
challenged the validity of Commonwealth
legislation designed to force New South Wales
to pay its debts. Unlike Evatt, McTiernan
decided against his former political leader.
In the Bank Nationalisation case (1948) he
and Chief Justice Sir John Latham [q.v.10]
would have substantially upheld the Chifley
[q.v.13] government’s banking legislation; in
the Communist Party case (1951) he was in
the majority that struck down the Menzies
[q.v.15] government’s ban on communism.
He was, however, the only High Court judge
to uphold Labor’s ambitious pharmaceutical
benefits scheme (1945).
On 27 December 1948 at St Roch’s Catholic
Church, Glen Iris, Melbourne, McTiernan
married Kathleen Margaret Mary Lloyd. He
was appointed KBE in 1951. Early in the
1950s, he declined the Menzies government’s
offer to become ambassador to Ireland. He
was appointed a privy councillor in 1962.
In the 1970s he upheld the thrust of the
Whitlam government’s initiatives, which
had generated a new array of constitutional
challenges. In 1976, after a fall that fractured
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McTiernan
his hip, McTiernan reluctantly retired. Chief
Justice Sir Garfield Barwick described the
retirement, after forty-six years of service, as
‘historic’: he knew of no other judge of a court
of the British Commonwealth of Nations who
had occupied a bench for so long a period.
The impact of his judgments was not commensurate
with his longevity on the bench;
he showed a ‘remarkable consistency’ in his
jurisprudence but not greatness.
Sir Edward had a deep commitment to
his traditional Catholic faith; he had been
appointed (1929) a papal privy chamberlain.
Although frugal and ‘intensely shy’, he
extended to his many associates, male and
Catholic, warmth and hospitality. His interests
included gardening, reading and horse racing.
Survived by his wife, he died on 9 January
1990 at Turramurra, Sydney, and was buried
in Rookwood cemetery.
J. Lang, I Remember (1956); G. Sawer, Australian
Federal Politics and Law 1929-1949 (1963); B. Nairn,
The ‘Big Fella’ (1986); M. Sexton, Uncertain Justice
(2000); T. Blackshield et al (eds), Oxford Companion
to the High Court of Australia (2001); Austn Law
Jnl, vol 64, June 1990, p 320; Federal Law Review,
vol 20, 1991, p 165; Cwlth Law Review, vol 168,
1990, p 5; SMH, 23 Oct 1948, p 3; R. Hurst,
interview with E. McTiernan (ts, 1986-88, NLA).
John M. wiLLiaMS
Fiona wheeLer
MADDISON, DAVID CLARKSON (1927-
1981), psychiatrist, was born on 7 January
1927 at Chatswood, Sydney, younger surviving
son of New Zealand-born George Edgar
Maddison, company manager, and his wife
Frances Mary, née Patterson, from Queensland.
John Clarkson Maddison [q.v.] was his
brother. Educated at Sydney Grammar School,
David excelled academically, later studying
medicine at the University of Sydney (MB, BS,
1948; DPM, 1953). He also showed musical
talent from an early age, giving his first public
piano recital at the Forum Club aged 6 and
performing as a soloist, when only 9 years
old, with the Australian Broadcasting Commission’s
Sydney Symphony Orchestra, conducted
by (Sir) Bernard Heinze [q.v.17]. In 1938 Artur
Rubinstein encouraged him to travel to Europe
to train with Artur Schnabel, but the onset of
war prevented him from taking up an overseas
music scholarship. Maddison retained a
great love of music, giving occasional public
recitals and frequently entertaining friends,
students and colleagues around the piano
with an eclectic repertoire that ranged from
Bach to jazz (a particular passion), Gilbert and
Sullivan and Tom Lehrer. He also dabbled in
composition. His rhapsody for clarinet, piano
and orchestra was performed (1956) by the
Victorian Symphony Orchestra.
108
A. D. B.
In 1950, inspired by Professor William
Siegfried Dawson [q.v.13], and against the
advice of family and friends, Maddison
decided to become a psychiatrist. He entered
the profession just as new psychotropic drugs
were appearing, promising relief for patients
and increased status for psychiatrists. At
Broughton Hall Psychiatric Clinic, Sydney,
he served as a medical officer (1950-53) and
deputy medical superintendent (1954-56).
He became senior lecturer in psychiatry at
the University of Sydney in 1957 and took up
the chair of psychiatry in 1962.
Two years later Maddison went to the
United States of America as a visiting professor
(1964-65) at Harvard University, where
he worked with Gerald Caplan, a pioneering
community psychiatrist. This experience
encouraged Maddison to turn more towards
preventive psychiatry and community medicine,
seeing the patient in a wider social setting
and promoting an interdisciplinary teamwork
approach to therapy and rehabilitation. He
published a path-breaking book on psychiatric
nursing in 1963 (completing revisions on a
fifth edition just before his death). By carrying
out the first studies identifying risk factors
for later physical and mental health problems
for recently bereaved widows, he contributed
to the field of preventive psychiatry with
distinction. He also published major research
on depressive illness.
On 17 February 1951 Maddison married
Norma Pauline Griffiths, a nursing sister,
at St Philip’s Church of England, Church
Hill. Granted a divorce on 10 July 1963, on
12 July he married Heather Mary Houen, née
Moffitt, a divorcee, in the registrar-general’s
office, Sydney.
Maddison developed an intense interest in
medical education, seeking to better equip
doctors to see patients in a larger social and
behavioural context. As professor of psychiatry
he abandoned the university’s postgraduate
qualification, the diploma of psychological
medicine, in favour of membership of the
newly formed Australian and New Zealand
College of Psychiatrists as the major national
certification to practise psychiatry. He was
censor-in-chief (1961-71) and president (1974-
75) of the college. Wanting to enhance the college’s
training program, Maddison encouraged
the State government to establish the New
South Wales Institute of Psychiatry, on which
he served (1965-74). Through these offices he
made a major contribution to the development
of the curriculum and examination process for
psychiatrists throughout Australia.
At the university Maddison made significant
improvements to the curriculum and became
involved in nursing training. He served as
sub-dean for clinical training before being
appointed dean of the faculty of medicine in
1972. He instituted a major reform in medical
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1981–1990
training at the university, introducing new
courses in behavioural sciences, social sciences
and community medicine. He oversaw
the organisation and implementation of a new
five-year medical degree and established a
staff-student liaison committee.
Although the pace of reform was by
most measures respectable, Maddison was
impatient for further progress. The University
of Sydney was a large and complex organisation
and sections of the faculty resisted
change. In 1973 the Commonwealth government
decided to establish a medical school at
the University of Newcastle and Maddison,
foundation dean from 1975, said that he found
‘pretty irresistible the opportunity to start
something from the beginning’.
Maddison’s term coincided with a downturn
in Commonwealth support for universities. He
engaged in a vigorous program of hiring staff,
insisting on detailed international searches to
find the best candidates, and worked through
the complex bureaucratic channels required to
ensure that the proper clinical and laboratory
infrastructure was created for the new faculty.
He also oversaw the process of detailed
external accreditation. The centrepiece of his
work, however, was a new medical curriculum
based on problem-based learning, seeing the
patient as a whole person and more closely
integrating clinical and scientific training. He
implemented an examination system geared
more to continuous assessment than to annual
tests of memory. A strong advocate for new
forms of admission, he used interviews and
a range of aptitude and psychological tests
rather than relying solely on State-wide school
examination results. The first students were
admitted in 1978 but he did not live to see
their graduation.
Maddison had a range of other commitments,
from acting as a consultant to the World
Health Organization to advising prisons and
courts on individual cases. He served on boards
and authorities including the Commonwealth
Film Board of Review (1971-73) and Newcastle
Newspapers Pty Ltd (chairman, 1978-81). An
early member of the Doctors Reform Society
of Australia, he was an editorial consultant to
its journal New Doctor. He remained an active
researcher and consultant.
On 3 November 1981 Maddison died of
myocardial infarction at Waratah, Newcastle,
a few weeks before the opening of the new
clinical sciences building at Royal Newcastle
Hospital, subsequently named in his honour.
He was survived by his wife, their daughter,
and his daughter and son from his first
marriage. Colleagues and friends created the
David Maddison memorial fund to perpetuate
his work.
Of medium stature, with dark receding hair
and fine features set off by thick black square
glasses, Maddison cut an imposing figure,
109
Maddison
although he had an endearing habit of wearing
odd combinations of shirts and ties. Described
by friends as energetic, warm and witty, with
an insatiable appetite for work, he possessed
intellectual distinction and artistic sensitivity.
He had a strong commitment to change, but
was always open to suggestions from others
and alternative options for achieving desired
outcomes. Although a few were discomfited by
his reforming zeal, he provided creative, innovative
and stimulating intellectual leadership
that many found inspiring.
Maddison led the field of change in medical
education both within Australia and internationally.
He championed an education designed
to produce doctors who understood patients
better and who could tackle disease in a wider
social and community context. In 1992 his
alma mater, the University of Sydney, decided
to introduce an innovative graduate medical
program that carried forward many of the
principles that Maddison had first espoused.
RPA Mag, vol 79, no 308, 1981, p 15; New Doctor,
no 22, 1981, p 5; Austn and NZ Jnl of Psychiatry,
vol 16, no 2, 1982, p 91; MJA, 29 May 1982, p 488;
SMH, 26 Aug 1974, p 7, 27 June 1977, p 6, 4 Nov
1981, p 13; private information.
StePhen Garton
MADDISON, JOHN CLARKSON (1921-
1982), solicitor, barrister and politician, was
born on 4 September 1921 at Chatswood, Sydney,
elder surviving son of New Zealand-born
George Edgar Maddison, company secretary,
and his Queensland-born wife Frances Mary,
née Patterson. John was educated at Sydney
Grammar School and the University of Sydney
(BA, 1942; LL B, 1948). Commissioned in the
Militia on 3 November 1941 and transferring
to the Australian Imperial Force in August
1942, he served as an artillery officer in
Australia until 1945 when he was posted to
the 1st Australian Naval Bombardment Group
that supported the landings in Borneo. After
the war he was an interrogation officer with
the 3rd Australian Prisoner of War Reception
Group in the Philippines. His AIF service
ended in January 1946. He rarely spoke of
his war experiences but remained an active
member of the Returned Sailors’, Soldiers’
and Airmen’s Imperial League of Australia
(Returned Services League of Australia).
Admitted as a solicitor on 28 May 1948,
Maddison was a partner in Sillar & Maddison.
He joined the Liberal Party of Australia
and held numerous offices in the Pymble
branch and the Bradfield federal conference.
Treasurer (1959-62) of the New South Wales
division, he also served on the federal council
of the party. On 14 October 1953 he married
Suzanne Berry-Smith at St Philip’s Church of
England, Sydney.
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Maddison
In 1962 Maddison was elected member
for Hornsby in the Legislative Assembly;
from 1973 he represented Ku-ring-gai. His
progressive views were stated in his maiden
speech: ‘Parliament should be a living organism,
should be flexible and keep pace with the
social, economic and political changes going
on around it’. From the outset he advocated
constitutional and legal reform.
On the election of (Sir) Robert Askin’s
[q.v.17] government in 1965 Maddison
became minister of justice; he held this portfolio
until the advent of the Labor government
in 1976. Admitted as a barrister on 5 February
1975, Maddison also served (1975-76)
as attorney-general, succeeding Sir Kenneth
McCaw [q.v.], with whom he had worked
closely. As a minister he was able to enact
many of the reforms that he had espoused
in Opposition. These included the Landlord
and Tenant (Amendment) Act, appointment
of the State’s first ombudsman and establishment
of the Privacy Committee. He attended
United Nations congresses on the prevention
of crime in 1970 and 1975. Next year he was
a contributor to the Australian Constitutional
Convention held at Hobart.
Late in his parliamentary career two events
dominated. In 1975, when Premier Tom Lewis
appointed a non-Labor candidate to the Senate
vacancy created by the retirement of a Labor
Senator, Maddison was forced to defend
publicly this precedent-defying decision that
he personally opposed strenuously. In 1978
the royal commission into New South Wales
prisons, established after a serious riot at
Bathurst gaol in 1974, found that Maddison,
the responsible minister, had been deceived
by the commissioner of corrective services
about the state of the prisons. Commissioner
McGeechan was severely criticised for his
failure to implement reforms advocated by
the minister.
Maddison contested the leadership of the
State parliamentary Liberal Party in 1974,
1977 and 1978 but was defeated by conservative
forces within the party. He served (1975-
77) as deputy-leader. A supporter of younger
progressive Liberals, he helped to advance the
parliamentary careers of Nick Greiner, John
Dowd, Tim Moore, Terry Metherell, Peter
Baume and Chris Puplick. In 1980 Maddison
retired from the Legislative Assembly
dissatisfied with the poor quality of party
leadership and lack of progressive thinking
while in Opposition; he subsequently regretted
this decision. Readmitted as a solicitor on
7 November 1980, he joined the firm of Sly
& Russell. He continued to support the Law
Foundation of New South Wales.
Interested in sport when he was younger,
Maddison also appreciated music and
theatre. His greatest joy was in his immediate
family and his younger brother, David
110
A. D. B.
Maddison [q.v.]. John Maddison was 5 ft 11
ins (180 cm) tall with bushy eyebrows; he
wore glasses, dressed soberly and had a wellmodulated
voice that one journalist described
as ‘authentic judiciary, with a nice touch of
Sydney Grammar’. Survived by his wife, their
son and two daughters, he died of myocardial
infarction on 29 August 1982 in his home
at Turramurra and was cremated. He was
one of the most significant and influential
progressive leaders of the Liberal Party in
New South Wales, a committed law reformer
and an advocate for the rights of young people
and the disadvantaged.
PD (NSW), 11 Sept 1962, p 274, 14 Sept 1982,
p 659; Austn Law Jnl, vol 56, no 10, 1982, p 562;
Austn Liberal, July 1960, p 4; SMH, 29 Aug 1974,
p 13, 31 Aug 1982, p 10; B883, item NX150356
(NAA); private information and personal knowledge.
chriS PuPLick
MADDOX, Sir JOHN KEMPSON (1901-
1990), physician and cardiologist, was born on
20 September 1901 at St Clair, Dunedin, New
Zealand, one of three children of English-born
parents Sidney Harold Maddox, importer, and
his wife Mabel Adeline, née Kempson. The
family moved to Sydney when Kempson was
aged 3, and his secondary education was at
North Sydney Boys’ High School. He studied
medicine at the University of Sydney (MB,
1924; Ch.M., 1924; MD, 1931). A resident
medical officer (1924) and anaesthetist (1925)
at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, he was a
resident at the Royal Alexandra Hospital for
Children in 1926-27. Maddox proceeded to
London, where he became a member of the
Royal College of Physicians in 1928. Back
in Sydney, he took up the appointment of
honorary assistant physician at Prince Alfred
and in 1930 completed his doctoral thesis on
renal dwarfism.
While in practice in general medicine
Maddox became interested in the emerging
specialty of cardiology, helping to found the
electrocardiography department at Prince
Alfred in 1932. He also began the rheumatology
and diabetic clinics there. In 1938
he became a foundation fellow of the Royal
Australasian College of Physicians. He married
Madeleine Marion Caldecott Scott, the sister
from the diabetic clinic, on 26 February
1940 at St Stephen’s Church of England,
Chatswood. They had jointly published an
article on heredity in diabetes.
Having been active as a surgeon lieutenant,
Royal Australian Naval Reserve, from 1934,
Maddox began full-time duty when World War
II broke out in 1939. He served in the armed
merchant cruiser Westralia (1941-42) and in
naval medical facilities ashore in Australia,
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1981–1990
rising to acting (1945) and substantive
(1946) surgeon commander. Demobilised in
December 1945, he resigned from the RANR
in 1950 but remained a consultant to the navy
until 1964.
In 1946 Maddox travelled to the United
States of America on a Carnegie fellowship
and studied the latest techniques in cardiology,
bringing back a cardiac catheter, possibly
Australia’s first. With his colleagues he helped
to increase postgraduate activities at Royal
Prince Alfred Hospital. He was elected to the
council (president, 1950-51) of the New South
Wales branch of the British Medical Association.
A member of the State committee of the
RACP in 1954-56, he was an acting censor
in 1957. Maddox had become an honorary
physician at Prince Alfred and was elected
FRCP (London, 1956).
In 1948 (Sir) Edward Hallstrom [q.v.14] had
endowed a fellowship in cardiology at Prince
Alfred and in 1949 funded the Hallstrom Institute
of Cardiology. Involved in these moves
and active in the institute, Maddox joined with
colleagues in 1951 to found the Australasian
Cardiac Society (from 1957 the Cardiac Society
of Australia and New Zealand); he became
its second president (1956-58). He also helped
to found the Asian-Pacific Society of Cardiology
and was its president (1960-64). Keen to establish
the National Heart Foundation of Australia
(1959), Maddox served on its national board,
national executive and national medical and
scientific advisory committee until 1966,
and on the State board until 1971. He was a
consultant physician to several hospitals.
On reaching the statutory retirement age
of 60 Maddox became an honorary consulting
physician at Prince Alfred. He was president of
the International Society of Cardiology in 1966-
70. Knighted in 1964, he was elected a fellow
of the American College of Cardiology (1964)
and of the American College of Physicians
(1975). The Cardiac Society of Australia and
New Zealand created the J. Kempson Maddox
lectureship in 1974. He was the first recipient
of the National Heart Foundation’s highest
award, the Sir John Loewenthal [q.v.15] award
(1982), and received honours from other
countries, including France and Peru.
Maddox wrote many medical papers and
a book, An Introduction to ‘Avertin’ Rectal
Anaesthesia (1931). He later wrote Schlink
[q.v.11] of Prince Alfred (1978), a de facto
history of the hospital for fifty years up to
Sir Herbert Schlink’s death in 1962. In his
busy private practice Maddox was well liked
by his patients. He always found time to talk
to them, which perhaps contributed to his
habit of being late. He was conservative in
his approach to treatment and, despite having
encouraged the development of cardiac
surgery, tried to avoid it for his patients.
Admiring things French, he delighted in visits
111
Maegraith
to Noumea and delivered papers in Paris in
French. He enjoyed reading, sailing and fishing,
and was a member of Royal Sydney Golf
Club and the Australian Club. Survived by his
wife and their son and daughter, Sir Kempson
died on 27 July 1990 at Darlinghurst and was
cremated. A memorial service was held at
St Mark’s Anglican Church, Darling Point.
J. B. Hickie and K. H. Hickie (eds), Cardiology
in Australia and New Zealand (1990); J. C. Wiseman
and R. J. Mulhearn (eds), Roll of the Royal
Australasian College of Physicians, vol 2 (1994);
National Heart Foundation of Aust, Annual Review,
1990, p 36; MJA, 2 Sept 1991, p 346; A6769, item
MADDOX J K (NAA); Maddox papers (Royal
A’asian College of Physicians Archives, Sydney).
roBert a. B. hoLLanD
MAEGRAITH, BRIAN GILMORE (1907-
1989), medical scientist, was born on 26 August
1907 at Prospect, Adelaide, youngest of five
children of Alfred Edward Maegraith, schoolmaster
and later auditor, and his wife Louisa
Blanche, née Gilmore. The family pronounced
its surname ‘M’Graith’. Brian was educated at
the Collegiate School of St Peter, where he was
an excellent student and a fine sportsman, and
at St Mark’s College, University of Adelaide
(MB, BS, 1930). Interested in Aborigines as
a ‘dying primitive race’, in university vacations
he assisted anthropologists, including
(Sir) John Cleland and H. K. Fry [qq.v.8,14],
with their field-work. After graduating with
first-class honours, he won a Rhodes scholarship
in 1931 and entered Magdalen College,
Oxford (B.Sc., 1933; D.Phil., 1934; MA, 1935).
On 18 June 1934 at St Cross parish church,
Oxford, he married Lorna Elsie Langley, also
from South Australia.
At Oxford Maegraith was a Beit fellow
(1933), Staines medical fellow and tutor
in physiology at Exeter College (1934-40),
lecturer and demonstrator in pathology (1937-
44) and dean of the faculty of medicine (1938-
44). He worked with Howard (Lord) Florey
[q.v.14] and developed outstanding skills as
an experimental pathologist. Commissioned
in the Royal Army Medical Corps, Territorial
Army, in 1933, he served in France (1940),
swimming out to a waiting vessel during the
evacuation from Dunkirk. He was assistantdirector
of pathology (1942-43), West Africa
Command, before returning to England where
he headed (1943-45) the Malaria Research
Unit as a temporary lieutenant colonel.
In 1944 Maegraith was appointed to the
chair of tropical medicine, Liverpool School of
Tropical Medicine, becoming dean in 1946. He
published a review of the research literature
on malaria, Pathological Processes in Malaria
and Blackwater Fever (1948), and extended his
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Maegraith
patho-physiological studies from the causes of
renal failure in malaria patients to the general
effects of stress and infection. With A. R. D.
Adams he worked on the effectiveness of antimalarial
drugs and developed paludrine; he
also undertook research on blood pressure,
cardiovascular disease, snake bite, typhus
fever and meningitis. He and Adams wrote
Clinical Tropical Diseases (1953), and Tropical
Medicine for Nurses (1955). Other monographs
followed, including (with C. S. Leithead) Clinical
Methods in Tropical Medicine (1962), Exotic
Diseases in Practice (1965), and Exotic Diseases
in Europe (1965). Credited with building up
the Liverpool school from a respected small
institution to a world-renowned organisation,
he was elected a fellow of the Royal colleges
of Physicians of London and of Edinburgh
(1955), and of the Royal Australasian College
of Physicians (1970).
Maegraith held numerous consultancies
with the World Health Organization, foreign
governments, industry and academic institutions,
throughout the tropical world. An internationalist,
he believed that ‘our impact on the
tropics must be in the tropics’. He helped to
establish an institute for tropical medicine in
Ghana and a faculty of tropical medicine at
Mahidol University, Bangkok, and to develop
medical schools in Ghana and Sierra Leone.
In a paper published in the Lancet in 1963,
foreseeing the expansion of air travel, he drew
attention to the increased threat that would
be posed by imported diseases and advocated
that doctors take routine ‘geographical histories’
of patients. He was a founder (1964)
of the Conference (Council) of the European
Schools and Institutes of Tropical Medicine
and Hygiene and permanent vice-president
of the interim committee of the International
Congresses of Tropical Medicine and Malaria.
His Heath Clark lectures, delivered in 1970,
were published as One World in 1973.
A visionary and a pioneer in the field of
tropical medicine, Maegraith was appointed
CMG in 1968. He was president (1969-71) of
the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and
Hygiene, which had presented him with its
Chalmers medal in 1951. Retiring from the
chair of tropical medicine in 1972, he was
made professor emeritus; he continued as
dean until 1975. The Liverpool school awarded
him the Mary Kingsley medal in 1973 and
opened its Maegraith wing in 1978. Mahidol
University had conferred on him an honorary
D.Sc. in 1966, and in 1982 he was admitted
to the Order of the White Elephant, Thailand.
Maegraith was a large, handsome man,
bald of pate. Although he did not suffer fools
gladly, he was a personable character. In his
spare time he painted and taught himself the
piano; he also wrote poetry and short stories.
Survived by his wife and their son, he died on
2 April 1989 at Liverpool.
112
A. D. B.
Roll of the Royal Australasian College of
Physicians, vol 2, 1976-1990 (1994); ODNB (2004);
Lancet, 29 Apr 1989, p 970; Times (London), 5 Apr
1989, p 16; Independent (London), 6 Apr 1989,
p 18; private information. anthony raDForD
MAGEE, CHARLES JOSEPH PATRICK
(1901-1989), agricultural scientist, was born
on 17 November 1901 at South Lismore, New
South Wales, fifth of seven children of Charles
Joseph Magee, a builder from England, and
his New South Wales-born wife Mary, née
Cleary. Orphaned at an early age, Charles
lived with an aunt and attended primary school
at Newcastle, before going on to Cleveland
Street Intermediate and Sydney Boys’ High
schools. He was awarded a New South Wales
Department of Agriculture cadetship to study
agricultural science at the University of Sydney
(B.Sc.Agr., 1924; D.Sc.Agr., 1939), and in
January 1924 began work in the department
as an assistant-biologist.
Seconded (1924-26) to the joint Commonwealth,
Queensland and New South Wales
investigation into bunchy top disease in
bananas, supervised by E. J. Goddard [q.v.9],
Magee isolated the aphid-borne virus that was
destroying banana crops. From a specially
equipped field laboratory at Tweed Heads he
was one of the first ‘to demonstrate conclusively
the transmission of a plant pathogenic
virus by an insect vector’. His control program
initiated close, productive work with banana
growers, notably H. L. Anthony [q.v.13].
Magee was awarded a Sir Benjamin Fuller
[q.v.8] travelling scholarship and under took
postgraduate studies in the United States
of America, at the University of Wisconsin
(M.Sc., 1928), where his research focused
on purifying and isolating tobacco and cucumber
mosaic viruses. He visited scientific
insti tutes in the USA, England, France and
the Netherlands, before reporting on banana
diseases in Egypt and Ceylon (Sri Lanka) for
the British government. Returning to Sydney,
he resumed his post with the Department
of Agriculture. On 12 December 1931 at
St Mary’s Church of England, Waverley,
he mar ried Christina Kennedy Barlow, née
Shearer (d.1983), a widow.
Promoted in 1933 to plant pathologist,
Magee directed a special investigation into
virus diseases in potato and tomato crops,
set up by the government biologist R. J.
Noble [q.v.]. His research, covering the
rhizoctonia and common scab affecting
potatoes, tomatoes and cauliflowers, built
on his classical work on bananas. Associated
with W. L. Waterhouse [q.v.12], during 1937-
38 he worked full time, from a laboratory
at Mullumbimby, on banana diseases and
cognate matters, including an investigation
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1981–1990
of the Fijian banana industry. He also helped
to establish the New South Wales potato seed
certification scheme. Appointed senior biologist
(1940) and chief biologist (1944), in 1958
he succeeded Noble as chief of the division of
science services. In 1960 he was named head
of a division embracing biology, chemistry
and entomology (later the Biological and
Chemical Research Institute), housed in a new
laboratory at Rydalmere. He administered the
research and advisory service activities with
flair, distinction and efficiency. His imposing
personality and presence commanded esteem
and lasting loyalty.
Magee’s many publications dealt with plant
diseases, especially virus types. On some
twenty occasions between 1926 and 1965,
he carried out work overseas reflecting his
wide-ranging interests beyond specialisms in
microbiology. He was senior member in 1943
of a scientific mission sent to New Guinea by
the armed forces to investigate deterioration
of stores and equipment; he continued to
advise on related problems until 1946. Visiting
North Borneo (Sabah, Malaysia) for the
British Colonial Office in 1946, he reported
on ex-Japanese hemp estates. He advised on
plant diseases there and in Fiji and Western
Samoa. In 1951 he took part in a plant survey
of the Territory of Papua and New Guinea, and
in 1954 he was a delegate at the 5th Commonwealth
Mycological Conference in London.
He was consulted on control of abaca mosaic
virus in the Philippines in 1956, on city waste
disposal in Britain, and on the application of
electrodialysis to the desalination of sea and
bore water in the USA.
A long-time member (president 1930) of
the Sydney University Agricultural Graduates
Association, Magee was a founding member
(1935) and federal councillor (1940-41) of the
Australian Institute of Agricultural Science.
He was president (1946) of its New South
Wales division and in 1965 was elected a fellow.
Holding executive positions over many
years in the Royal Society of New South Wales,
he was president in 1952.
After retiring in 1966 Magee was consulting
bacteriologist with Root Nodule Pty Ltd for
ten years. He served on a committee pressing
for the establishment of a university college
in the northern suburbs of Sydney. In 1969
he moved from Roseville to Palm Beach;
his interests included golf, tennis, fishing,
swimming and gardening. He was a member
of the University and Cabbage Tree (Palm
Beach) clubs. Survived by his daughter, he
died on 2 February 1989 at Turramurra and
was cremated.
F. Fenner (ed), History of Microbiology in
Australia (1990); P. J. Mylrea, In the Service of
Agriculture (1990); Jnl and Procs of the Royal Soc
of NSW, vol 122, 1989, p 92; SMH, 21 Aug 1924,
p 7, 9 Feb 1928, p 9, 6 Sept 1932, p 7, 22 Aug
113
Mahood
1936, p 15, 14 Apr 1937, p 13, 31 Aug 1939, p 5;
private information. John atchiSon
MAHOOD, MARGUERITE HENRIETTE
(1901-1989), artist, was born on 29 July 1901
at Richmond, Melbourne, eldest child of
Victorian-born parents Henry George Callaway,
accountant, and his wife Marguerite
Gabrielle, née Deschamps. Marguerite
was educated at Mrs Strickland’s school,
Armadale, and Presbyterian Ladies’ College,
East Melbourne, before attending drawing
classes at the National Gallery school of
drawing with Frederick McCubbin [q.v.10].
Academic training developed her natural
talent and she became a capable and inventive
draughtswoman. On 16 June 1923 at
the Independent Church, Collins Street, she
married with Congregational forms Thomas
Orrock George Mahood, an engineer.
During the 1920s Mahood established
herself as a professional artist, producing
drawings, watercolours, linocuts and oil
paintings. Her early work showed enduring
influences—the romantic aesthetic of the Pre-
Raphaelite and Art Nouveau movements and a
fascination with history and fantasy. She also
produced numerous illustrations, cartoons
and humorous stories for books, magazines
and advertisements. In 1926 she became one
of the first women in Australia to broadcast
her own radio program, presenting a popular
weekly discussion of art and decoration
on 3LO until 1929. She also began writing
articles for magazines such as Radio and the
Listener In.
In 1931 Mahood enrolled in a new pottery
course at the Working Men’s College. Finding
the rudimentary training inadequate, she left
to teach herself from technical books at the
Public Library of Victoria. Over the following
twenty-five years she produced highly
decorated and vibrantly glazed earthenware
ceramics, ranging from domestic ware to intricate
figurines and exquisitely carved filigree
ware. Her light-hearted and humorous pieces
earned her commercial success and a high
public profile.
Inspired by Asian and Islamic ceramics,
European commercial potteries such as
Sèvres, Meissen and Wedgwood, and English
art pottery of the late 19th century, Mahood
was also drawn to Neo-Gothic motifs: playful
dragons appeared repeatedly in her work.
Beginning with a wheel and kiln built by her
husband, she undertook all aspects of production,
from sieving and wedging the clay to
the arduous task of stoking the kiln in her
backyard studio. She advocated a high degree
of technical control and was noted for the
wide range of her glazes. A Herald reviewer
described her in 1935 as ‘unique among
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Mahood
Victorian pottery workers in her colour range
. . . a mistress of the dark rites of firing and
glazing’. Meticulously numbered and often
bearing her distinctive monogram, her work
was easily identifiable. Detailed ‘kiln books’
ensured she avoided repeating mistakes and
was able to continually refine her technique.
From 1932 until the 1950s Mahood’s regular
exhibitions—held at the Sedon Galleries
(1934-50), as well as with the Victorian Artists
Society, the Melbourne Society of Women
Painters, and the Arts and Crafts Society—
received glowing reviews. She was included in
William Moore’s [q.v.10] The Story of Australian
Art (1934), the first national survey of the
field. A founding member of the Australian
Ceramic Society and the Victorian Sculptors’
Society, she also wrote articles in Australian
Home Beautiful that advised amateur potters—
women in particular—on the ceramic process.
Other articles dealt with the history of pottery
and the Australian ceramics industry, which
she vigorously promoted.
Mahood’s ceramic work eased after the
birth of her son in 1938. By this time she
and her husband were actively involved in the
Communist Party of Australia. Party meetings
were held at their house in Kew, beneath
which was secreted a printing press. She
designed posters, banners and other political
ephemera for the party, although her politics
were rarely evident in her exhibited art.
The increasing popularity of stoneware,
changing taste in art and interior decoration,
and her age influenced Mahood’s decision to
cease her ceramic practice. Her last ceramics
were produced for the Melbourne Olympic
Games Arts Festival in 1956. She continued
to produce graphic works throughout her life,
and during the 1940s and 1950s (as Margot
Mahood) became a popular children’s cartoonist,
writing and illustrating The Whispering
Stone: An Australian Nature Fantasy (1944),
and Drawing Australian Animals (1952).
Returning to study, Mahood completed her
secondary schooling in 1957 and enrolled at
the University of Melbourne (BA, 1961; MA,
1965; Ph.D., 1970). Her doctoral thesis was
published as The Loaded Line: Australian
Political Caricature 1788-1901 (1973), a seminal
study of Australian cartoons. Described in
1970 as a ‘youthful, comfortably built woman’
with grey, curly hair and hazel eyes, she continued
to work in this field well into her eighties.
Widowed in 1977, Marguerite Mahood died
on 14 October 1989 at Toorak, survived by
her son; she was cremated. While the Sydney
Technological (Powerhouse) Museum was the
only institution to acquire her ceramics during
her lifetime, her work is now held in national,
State and regional collections.
J. Kerr (ed), Heritage (1995); A. Bunbury, From
the Earth I Arise (1997); J. & J. Sparrow, Radical
114
A. D. B.
Melbourne 2 (2004); Herald (Melbourne), 18 Nov
1935, p 7; 3 Nov 1970, p 18. aLiSa BunBury
MAIN, JAMES MILLAR (1924-1984),
historian, was born on 11 December 1924
at Warracknabeal, Victoria, only child of
Victorian-born parents Charles Huntsman
Main, newsagent, and his wife Faye, née Millar.
The Mains also owned a wheat property at
Wallup. Jim was educated at local primary
and high schools, and at Scotch College, Melbourne.
Residing at Ormond [q.v.5] College, he
graduated from the University of Melbourne
(BA Hons, 1946) with first-class honours in
history, the R. G. Wilson scholarship and a
Dwight [q.v.4] prize. He had also enrolled in
law but did not complete the degree. In 1949,
after he had spent three years as a history
tutor and temporary lecturer at Melbourne,
a scholarship took him to Oriel College,
Oxford (B.Litt., 1951); Asa Briggs supervised
his thesis on working-class political reform
movements in Britain before 1832.
Appointed lecturer (1951) and senior lecturer
(1955) in history at the University of
Melbourne, under Professor R. M. Crawford,
Main taught eighteenth- and nineteenthcentury
British history, and a course in British
constitutional history for the law faculty. In
1966, joining a small diaspora of colleagues
attracted to the new universities, he moved to
a senior lectureship at the Flinders University
of South Australia, Adelaide. One of four foundation
members of its history department,
he was promoted next year to reader. He
developed his interest in Australian history,
introducing a course on Australia’s experience
in two world wars and a pioneering honours
topic on colonial South Australia; he convened
the honours year, co-ordinated research seminars,
and supervised and examined theses.
Main’s publication record was not commensurate
with the high calibre of his scholarship.
Historical Studies (1955 and 1966) carried two
carefully written articles on British workingclass
radical reform; his later work on Henry
George [q.v.4] and the Commons Preser vation
Society in England was not published. His
research into Australian political history
resulted in an influential article, ‘Making
Constitutions in New South Wales and Victoria,
1853-1854’ (Historical Studies, 1957),
and in two chapters in The Flinders History
of South Australia (1986) on the political and
social foundations of South Australia. He also
edited a documentary history, Conscription:
The Australian Debate, 1901-1970 (1970).
Crawford perceptively suggested that Main’s
modest temperament inclined him more to
‘the teacher’s choice’ than to research publication.
He developed an exceptional rapport with
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1981–1990
his students. With a great gift for friendship
and hospitality, he invited them to share many
a convivial evening of food, wine and lively
discussion at his Glenelg home, or to join him
at the opera or the races at Morphettville.
Student welfare was an important concern and
he took seriously his role as Flinders’ delegate
on the inter-university student loan tribunal.
To the intellectual and social life of a fledgling
institution, Main contributed valued scholarship,
civility and culture. His love of Italian
art and music, especially Bernini’s sculptures
and Verdi’s operas, was well known, as was his
delight in the novels of Jane Austen, Anthony
Trollope and Henry James. He never married
and was a nominal Presbyterian.
Main died of myocardial infarction on
24 June 1984 at his Glenelg home and was
cremated. He left over $700 000, the substantial
part of his estate, to Flinders University
as the J. M. Main bequest for the provision
of Australian history research materials. The
James Millar Main prizes in history were
established from a donated memorial fund.
Historical Studies, vol 21, Oct 1984, p 312;
Flinders Jnl of Hist and Politics, vol 10, 1984, p 1,
vol 11, 1985, p 1; Main papers (Flinders Univ
Library); personal knowledge. heLen Bourke
MAITLAND, GEORGE BRUMFITT GIBB
(1896-1982), soldier and medical practitioner,
was born on 12 January 1896 at Eagle Junction,
Brisbane, son of English-born (but
Scottish-descended) Andrew Gibb Maitland
[q.v.10], assistant government geologist,
and his Victorian-born wife Alice Maud, née
Brumfitt. As an infant, George moved to Perth
with his family. At the High School, Perth, in
1907-14, he was a champion athlete, swimmer,
diver and rower. On matriculation, he
commenced engineering studies (1915) but
abandoned them to serve in World War I.
Having been a gunner in the Citizen
Military Forces, Maitland enlisted in the
Australian Imperial Force on 26 July 1915.
He served as a medical orderly in the Middle
East with the 2nd Australian Stationary Hospital
(1915-16), the 14th Australian General
Hospital (1917) and, thereafter, the 4th
Light Horse Field Ambulance, from which
he was detached in January 1918 to the 4th
Light Horse Regiment. On 1 May, during the
regiment’s fighting withdrawal from Jisr ed
Damie(h) in the Jordan Valley, he attended to
the wounded under heavy fire and then placed
an injured soldier on his horse and walked out,
supporting the man, across ‘almost impossible
hills and wadis’. For these actions he won the
Distinguished Conduct Medal. He was repatriated
in 1919 as a corporal and discharged from
the AIF on 24 May.
115
Maitland
Maitland’s experiences guided him towards
medicine. While an undergraduate at the
University of Melbourne (MB, BS, 1924),
he continued to row. In Perth on holidays,
he frequently pawned his microscope. He
also courted Olga Elfreda Matilda Stenberg;
returning home after visiting her, too late for
public transport, he swam the shark-infested
Swan River, at the Narrows. They were
mar ried on 3 September 1925 at St Mary’s
Church of England, South Perth. By then
he had established a sole general medical
practice at Pinjarra. About 1930 the family
moved to West Leederville, Perth, and again
Maitland practised essentially alone. His
work included general surgery, obstetrics
and paediatrics. He devoted much time to his
patients, occasionally perturbing his wife who
acted as his receptionist-nurse. In addition, he
served on the board of his local hospital and
on the Medical Board of Western Australia.
In 1929 Maitland had been appointed an
honorary captain, Australian Army Medical
Corps Reserve. Active in the CMF from
1930, he was promoted to major in 1935.
When World War II broke out in 1939, he
immediately volunteered for the AIF; his
appointment was gazetted on 13 November.
He sailed for the Middle East in January
1940 with the 2/1st Convalescent Depot.
On 16 February 1941 he rose to temporary
lieutenant colonel and assumed command of
the 2/6th Field Ambulance, which supported
the 21st Brigade’s operations in Lebanon in
June-July. Maitland controlled his unit well
and braved enemy fire to ensure the speedy
evacuation of casualties. He was awarded the
Distinguished Service Order and mentioned
in despatches.
Back in Australia in March 1942, Maitland
was promoted to temporary colonel in July
and, sent to Papua, was appointed assistant
director of medical services, Milne Force,
next month. He ensured that medical and
surgical needs were met in the battle of Milne
Bay (August-September) and remained in his
post, in spite of temporary incapacity from
malaria, until August 1943; he was mentioned
in despatches a second time for his ‘gallant
and distinguished service’. Occupying a succession
of senior positions in Papua and New
Guinea—including that of director of medical
services, First Army—he travelled extensively
in the South-West Pacific Area and was promoted
to temporary brigadier (November
1944) and mentioned in despatches twice
more. From February 1946 he was deputy
director general of medical services at Army
Headquarters, Melbourne. He transferred
to the Reserve of Officers as a colonel and
honorary brigadier on 24 May 1946. Next year
he was appointed CBE.
Maitland is a legendary character in the
history of Australian military medicine. His
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Maitland
career as a doctor-soldier was exceptional and
his many decorations reflect the intensity of
his operational service as well as the esteem
of his peers. Retiring from his Perth civil
practice in 1968, he continued his hobbies
of yachting, fishing and gardening. He was a
member of the Wembley-Floreat sub-branch
of the Returned Services League of Australia.
After his wife died, he moved to a retirement
home at Kalamunda. He was a stylish man
who, according to his family, ‘went out in
style, being hit by a Jaguar’ car while walking.
Following the accident, he died on 23
April 1982 in Royal Perth Hospital and was
cremated with Anglican rites. His son and two
daughters survived him.
A. S. Walker, Middle East and Far East (1953)
and The Island Campaigns (1957); W. J. Edgar,
Veldt to Vietnam (1994); B2455, item MAITLAND
GEORGE BRUMFITT GIBB, and B883, item
WX1546 (NAA); private information.
John h. Pearn
MAKIN, NORMAN JOHN OSWALD (1889-
1982), politician, Methodist lay preacher
and diplomat, was born on 31 March 1889 at
Petersham, Sydney, elder son of John Hulme
Makin, pattern-maker, and his wife Elizabeth,
née Yates, both born in Lancashire, England.
After emigrating, his father had found work
at the Eveleigh railway workshops.
Moving with his family to Melbourne in
1891 and then to Broken Hill (1898), Norman
spent his childhood in the straitened circumstances
of economic depression. He attended
Broken Hill Superior Public School, leaving at
13 to work as a draper’s ‘parcel-boy’, and then
in a bookstore. Largely self-educated, he later
recalled discovering literary ‘greats’ such as
John Ruskin and Thomas Carlyle. A witness
to the 1908-09 miners’ strike and the militant
industrial action of Thomas Mann [q.v.10],
he joined the Shop Assistants’ Union of New
South Wales. When he later became a patternmaker,
he joined the Amalgamated Society
of Engineers. In 1911 he moved to South
Australia—primarily to follow Ruby Florence
Jennings, whom he married on 10 August
1912 at Brompton Methodist Church. From
1912 he worked in a foundry at Kapunda and
with the Gawler engineering firm, James
Martin & Co., which made locomotives.
Unsuccessfully contesting the South
Australian State seat of Barossa (1915) and
the Federal seat of Wakefield (1917) for the
Australian Labor Party, Makin was State ALP
president (1918-19; 1929-30). He had won
admiration within Labor ranks for his outspoken
opposition to Prime Minister W. M.
Hughes’s [q.v.9] efforts in 1916 and 1917
to introduce conscription. In 1918 he wrote
116
A. D. B.
A Progressive Democracy, which outlined the
policies of the South Australian Labor Party.
Elected in 1919 to the safe Federal Labor
seat of Hindmarsh, Makin was ALP secretary
(1928-29; 1934-41). As Speaker of the House
of Representatives (1929-31) during the
short-lived Scullin [q.v.11] government, he
noted parliamentarians’ intolerance and
impatience, and observed that there was ‘an
absence of the spirit of God in Parliament’.
He was the first Speaker to shun the gown
and wig. Federal president (1936-38) of the
ALP, he represented his party at the 1937
coronation of King George VI. A member of
the Standing Orders Committee (1932-46;
1956-63), and of the Advisory War Council
(1940-45), he served as minister for the navy
and for munitions (1941-46) and minister for
aircraft production (1945-46) in the Curtin
and Chifley [qq.v.13] governments.
In 1946 Makin was leader of the Australian
delegation to the London meeting of the
newly formed General Assembly of the United
Nations; by virtue of Australia’s alphabetical
advantage, he was the first president (1946)
of the UN Security Council. He resigned from
parliament that year to represent Australia
in Washington, DC, and became the first
Australian ambassador to the United States
of America when the legation was upgraded to
an embassy. His time in Washington coincided
with an escalation of the Cold War. He was
a member of the Far Eastern Commission,
which considered the future of postwar Japan,
and he was a governor of the International
Bank for Reconstruction and Development.
Described by (Sir) Laurence McIntyre
[q.v.] as ‘out of his depth in the Washington
environment’, Makin was not an expert in the
details of foreign policy but he took advice,
made shrewd observations and showed common
sense. A teetotaller and non-smoker, he
eschewed the Washington cocktail circuit;
some people mocked him when, to save
money on flowers, the Makins installed a
mechanical fountain as the centrepiece of the
embassy dining table. He was skilled at reading
‘grass roots’ opinion, however, and was
the only member of the Australian Embassy
to predict Harry Truman’s 1948 election as
president. As a lay preacher he gave sermons
at Foundry Methodist Church, Washington.
Returning to Australia in 1951, Makin won
the Federal seat of Sturt in 1954, defeating
(Sir) Keith Wilson [q.v.]. After a redistribution
in 1955, he was the member for Bonython
until his retirement in 1963. In 1980 he was
appointed AO, and the Methodist Church gave
him a certificate in recognition of his seventyfive
years of lay ministry. He had written Federal
Labour Leaders (1961) and an unpublished
manual for the Speakers of the House.
Short and slim, Makin was dignified, courteous
and considerate. He was hard-working
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1981–1990
and sincere, consistently representing the
causes of the working classes, particularly
their fight against poverty; and he spoke of
the need to protect them from the ravages
of commercialism and finance. Widowed in
1979, he died on 20 July 1982 at Glenelg
and was cremated. Later that year his two
sons published The Memoirs of Norman John
Oswald Makin. In 1984 a new Federal electorate
in South Australia was named after him.
His portrait by John Rowell [q.v.11] is held by
Parliament House, Canberra.
P. Hasluck, Diplomatic Witness (1980); J. Beaumont
et al, Ministers, Mandarins and Diplomats
(2003); PD (HR), 20 Aug 1920, p 3743; 17 Aug
1982, p 1; Canberra Times, 23 July 1982, p 12;
S. Walker, interview with N. Makin (ts, 1974, NLA);
Makin papers, MS 7325 (NLA). DaviD Lowe
MALONEY, JAMES JOSEPH (1901-1982),
trade unionist, politician and diplomat, was
born on 28 July 1901 at Goulburn, New South
Wales, son of Mary Ann Pickels, born in New
South Wales. He later stated that James
Maloney, baker, was his father. After leaving
Goulburn South Public School at 13, Jim was
employed as a messenger boy and apprenticed
in 1915 to a local boot factory. He moved to
Sydney in 1920 where he became an amateur
boxer and worked in several footwear factories
before being forced on to the dole during
the Depression. Jim, a committed Catholic,
married Hannah Emily Dent, a boot machinist,
on 19 April 1924 at St Michael’s Church of
England, Sydney.
In 1915 Maloney had joined the Goulburn
branches of the Australian Labor Party and
the Australian Boot Trade Employees’ Federation.
He became an executive officer (1922)
in his union branch, delegate (1930-43) to
the Trades and Labor Council of New South
Wales and editor (1937-43) of Unity, the
union’s journal; he was also State secretary
(1932-43), federal president (1940-43) and
federal secretary (1943) of the union.
During the Depression when he was a member
(1932-33) of the central executive of the
State ALP, Maloney was associated with the
party’s left wing. He joined the so-called Inner
Unit, an unofficial general council of the ALP
socialisation units, that fought against J. T.
Lang’s [q.v.9] dictatorial control of the State
branch of the ALP. In 1936 Maloney’s group
ensured that radio-station 2KY, owned by the
Labor Council, did not pass into Lang’s control.
By the time World War II commenced,
Maloney had shifted to the right. In 1941
he won the presidency of the State TLC,
decisively defeating the incumbent M. J. R.
Hughes, a communist trade-union leader and
vice-president of the Hughes-(W. P.) Evans
117
Maloney
State Labor Party. Maloney resigned in 1943.
A member of the Legislative Council from
August 1941, he was granted leave of absence
after Prime Minister John Curtin [q.v.13]
appointed him Australian minister to the
Soviet Union in November 1943.
Maloney’s posting (December 1943-
February 1946) caused ‘a complete readjustment’
of his thinking about the Soviet Union.
His critical views, leaked to the press in June
1945, caused considerable diplomatic embarrassment.
On his return from Russia, shaped
by experience and fuelled by Catholicism,
Maloney became an active and prominent
opponent of the Soviet Union. In March 1946
he told the Empire Parliamentary Association
that Russia was a more extreme totalitarian
dictatorship than Nazi Germany. This theme
was subsequently developed in radio programs,
public meetings, a series of six feature
articles entitled ‘Inside Russia Today’ for the
Sydney Morning Herald and Melbourne Herald,
and a nationally broadcast debate with the
communist trade-union leader Ernie Thornton
[q.v.16]. His activities provoked parliamentary
debate, press comment and sharp rebuke from
both Moscow and the Australian Left.
In 1948 Maloney published the occasionally
polemical but essentially accurate Inside
Red Russia. It sought to expose the ‘Soviet
myth’ about superior working conditions and
analysed Russia’s oligarchic and repressive
political structure. This influential book was
staple reading in Catholic seminaries. During
the bitter 1949 general coal strike, Maloney
was part of the ALP ‘mission’ to the northern
coalfields that alleged the strike was a communist
conspiracy to destroy the economy.
He was one of the founders of the Australian
Committee (Association) for Cultural Freedom.
Maloney served as research officer and
assistant arbitration officer (1946-50) and
arbitration officer (1950-54) for the State
TLC. In 1946 he returned to the Legislative
Council. Minister without portfolio in 1954-56,
he was minister for labour and industry (1956-
65) in successive Cahill, Heffron [qq.v.13,14]
and Renshaw [q.v.] Labor governments and,
for five years, deputy-leader (1966-71) of the
Opposition in the council. He was a force ful
and persuasive debater: colleagues described
his oratory as ‘thunderous’, even ‘quite violent’.
His deep voice, possibly affected by
his heavy smoking, was powerful enough to
override interjections at public meetings.
When Maloney resigned from the Legislative
Council in February 1972 on the grounds of ill
health, he was deemed to have placed himself
outside the ALP ostensibly because he had
not first obtained permission from the party.
In retirement he provided ‘valued’ counsel to
future ALP leaders, such as Barrie Unsworth,
and maintained his interest in boxing, horse
racing and rugby league. Maloney died on
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Maloney
28 January 1982 at Kogarah and was buried
in Rookwood cemetery. Predeceased (1977)
by their son, he was survived by his wife and
their three daughters.
M. Dodkin, Brothers (2001); PD (NSW), 16 Feb
1972, p 4277, 17 Feb 1972, p 4307, 16 Feb 1982,
p 1847; Smith’s Weekly, 6 Nov 1943, p 13; SMH,
6 Nov 1943, p 8, 29 June 1945, p 4; Unity (Austn
Boot Trade Employees’ Federation), 15 Dec 1943,
p 2; Herald (Melbourne), 3 Apr 1946, p 1; A.L.P.
Journal, July 1964, p 9. PhiLLiP Deery
MALPAS, CHARLES HENRY (1899-1982),
inventor and businessman, was born on
28 April 1899 at Leicester, England, eldest of
four sons of Charles Edward Malpas, kit cutter
and toolmaker, and his wife Florence, née
Merry. As a boy he spent time in a children’s
home, possibly connected to the Barnardos
charity, to which he donated later in life. From
April 1918 to February 1919 he served as a
cadet in the Royal Air Force. On 31 July 1920
at the Congregational Church, Wylde Green,
Sutton Coldfield, he married Elsie Moore,
a clerk. The couple migrated to Australia
the following year, arriving in Melbourne in
March. In 1924 their daughter died in infancy
and Elsie returned to England alone. They
divorced in 1935.
Malpas is believed to have worked on a government
sustenance scheme at Fort Queenscliff
during the Depression. On 14 September
1935 he married Victorian-born Betty Meryl
Cutler at St Andrew’s Presbyterian Manse,
Geelong. Cutler had worked with Malpas in
an iron foundry and engineering workshop
he started in Geelong in 1933. Subsequently
known as Victorian Diemoulders Pty Ltd, it
manufactured zinc and aluminium diecast
components and later specialised in plastic
injection moulding, assembly work, toolmaking
and die maintenance. Malpas was a
paternalistic employer, proud of his factory,
and he encouraged older as well as younger
workers. He was a Geelong city councillor for
Kardinia Ward (1944-47) and Barwon Ward
(1949-56).
An inventor all his life, Malpas developed
heating-oil gauges, drum spouts, and pourers
for wines, spirits, sauces, fruit juices, cordials
and detergents. He is best known for developing
the ‘Airlesflo’ airtight tap and seal for
packaged liquids that assisted the so-called
‘wine cask’ to commercial success. He did not
invent the plastic ‘bag-in-the-box’ for wine; an
English company Waddington Duval had such
a container for vinegar with a comparable tap
from the 1950s. Malpas was their Australian
agent for a time. In 1965 South Australia’s
Angoves Pty Ltd sold wine in a patented onegallon
(4.55 l) polyethylene bag in a cardboard
box. The wine poured through a spout, which
118
A. D. B.
was cut by the user, and a makeshift seal
prevented spoilage.
These early prototypes required considerable
development and the key was the tap.
Penfolds [qq.v.5,15] Wines Australia Ltd introduced
its short-lived ‘Tablecask’ in 1967, a
plastic bag in a tin for which Malpas designed a
special flow-tap. Penfolds’ Victorian manager,
Ian Hickinbotham, was amazed at his ability,
after discussion, to produce new prototypes,
each of which Malpas patented. In 1970
David Wynn of Wynn [q.v.12] Winegrowers
Pty Ltd purchased the Australian rights to
the Airlesflo tap, which he used to develop
his company’s cardboard wine cask, as it was
popularly known. It became the dominant
form of packaging for bulk wine with huge
sales in Australia and internationally.
Malpas retired in 1978 and sold his company
to his son Jon. Recognised as a pioneer
of the Australian die-casting and plastics
industries, Malpas was an inaugural winner
of the Advance Australia Award (1980) and
featured in a television advertisement promoting
Australian innovation. Survived by his wife
and their daughter and two sons, he died on
1 January 1982 at Leopold and was buried in
Point Lonsdale cemetery.
I. Hickinbotham, Australian Plonky (2008);
Herald (Melbourne), 24 Oct 1974, p 27, 8 Jan 1982,
p 3; Age (Melbourne), 9 June 1976, p 21; private
information. DaviD DunStan
MANDER, ALFRED ERNEST (1894-1985),
educator, writer and public servant, was born
on 13 December 1894 at Great Malvern,
Worcester, England, son of Alfred Mander,
pharmaceutical chemist, and his wife Amy
Elizabeth, née Newman. Ernest was educated
at Queen’s College, Somerset, from 1910 and
later engaged in journalism. During World
War I he served in the Royal Field Artillery on
the Western Front and was demobilised as a
temporary captain. On 10 March 1917 at Holly
Mount Congregational Church, Great Malvern,
he married Rosa Ivy Frances Ross Cameron, a
nursery governess. He worked in the Ministry
of Munitions in London from 1917 until 1920,
when he moved to New Zealand.
In 1920-28 Mander toiled tirelessly for
the Workers’ Educational Association in
New Zealand. He served as the New Zealand
Political Reform League’s Dominion secretary
in 1929. Subsequently he became national
general secretary of the New Zealand Manufacturers’
Federation.
Mander published his first ‘little book’ in
1922. Written for the ‘dissatisfied majority’,
New New Zealand was a plea for ‘the Abolition
of Inheritance of Unearned Incomes’
and a program for a seamless transition to
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1981–1990
a ‘People’s Commonwealth’. The ‘supreme
national purpose’, he declared in Man Marches
On (1937), was ‘to produce happier and
healthier people, people with abler minds
and finer qualities of character’.
Psychology for Everyman (and Woman), a
contribution to a movement for self-awareness
and self-improvement, appeared in 1935. Ten
years later Mander’s venture into popular
psychology had been reprinted thirteen times
and sold 400 000 copies. In 1936 Mander produced
Clearer Thinking (Logic for Everyman);
by its third impression, in 1938, Everyman had
become Everyone; in 1947, with the title Logic
for the Millions, it was published in New York.
His publisher later claimed that more than
600 000 copies of the ‘Clearer Thinking’ books
were sold. A substantially revised version,
Think for Yourself, was published in 1970.
Migrating to Australia, Mander settled at
Manly, Sydney, and joined the New South
Wales Public Service in January 1938; he was
secretary of the New South Wales Employment
Council. In 1938-39 he advised Premier
(Sir) Bertram Stevens [q.v.12] on the probability
of war in Europe and the consequences
of any war for Australia. In Alarming Australia
(1938, expanded edition 1943) he insisted
that unless Australia boosted its birth rate
and encouraged immigration, ‘Australia
White and predominantly British’ would be
in peril. Unusually an immigration activist in
the Depression, he had built a similar case in
To Alarm New Zealand (1936). Some of this
and much of Man Marches On were reprised
in Something to Live For (1943).
Mander was mobilised in the Australian
Intelligence Corps, Citizen Military Forces, in
October 1939. Promoted to temporary major
in July 1940, he transferred to the Australian
Imperial Force on 24 October 1941. He
was seconded to the Directorate of Military
Operations at Army Headquarters in January
1942 but in September he was transferred
to the Reserve of Officers and joined the
Department of War Organisation of Industry,
Melbourne. He left the department in August
1944. Back in the New South Wales Public
Service, he worked in the Department of
Secondary Industries and Building Materials
before moving to the Premier’s Department
in 1952; he retired in 1959.
Mander wrote Our Sham Democracy (1943;
revised and expanded in 1971), in which he
revisited a theme that he had first pursued
in the Wanganui Herald, and republished in
Plain Talks about Democracy (c.1930), where
he argued that democracy suffers from the
ignorance of the voters because ‘Public Opinion
always lags far behind the best thought
of the day’. His concern for the ‘efficiency’ of
democracy remained constant. Public Enemy
the Press (1944) elaborated on the power
wielded by newspaper proprietors.
119
Mander
Mander also revived his interest in industry:
Spoiled Lives (1944) focused on unskilled,
precarious work—the ‘tragedy of youth employment’—while
Common Cause (1946) focused
on capitalism, which should be replaced by a
system of ‘Socialism Without Bureaucracy’.
Conceived as a form of economic rationalism,
his solution to the problem of ‘selfishness’
was consistent, he said, with the Australian
Labor Party’s socialisation objective, the
aims of the Communist Party of Australia and
Catholic social teaching.
The argument in 6 p.m. Till Midnight (1945)
was that the average person’s boredom could
be traced to their homes, schools and ‘indulgence
in mental Dope’ (film, radio, newspapers,
books), their indifference to genuine
relaxation and their loss of ‘Community Life’.
In The Making of the Australians (1958), written
‘with an eye to New Australians’, Mander
attempted to show how the characteristics of
Australians were shaped by the squatters and
the diggers. The Christian God and Life after
Death (c.1963), saw Mander adopt a familiar
pedagogy. He asked those ‘bombarded with
religious propaganda’ from childhood to
use the book as a starting point to ‘think for
themselves’.
From 1947 to 1969 Mander tutored part
time for the WEA in Sydney. Among his most
popular classes were those on ‘Clearer Thinking’
and ‘Understanding People’. With total
annual enrolments from 1966 to 1968 of close
to six hundred, his ‘Sharpening Our Minds’
course was the WEA’s best attended. As well
as broadcasting talks on radio and television,
he occasionally appeared as a news commentator
and as a debater on the Australian
Broadcasting Commission’s Nation’s Forum
of the Air.
A poetry lover, Mander corresponded with
Tom Inglis Moore [q.v.15] for thirty years.
Between 1938 and 1985 he wrote many letters
to the Sydney Morning Herald. Increasingly
he felt embattled by a tide running ‘strongly
. . . against disciplined thinking’; although
appalled by the Whitlam government’s ‘naive
ineptitude’, he could not bring himself to
support its dismissal. Suffering ill health,
from 1976 he lived in Newcastle with his
sister Kit Heyes but later returned to Sydney.
Predeceased by his son (1940) and his wife
(1969), he died on 26 February 1985 in his
home at Mosman and was cremated. He was
regarded as an ‘honorary associate’ of the
rationalist movement.
Who’s Who in New Zealand and the Western Pacific
(1932, 1941); A. B. Thompson, Adult Education
in New Zealand (1945); R. Shuker, Educating the
Workers? (1984); N. Petersen, News Not Views
(1993); R. Dahlitz, Secular Who’s Who (1994); B884,
item N278528 (NAA); papers of T. Inglis Moore
and A. W. Sheppard (NLA). Murray Goot
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Manifold
MANDER JONES, PHYLLIS; see JoneS,
PhyLLiS
MANIFOLD, JOHN STREETER (1915-
1985), poet and musicologist, was born on
21 April 1915 at Toorak, Melbourne, eldest
of four children of Victorian-born parents John
Manifold, grazier, and his wife Barbara, née
Grey-Smith. A grandson and great-grandson of
William Thomson Manifold and John Manifold
[qq.v.10,2], John grew up in genteel circumstances
on two family properties, Milangil and
Purrumbete, in Victoria’s Western District. At
Geelong Church of England Grammar School
(1925-33), he showed a talent for languages
and verse translation, and in his last year published
Verses, 1930-1933. Dux of the school,
he won a Whittingham [q.v.12] scholarship
that took him to Tours, France, early in 1934.
Later that year he entered Jesus College, Cambridge
(BA, 1937), where he read modern
languages (French and German) and English.
He embraced communism, a belief system
that would remain central to his political and
cultural activities. In 1938-39 he worked as
a translator with a publishing firm in Bonn;
he fled Germany just as war was declared.
On 9 March 1940 at the register office,
Hampstead, London, he married Katharine
Mary Hopwood (d.1969), who had been a
fellow student at Cambridge.
Commissioned in December 1940 in the
British Army’s Intelligence Corps, Manifold
served in Africa and then Western Europe,
where he wrote ‘The Tomb of Lt. John
Learmonth, A.I.F.’, a terza rima elegy for a
school friend who died in Germany while
a prisoner of war. Manifold was demobilised
in June 1946 as a lieutenant. Back in London,
he combined occasional teaching with literary
work as a poet and essayist. Selected Verse
(1946) clearly staked out his poetic concerns:
a reinvigoration of the traditional Australian
bush ballad; a preference for conventional
forms, particularly the sonnet; and war themes.
Also associated with London musical circles,
Manifold in 1948 published The Amorous Flute,
a practical treatise on the recorder.
Returning to Australia in 1949, Manifold
settled at Wynnum, on Brisbane’s suburban
fringe. Helping to found in 1950 the Brisbane
Realist Writers’ Group, he was soon at the
centre of a range of local literary, musical and
political associations with communist affiliations,
including the Communist Arts Group
and the Australia-China and Australia-USSR
societies. His home became a celebrated
‘salon’ for Brisbanites with a cultural bent,
among them David Malouf, Thomas Shapcott,
Rodney Hall and Judith Rodriguez. With his
refined accent and encyclopaedic knowledge
of arcane matters such as eighteenth-century
120
A. D. B.
English opera, he cut an eccentric figure in
Brisbane, particularly among the largely
working-class membership of groups like
the realist writers. He produced a scholarly
monograph, The Music in English Drama,
from Shakespeare to Purcell (1956), and several
slim volumes of verse: Nightmares and
Sunhorses (1961), Op. 8 (1971), Six Sonnets
on Human Ecology (1974) and On My Selection
(1983). In 1968 the Queensland section of the
Fellowship of Australian Writers, of which he
had been president for two years, elected him
an honorary life member.
Attempting to find ‘common ground
between European high culture and Australian
working-class people’, Manifold collected Australian
bush ballads, which he championed as
genuine folk art, and published anthologies,
notably The Penguin Australian Songbook
(1964), and the critical monograph Who
Wrote the Ballads? (1964). His bush band ‘The
Bandicoots’ regularly performed at his home
and elsewhere. The simultaneous publication
by University of Queensland Press in 1978 of
Manifold’s Collected Verse and Hall’s interviewbased
J. S. Manifold: An Introduction to the
Man and his Work prompted a reappraisal of
his work. Collected Verse showed the consistency
of Manifold’s themes and forms, but also
the unevenness of his achievement. Poems
such as ‘Ballad of ‘17 and ‘53’ are examples
of political doggerel, but the best poems, particularly
some of the sonnets, were exquisitely
crafted with a compactness of argument
and imagery much admired by other poets,
including A. D. Hope and John Forbes.
In critical essays such as The Changing Face
of Realism (1971), Manifold had sought to
identify a privileged tradition of literary ‘realism’
that encompassed Henry Lawson and
A. B. Paterson [qq.v.10,11] as well as Byron
and Balzac. For some reviewers of the 1978
books, however, such a project was starting
to look decidedly old-fashioned. Manifold’s
resistance to developments such as the ‘new’
left and the more commercial folk revival of
the 1960s betokened to commentators a
certain inflexibility and an unwillingness to
engage with contemporary cultural and political
realities. In 1984 he was appointed AM
and was awarded an honorary D.Litt. from
the University of Queensland. Survived by his
son and daughter, he died of cerebrovascular
disease on 19 April 1985 at Wynnum West
and was cremated.
R. Hall, J. S. Manifold (1978); J. McLaren,
Writing in Hope and Fear (1996); W. Hatherell, The
Third Metropolis (2007); Austn Book Review, Nov
1978, p 18; Poetry Aust, no 68, 1978, p 57; Overland,
no 73, 1978, p 47, no 96, 1984, p 27, no 99, 1985,
p 38; Corian, July-Aug 1985, p 165; A6119, items
3462-7 (NAA); Manifold papers (Univ of Qld Lib).
wiLLiaM hathereLL
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1981–1990
MANN, DaMe IDA CAROLINE (1893-1983),
ophthalmologist, was born on 6 February
1893 at Kilburn, London, younger child of
Frederick William Mann, post office clerk,
and his wife Ellen, née Packham. Ida attended
Wycombe House School, Hampstead, and,
after passing the civil service girl clerks’
entrance examination in 1909, took employment
with the Post Office Savings Bank. A
visit to an open day at the London Hospital,
Whitechapel, stimulated a desire to study
medicine. Having matriculated through the
Regent Street Polytechnic, she entered the
London (Royal Free Hospital) School of Medicine
for Women in October 1914. A brilliant
student, she gained experience during World
War I at the Fulham Military Hospital, and
became a demonstrator in physiology. In 1917
she transferred to St Mary’s Hospital, where
she studied embryology with Professor J. E.
S. Frazer. She graduated from the University
of London (MB, BS, 1920; D.Sc., 1928)
and, qualifying as a member in 1920 (fellow
in 1927) of the Royal College of Surgeons
of England, she was appointed ophthalmic
house surgeon at St Mary’s. Her book The
Development of the Human Eye (1928), based
on her doctoral thesis, was to remain in print
for over fifty years.
Having also been appointed assistant
surgeon at the Royal London Ophthalmic
Hospital, Moorfields, Mann received an
annual grant of £200 for eight years from the
Medical Research Council. In 1927 she was
made an honorary staff member at Moorfields.
Awarded the Oxford Ophthalmological
Congress’s Doyne medal (1929) and the
Ophthalmological Society of the United Kingdom’s
Nettleship medal (1930), she combined
teaching at Moorfields with a thriving private
practice in Harley Street. From 1945 she was
senior surgeon at Moorfields.
In April 1941 Mann had also become
Margaret Ogilvie reader in ophthalmol ogy
at the University of Oxford and a fellow of
St Hugh’s College. She threw herself into
restructuring the Oxford Eye Hospital;
war time pressure had increased the annual
average number of outpatients from 2000
to 22 000. Aided by a grant of £25 000 from
Lord Nuffield, she secured the building of
the Nuffield Laboratory of Ophthalmology
and, with an energised and rejuvenated staff,
resumed the teaching of diploma courses. In
1944 she was granted a personal chair, thus
becoming the first woman professor at Oxford.
On 30 December that year at the register
office, Brentford, Middlesex, she married
Professor William Ewart Gye, director of the
Imperial Cancer Research Fund, Mill Hill,
and a widower. Disappointed by the university’s
decision to cease training postgraduate
students in ophthalmology, she resigned in
1947 and returned to London.
121
Mann
Following Gye’s retirement in 1949 due to
ill health and, opposed to the nationalisation
of medicine, Mann stepped down from her
post at Moorfields. The couple travelled to
Australia and settled in Perth, where Mann
set up a small private practice and became a
consultant at Royal Perth Hospital. She also
helped her husband with cancer research.
After his death in 1952 she travelled widely in
outback Australia, at the request of the Western
Australian Public Health Department and
the Royal Flying Doctor Service, com piling
records of the incidence of eye diseases, especially
trachoma, among Aborigines. Later her
investigations into communicable eye diseases
extended to the Territory of Papua and New
Guinea and to Taiwan. Indefatigable, through
her seventies she continued to visit remote
Aboriginal communities, in some places finding
more than 80 per cent of the inhabitants
suffering from trachoma. In 1954-55 she was
president of the Ophthalmological Society of
Australia. Helping to establish the Ophthalmologic
Research Institute of Australia, she
served (1953-74) on its research committee.
By 1972 Mann had written one hundred
and forty-three learned papers and articles
and an important work Culture, Race, Climate
and Eye Disease (1966). As Caroline Eye she
also published two books about her travels:
The Cockney and the Crocodile (1962) and
China 13 (1964). Her many awards included
the Ophthalmological Society of the UK’s
Bowman lectureship and medal (1961) and
the Jose Rizal medal of the Asia Pacific
Academy of Ophthalmology (1972).
Energetic, down to earth, and capable of
great charm, Ida Mann remained professionally
active into old age; her formal retirement
in 1976 hardly slowed her pace. Appointed
CBE in 1950, she was elevated to DBE in
1980. She was awarded honorary doctorates
by the University of Western Australia (1977)
and Murdoch University (1983). Dame Ida
died on 19 November 1983 at her Dalkeith
home and was cremated with Anglican rites.
Her memoirs were edited by Ros Golding and
published in 1986 as The Chase.
ODNB (2004); Archives of Ophthalmology, vol 102,
Nov 1984, p 1713; Austn Jnl of Ophthalmology,
vol 12, no 1, 1984, p 95; West Australian, 21 Nov
1983, p 2; Times (London), 3 Dec 1983, p 8; B.
Blackman, taped interview with I. Mann (1981,
NLA); Mann papers (SLWA); private information.
GeraLDine Byrne
MANN, JACK (1906-1989), winemaker, was
born on 19 March 1906 in Perth, son of South
Australian-born parents George Robert Mann,
winemaker, and his wife Griselda Maud, née
Sobels, formerly Stubbing. The Sobels family,
well-known winemakers in South Australia,
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Mann
were connected by marriage and business to
Theodor Buring [q.v.3]. From 1910 George
Mann was the winemaker for C. W. Ferguson,
owner of vineyards at Houghton, in the
Swan Valley. Apprenticed to his father, Jack
worked on his first vintage in 1922, and in
1930 took over as winemaker at Houghton.
At the Royal Melbourne Wine Show in 1933,
1937 and 1938 he won the championship for
three distinct types of sweet wines; his olorosa
sherry won the show’s blue ribbon for thirteen
consecutive years. Also in 1937 and 1938,
his Houghton white burgundy was awarded
first prize in the open class. A distinctive fullflavoured
dry white wine made from chenin
blanc grapes, it was likened by one judge,
W. W. Senior, to the ‘great white burgundies
of France’. It was first released for commercial
sale in 1938.
An indefatigable worker, Mann shirked
no task and expected all around him to be
similarly committed. He experimented with
new techniques: in 1932, when creating his
white burgundy, he gained more flavour by
leaving grape skins and juice in contact for a
day before pressing and by using a butcher’s
mincing machine to fragment the skins; in
1936 he was among the first in Australia to
acquire a Seitz filter, which allowed sterile
filtration. Later, Mann was to observe that
‘the golden age’ of his winemaking was the
1930s, when Houghton was reputedly the only
vineyard in the world producing a complete
range of first-class wines. He particularly
favoured chenin blanc, verdelho and cabernet
sauvignon grape varieties.
Recognising the potential of the south-west
of Western Australia as a wine-producing
region, Mann encouraged Thomas Cullity and
William Pannell to plant commercial vineyards
there. Although he did not appreciate undue
or shallow attention, he enjoyed sharing
Houghton’s cellar with friends, overseas
visitors and fellow vintners. In 1964 he was
appointed MBE. He did not travel widely but,
when he retired in 1972, he was considered the
doyen of the Western Australian wine industry.
Mann was passionate about cricket. A
fine player in his youth, he was a long-time
spectator at the Western Australia Cricket
Association ground, well known for his picnic
basket, which always included a Swan Valley
wine. A cricket ground at Middle Swan was
named after him.
On 21 May 1938 at St Mary’s Church of
England, Middle Swan, Mann had married
Angela Navera Doolette, daughter of Dorham
Doolette [q.v.8]. Survived by his wife and their
three sons and daughter, he died on 26 May
1989 at his Middle Swan home and was
cremated. That year the Wine Press Club of
Western Australia established the Jack Mann
memorial medal, which is awarded annually
for outstanding contribution to the State’s
122
A. D. B.
wine industry. In 1997 Houghton released
the inaugural Jack Mann wine, made from the
best red or blend of red grapes. Since 2005
Houghton white burgundy has been registered
as ‘white classic’, following the conventions
of appellation agreed on by Australia and the
European Commission.
P. J. Bonser, The Houghton Vineyard 1836-1986
(1987); Sunday Times (Perth), 6 July 1997, p 67, 13
June 1999, ‘checkout’, p 12; Accommodation, Food
& Beverage, Sept 1999, p 17; C. Jeffery, interview
with J. Mann (ts, 1986, SLWA).
cLeMent MuLcahy
MANN, LEONARD (1895-1981), writer,
was born on 15 November 1895 at Prahran,
Melbourne, eldest son of Victorian-born
parents Samuel Mann, draper, and his wife
Kate Louise, née Truebridge. Leonard was
educated at Moreland State School and Wesley
College. In 1913 the failure of his father’s business
led him to abandon his scholarship and
work as a military staff clerk in the Australian
Military Forces. He continued studying and
enrolled at the University of Melbourne (LL B,
1920), attending night lectures during 1915
and 1916.
On 12 January 1917 Mann enlisted in
the Australian Imperial Force. Promoted to
corporal next month, he sailed for Britain
aboard the troopship Ballarat. After training
at Southampton he proceeded in September
to France, where he saw action on the
Western Front with the 39th Battalion. In
February 1918 he joined the headquarters
of the 5th Division Engineers. He served as
a sapper and was promoted to sergeant in
March. Having transferred to the 8th Field
Company in October, he returned to Britain in
January 1919 before embarking for Australia.
His experiences in the trenches, including
being buried alive by a shell burst and losing
consciousness in the mud before his rescue,
were to affect him for the rest of his life. He
was discharged from the AIF on 9 June.
Back in Melbourne, Mann completed his
degree and signed the Victorian Bar Roll
on 28 April 1921. On 11 January 1926 at
St George’s Church of England, Malvern,
he married Florence Eileen Archer. Seeking
more regular employment than his legal
practice provided, he became an associate to
Justice Lionel Lukin [q.v.10] of the Commonwealth
Court of Conciliation and Arbitration.
From 1929, appointed secretary of the Victorian
Employers’ Federation, he worked as an
advocate on basic wage and industrial cases.
He was approached to stand as a United Australia
Party candidate for Federal parliament,
but by the end of the decade his politics had
moved towards democratic socialism. In 1940
he resigned his position and became industrial
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1981–1990
and staff manager at the Aircraft Production
Commission. After World War II he worked as
senior public relations officer in the Department
of Labour and National Service.
Mann’s ‘double life’, as he called it, started
in the late 1920s, when he began contributing
short stories and sketches to the Age
under the pen-name ‘Fabius’. In 1932 he
self-published his first book, Flesh in Armour,
which depicted the experiences of an Australian
platoon through World War I, both ‘in the
line and out of it’. A thousand copies were
printed and he kept the type standing, optimistic
that Angus & Robertson [qq.v.7,11] Ltd
would publish a trade edition after the novel
won the annual Australian Literature Society’s
gold medal. A negative reader’s report led to
the rejection of the work, but it was finally
issued in a paperback edition in 1973.
Continuing as a part-time novelist, Mann
published Human Drift (1935); A Murder in
Sydney (1937), a London Book Society Book of
the Month and his only bestseller; Mountain
Flat (1939); and The Go-Getter (1942). The
first of his four volumes of poetry, The Plumed
Voice (1938), was also self-published, but
issued under Angus & Robertson’s imprint.
While best-known for his fiction, he won literary
prizes for his Poems From the Mask (1941)
and Elegiac and Other Poems (1957).
During the 1930s Mann developed important
literary connections with writers including
Vance and Nettie Palmer and Frank Dalby
Davison [qq.v.11,13]. Foundation president
(1938) of the P.E.N. Club (Melbourne), and
an active member of the Victorian section of
the Fellowship of Australian Writers from its
inception in the same year, he soon became an
influential figure in his own right. As president
(1947-48) of the Victorian FAW he issued The
Robert Close and Georgian House Case (1948),
a pamphlet discussing writers and the law
in the light of Close’s Love Me Sailor (1945)
obscenity trial.
In 1948 Mann settled in the Dandenong
Ranges, where he became a poultry farmer
on his Macclesfield property after retirement
in 1950. Later, moving to Olinda, to the seaside
at Inverloch, Gippsland, and back to the
Dandenongs at Emerald, he took occasional
jobs, among them organising secretary for
the 1967 congress of the Australian and New
Zealand Association for the Advancement of
Science. Andrea Caslin (1959) was written
with the support of the Commonwealth
Literary Fund; Venus Half-Caste appeared in
1963. Another novel, completed during the
1940s and known under several working titles,
remained unpublished.
Of medium height (5 ft 6½ ins; 169 cm), with
blue eyes, light brown hair, and a moustache,
Mann could seem—as Vance Palmer found—
‘inarticulate’ in conversation. Others noted his
‘weigh-the-matter-up-as-I-go speech’. Stephen
123
Manning
Murray-Smith [q.v.] recalled him as a ‘man of
singular sweetness of disposition’ who ‘loved
his pipe’. Widowed in 1976, Leonard Mann
died on 29 April 1981 at Hallam, Victoria, and
was buried in Emerald cemetery, survived by
his son and daughter.
J. Hetherington, Forty-Two Faces (1962);
V. Smith (ed), Letters of Vance and Nettie Palmer
(1977); Austn Literary Studies, vol 7, no 3, 1976,
p 324; Herald (Melbourne), 23 Sept 1933, p 11;
Australasian (Melbourne), 11 Mar 1939, p 39;
Age (Melbourne), 7 May 1981, p 12; G. de Lacy,
Literary Life in Melbourne in the 1930s (PhD
thesis, Monash University, 2007).
Gavin De Lacy
MANNING, ELEANOR (1906-1986), Girl
Guide commissioner and army officer, was
born on 22 March 1906 at Point Piper, Sydney,
elder daughter of Sydney-born parents (Sir)
Henry Edward Manning [q.v.10], barrister-atlaw,
and his wife Norah Antonia, née Martin.
Sir James Martin [q.v.5] was her grandfather.
Eleanor was educated at Frensham, Mittagong.
After leaving school, she travelled
overseas and spent a year in Colorado visiting
her aunt, Florence Martin [q.v.10]. She
enjoyed playing hockey, and sailing on Sydney
Harbour in her father’s 16-ft (4.9-m) skiff. In
1923 she became involved in the Girl Guides’
Association, three years after this voluntary
organisation was established in New South
Wales. She served as a district commissioner,
a general councillor (until her death) and, from
1934 to 1941, State commissioner for training.
In June 1940 Manning joined the Women’s
Australian National Services, which was
established to train women for war work. As
a result of her experience in the Guides, she
was appointed a technical instructor. Selected
to be assistant controller, Eastern Command,
of the new Australian Women’s Army Service,
she began full-time duty in December 1941.
The following month she was appointed as
a major. She enlisted and trained thousands
of recruits, telling them not to ‘try to look
masculine just because they wore a uniform’.
Opposed to women learning to shoot,
Manning believed that they should do work
‘suitable to their sex’. In 1943-44 she was
assistant, then deputy controller, AWAS, at
Allied Forces Land Headquarters, Melbourne.
From June 1944 she was chief instructor
(commandant) of the Australian Women’s
Services Officers’ School. Commended for
her outstanding service, she transferred to
the reserve in June 1945.
On her return to the Girl Guides, Manning
became State assistant commissioner for
training and, soon after, deputy commissioner.
She worked with the Guide International
Service in a rehabilitation and medical
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Manning
program in Malaya for several months in 1946.
A small dark-haired woman, she had shown
her strength of character when she publicly
criticised Arthur Calwell [q.v.13] for a delay
in the issue of her passport. From 1955 to
1962 she served as the chief commissioner
for Girl Guides in Australia. She was the first
Australian elected to the committee of the
World Association of Girl Guides and Girl
Scouts, a position she held from 1960 to 1969.
Enthusiastic about creating the Sangam World
Centre for Guide training at Poona, India,
she visited the site in 1965. As international
commissioner for Australia (1970-75), she
continued to travel the world educating people
about the Guide movement.
With ‘her clear mind and straight decisions’,
Manning was an outstanding organiser, administrator,
educator and leader. She was given
the Guide awards of the Beaver (1938) and the
Silver Fish (1954). A recipient of the coronation
medals of King George VI (1937) and
Queen Elizabeth II (1953), she was appointed
OBE in 1959. She was involved in other voluntary
organisations, including the Australia-
Malaysia Association, the Australia-Britain
Society and the National Fitness Council of
New South Wales. Miss Manning died on
21 November 1986 at Darlinghurst and was
buried in Northern Suburbs cemetery.
L. Ollif, Women in Khaki (1981); M. Coleman
and H. Darling, Blue and Gold (1986) and From a
Flicker to a Flame (1989); SMH, 11 Nov 1941, pp 5
and 8, 12 Feb 1946, p 3, 27 Nov 1986, p 4; Daily
Telegraph (Sydney), 11 Nov 1941, p 5; Guiding in
Aust, Feb 1987, p 11; B884, item NF278365 (NAA);
private information. MeLanie oPPenheiMer
MANSELL, MORGAN ALEXANDER
(1919-1981), Aboriginal activist, was born on
4 December 1919 on Cape Barren Island, Tasmania,
second of three children of Alexander
George ‘Ucky’ Mansell, labourer, and his
wife Sophia ‘Emma’, née Thomas, both born
locally. Morgan was raised and educated there
and spent months every year muttonbirding
with his family on the islands of Bass Strait.
As a young adult Mansell partnered with
Jessie Elizabeth Troman; they had three children.
Following his separation from Jessie,
he moved to the Tasmanian mainland, where
he travelled and worked on the hydroelectric
scheme in the central highlands and for Port
Huon Fruit Juices Pty Ltd in Hobart. He
regularly returned to Cape Barren Island to
visit his family and to collect kangaroo skins,
which he would tan and then sell on the
Tasmanian mainland.
An experienced boxer, for over twenty
years Mansell worked for a travelling boxing
troupe run by Harry Paulsen. Mansell was a
124
A. D. B.
tall, well-built man and he liked a drink—which
often got him into trouble with the law. On
one occasion when he appeared before the
magistrate on a charge of being drunk and
incapable, he successfully argued his own case
and was let off. He studied the law and learned
to use the legal system to his advantage. At
times he set out to be jailed so he could get
free transport to the doctor.
A community man, Mansell became known
among the Tasmanian Aborigines as a person
who would always stand up for his people. He
regularly attended meetings convened by the
Tasmanian Aboriginal Information Service
(Tasmanian Aboriginal Centre from 1977). In
1973 he was elected to the National Aboriginal
Consultative Committee, established to
advise the minister for Aboriginal affairs on
the needs of Aboriginal people. Remaining
a member until 1977—the term of its life—
he served (1974-76) on its executive, with
responsibility for housing and employment.
He kept people informed of his activities
through TAC-organised meetings.
Mansell visited schools and spoke to the
children about Aborigines, using wry humour
to convey his message. Michael Mansell
recalled Morgan saying to the children, ‘You
are the original Australians, but “Ab” comes
before originals, so we were here first’. When
asked how he could be Aboriginal when there
were no Aborigines left in Tasmania, Morgan
answered, ‘Until you find the real ones, I’ll
have to do!’
In 1976-77, during the debate over the right
of Tasmanian Aborigines to gain control over
Truganini’s [Trugernanner q.v.6] skeletal
remains, Mansell was a passionate figure.
He was chosen by the community to lay a
remembrance wreath for her on the steps of
the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery. A
strong advocate of Aboriginal land rights, in
1973 he attended a conference on this subject
in Darwin. In 1976 at a land-rights march at
Launceston—in answer to the scoffing of some
bystanders—he threw off his shirt, pounded
his chest and yelled, ‘I’m a black man, and
proud of it’.
Mansell died of respiratory complications
on 22 May 1981 at Conara Junction and
was buried at Launceston. After Aborigines
occupied Oyster Cove in January 1984 for a
week of cultural activities and discussions, the
building located there was named the ‘Morgan
Mansell hut’ in recognition of his strength
as an Aboriginal man and his contribution to
Aboriginal land rights in Tasmania.
Biographies of Candidates, 1973 National Aboriginal
Consultative Committee Elections (1973);
L. R. Hiatt, National Aboriginal Consultative
Committee: Report of Committee of Inquiry (1977);
information from Tasmanian Aboriginal Centre;
private information.
aDaM thoMPSon
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1981–1990
MANT, JOHN FRANCIS (1897-1985),
solicitor, was born on 8 February 1897 at
Darling Point, Sydney, eldest of three sons
of Queensland-born William Hall Mant
(d.1911), solicitor, and his New Zealand-born
wife Frances Gordon, née McCrae, a granddaughter
of Georgiana McCrae [q.v.2]. A. B.
(‘Banjo’) Paterson [q.v.11] was his godfather.
John was educated at Sydney Grammar School
where, small and slight, he coxed its VIII.
From 1914 he worked as a station hand in
Queensland. When he enlisted in the Australian
Imperial Force on 11 April 1916 he
was five ft 5¾ ins (167 cm) tall, with grey
eyes and dark brown hair. In May he sailed
for England and was attached to the Cyclist
Training Battalion.
In France from December with the 3rd
Divisional Cyclist Company, then, from January
1917, the 1st Infantry Battalion, Mant
was commissioned in June. After attending
various courses in England, including the
Divisional Pigeon School, he was promoted to
lieutenant in February 1918, and mentioned
in despatches next year. Mant studied law
at the University of Edinburgh in 1919 and
returned to Sydney after visiting India. He
enjoyed the comradeship of army life and
would have stayed on, but believed his mother
needed his support. His AIF appointment was
terminated on 23 July 1920.
A keen sportsman, Mant belonged to Royal
Sydney Golf Club (1920) and was an early
member of the Palm Beach Surf Life Saving
Club and the Kosciusko Alpine Club. While
continuing his legal studies at the University
of Sydney (LL B, 1924), he coxed the famous
Law School VIII in 1921 and the university
VIII in 1921 and 1922.
Having served his articles in the Crown
Solicitor’s Office, Mant was admitted as a
solicitor by the Supreme Court of New South
Wales on 30 October 1924. For two years
he worked for Ellison Rich & Son before
becoming a partner in Frank A. Davenport
& Mant in 1927. He regularly acted pro
bono for ex-battalion friends. His firm had a
substantial practice in insurance and liquor
licensing matters. On 29 October 1931 at
St Mark’s Church of England, Darling Point,
Mant married a widowed clerk associate,
Helen Musgrave Dalziel, daughter of (Sir)
John Musgrave Harvey [q.v.9]. Gregarious,
Mant loved good food and wine and belonged
to the Australian and Imperial Service clubs.
He and Helen swam every morning until their
mid-eighties.
From 17 March 1941 Mant served full
time with the Citizen Military Forces and on
28 July 1942 transferred as a captain to the
AIF. Promoted to major in September 1942
and lieutenant colonel in October 1943, he
was chief legal officer at the headquarters
of the First Australian Army in Queensland
125
Marfell
in 1942-43 and of the Second in New South
Wales in 1944-45. He was placed on the
Reserve of Officers on 14 February 1946.
An inaugural member of the Constitutional
Association of New South Wales in 1925, Mant
was an original member of the Liberal Party
of Australia. He unsuccessfully contested
the Federal seats of West Sydney (1946) and
East Sydney (1949), and chaired the party’s
Vaucluse branch from 1950 until 1976. For
over twenty years (until retiring in 1973) he
was chairman of the Wentworth district Boy
Scouts’ Association. A founder of the Australian
Outward Bound Memorial Foundation,
he was its honorary legal adviser from 1958.
Mant attended Commonwealth and Empire
Law conferences in London (1955) and
Ottawa (1960). In 1965 he helped to estab lish
the Commercial Law Association (Australia).
When he retired from Smithers Warren
Davenport Mant in 1984, he had been in
practice for sixty years. He had been appointed
OBE in 1978. On 19 November 1985 he died
at his Vaucluse home; he was cremated. His
wife, their daughter and son, and his stepson
survived him.
J. M. Bennett, A History of Solicitors in New South
Wales (1984); Law Soc Jnl, vol 20, no 3, 1982, p 225;
Austn Law Jnl, vol 60, no 6, 1986, p 365; SMH, 21
Nov 1985, p 17; Sydneian, Mar 1986, p 369; B2455,
item MANT J F, B883, item NX122979 (NAA);
private and family information.
Martha rutLeDGe
MARFELL, HELENA CATHERINE (1896-
1981), community worker, was born on
4 August 1896 at Kariah, near Camperdown,
Victoria, ninth surviving child of Archibald
Glen, grazier, and second daughter of his
second wife Rachel, née Pratt, both born in
Scotland. Helena was educated at Camperdown
Church of England Grammar School
and Hohenlohe College, Warrnambool. On
26 December 1918 at Kariah she married with
Presbyterian forms Henry George Marfell,
a grain merchant. Settling at Warrnambool,
she combined motherhood with work as an
accountant in the family business and involvement
in a range of community interests,
including the Australian Red Cross Society, of
which she was senior district superintendent
(1939-45), the Girl Guides Association, the
local baby health centre and the Warrnambool
and District Base Hospital, where she was
the first woman to be elected a committee
member (1945-52) and was made a life governor
in 1945. She was soon well known for
her skills in time management, extemporary
public speaking and the conduct of meetings.
One of six founding members of the Country
Women’s Association of Victoria in 1928,
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Marfell
Marfell established its Warrnambool branch
in 1931. She was keenly involved in the CWA’s
growth as the major autonomous political
voice for rural women and children. It took
up issues raised by the women’s section of the
Victorian Country Party as well as by smaller
bodies such as the Bush Nursing Organisation.
Elected president (1938-39, 1940-42)
of the CWA’s south-west Victorian group, she
then served as State president (1942-45).
In 1945 Marfell was elected the inaugural
president of the Country Women’s Association
of Australia; she held this office until
1947. As president she was appointed in 1946
to a committee, chaired by (Dame) Dorothy
Tangney [q.v.] and established to advise the
minister for immigration on issues arising
from the legal obligation placed on wives to
take their husbands’ nationality—a matter
with implications for their passports, property,
inheritance and ability to find work. The
committee’s recommendations led to amendments
to the Nationality Act (1920) removing
the obligation.
In 1949-50 Marfell was president of the
women’s section of the Victorian Country
Party. She contested the seat of Wannon at the
1949 Federal election—the first woman ever to
stand as an endorsed CP candidate, although
not the first to seek preselection. Putting a
huge effort into a campaign she had no hope
of winning, she travelled widely, addressing
public meetings across the Western District.
Her preferences were responsible for Ewan
Mackinnon’s [q.v.] short-lived victory against
the sitting Australian Labor Party candidate,
Donald McLeod.
Marfell was appointed a justice of the peace
in 1946; in the 1950s she served as president
of the women’s committee of the Honorary
Justices Association and as a representative
of the Children’s Court. She was made a life
governor of the (Royal) Children’s Hospital
(1951) and of the Royal Victorian Institute
for the Blind. Moving to Geelong in 1952,
she became in 1957 a special magistrate of
the Children’s Court and in 1959 a foundation
member of the city’s Soroptimists club.
In 1968 she was appointed OBE. Helena
Marfell died on 2 November 1981 at Geelong,
predeceased by her son—a Royal Australian
Air Force pilot killed in World War II—and
her husband (d.1962), and survived by her
daughter. She was cremated.
H. M. Gunn, For the Man on the Land (PhD
thesis, La Trobe Univ, 1996). karen crook
MARIKA, WANDJUK DJUAKAN (1927-
1987), Aboriginal leader and artist, was born
in 1927 on Bremer Island (Dhambaliya),
Northern Territory, eldest son of Mawalan
126
A. D. B.
Marika and his wife Bamatja. Of the Dhuwa
moiety, Wandjuk was a member of the
Rirratjingu group of the Yolngu people. During
childhood he travelled by foot throughout
north-east Arnhem Land and by canoe around
the coast from Melville to Caledon bays. From
both parents he learned respect and care for
his country, and from his father, a clan leader,
he inherited extensive rights to land.
Among the first to be taught to read and
write at the Methodist Overseas Mission
established at Yirrkala in 1935, Marika soon
became a teacher’s assistant in the mission
school and started translating the Bible into
Gumatj—a task which continued intermittently
over many years, and through which
he perceived that many Judaeo-Christian
values were anticipated in Yolngu culture. As
a young man he interpreted for his father to
the anthropologist Ronald Berndt [q.v.17].
His proficiency in English made him a valued
go-between for visitors and researchers who
came to Arnhem Land. Following his father’s
death in 1967, he assumed the role of teacher
of ritual knowledge.
Already in contact with Northern Territory
government officials, by 1963 Marika
had become a conduit for the protests of
several clans against the decision to grant
mining leases on the Gove Peninsula to the
Nabalco Co. In August that year he helped to
send the first of several bark petitions to the
Commonwealth government, incorporating
traditional designs and highlighting the lack
of consultation with Aboriginal communities.
This campaign led in 1971 to the first land
rights case in Australia. An adviser to government
bodies, including the Office of Aboriginal
Affairs (1969-72), he was an impassioned
speaker about the religious meaning of land
to Aboriginal traditional owners.
Marika had been taught bark painting
by his father. Their collaborative paintings
of the great Rirratjingu clan themes were
acquired in the 1950s and 1960s by galleries
and museums. Soon established as a major
artist like his father, Marika was a member
of the Aboriginal arts advisory committee of
the Australian Council for the Arts (1970-73)
and its successor, the Aboriginal Arts Board,
which he chaired in 1975-80. He applauded
the board’s assistance in the ‘re-emergence
of the Aboriginal people as a dynamic force
within the cultural life of this nation’. His outrage
at finding his interpretations of spiritual
themes reproduced on souvenir towels led
him to lobby for the creation of the Aboriginal
Artists Agency in 1973 to protect Indigenous
intellectual property. Marika was a director
of Aboriginal Arts and Crafts Pty Ltd and a
member of the advisory committee of the
Australian Institute of Aboriginal Studies.
A striking, vibrant man, full bearded and
often wearing a headband with a suit, Marika
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1981–1990
was one of the most significant Indigenous
spokesmen of the twentieth century. He was
a powerful yidaki (didgeridoo) player and
worked closely with ethnographic and documentary
film-makers. Touring Australia, he
viewed Aboriginal art works and archaeological
sites with a deep sense of the loss of continuity
in Indigenous culture. He visited the Soviet
Union, Britain, the United States of America,
Canada and New Zealand. In 1979 he was
appointed OBE. Survived by his first wife,
Gotjiringu, and his second wife, Dhuwandjika,
with each of whom he had seven children,
he died of septicaemia on 15 June 1987 in
Darwin and was buried with Indigenous rites.
An annual prize for three-dimensional work by
Indigenous artists was established in his name.
J. Isaacs (ed), Wandjuk Marika (1995); Age
(Melbourne), 19 Oct 1974, p 2, 11 Apr 1980, p 3;
Advertiser (Adelaide), 27 June 1977, p 3; personal
knowledge. JenniFer iSaacS
MARIS, HYLLUS NOEL (1933-1986),
Aboriginal rights campaigner, community
worker, educator, poet and scriptwriter, was
born on 25 December 1933 at Echuca, Victoria,
third of nine children of New South Wales-born
parents Selwyn Roderick Briggs, labourer,
and his wife Geraldine Rose, née Clements.
Hyllus was of Yorta Yorta and Wurundjeri
(Woi worung) descent and spent her early
childhood at Cummeragunja Aboriginal
station, New South Wales. Her grandmother
educated her in Aboriginal culture, genealogy
and history, and both parents were activists;
her father was also a prominent sportsman.
In 1939 more than 150 Aboriginal people
‘walked off’ Cummeragunja in protest at substandard
conditions. Their actions provided
a catalyst for the greater politicisation of
Aboriginal people throughout Victoria. The
Briggses were among a group who then settled
on the ‘Flat’ in the Mooroopna-Shepparton
area of Victoria. The Flat’s close-knit, familybased
community championed social reform
campaigns into the post-World War II era.
Growing up in a river-bank tent, Hyllus was
acutely aware of the impoverished conditions
under which many Aboriginal people lived.
Her father was the first Aboriginal man to
be employed by the Shepparton council,
providing a regular income and stability for
his family. She attended school and trained
as a hospital dietitian. Committed to securing
basic human rights for Indigenous people,
however, she decided not to follow that career
path. In 1956 she married Andrew Marimuthu
at Shepparton and adopted the surname
Maris; they had no children and were later
divorced. Moving to Melbourne, in 1970 she
joined her mother, a sister—Gladys Nicholls,
127
Marks
the wife of Pastor (Sir) Doug Nicholls [q.v.]—
and others in founding the National Council of
Aboriginal and Island Women, for which she
worked as liaison officer. In 1973 she assisted
in establishing the Victorian Aboriginal Health
and the Victorian Aboriginal Legal services
at Fitzroy.
In 1977 a scholarship from the Commonwealth
Department of Aboriginal Affairs
enabled Maris to study social policy and community
development in London with Richard
Hauser. Returning to Melbourne to pursue
educational and cultural work, she collaborated
with Sonia Borg in writing Women of the
Sun (1981), a television series dealing with
the experiences of Aboriginal women through
two hundred years of colonisation. The series,
first broadcast in 1982, won several awards
including the United Nations media peace
prize, a Banff television festival award, two
Awgies (Australian Writers’ Guild) and five
Penguin (Television Society of Australia)
awards. Published as a script (1983) and novel
(1985), it featured widely in school curricula.
She also wrote poetry that conveyed her keen
sense of humour and compassion.
Seeking a balance between ‘Aboriginal
culture and the very best of Western education’,
Maris became chairman of the Green
Hills Foundation and helped to found the
first registered independent Aboriginal
school in Victoria, Worawa College, which
opened in 1983 at Frankston (later moving
to Healesville). After a long battle with cancer
she died on 4 August 1986 at Kew and was
buried with Catholic rites in Cummeragunja
cemetery. In 1987 a primary school named
in her memory opened at Ardmona, near
Mooroopna, but closed in 1992. In 1999 an
annual memorial lecture was established at
La Trobe University. A street in the Canberra
suburb of Franklin bears her name.
Victorian Honour Roll of Women, vol 1 (2001);
R. Broome, Aboriginal Victorians (2005); R.
Broome and C. Manning, A Man of All Tribes
(2006); Herald (Melbourne), 22 June 1981, p 5;
Age (Melbourne), 9 Aug 1986, p 15; N. Peck, Return
to Cummeragunja (videorecording, 1985).
corinne ManninG
MARKS, HARRIET ELIZABETH (1900-
1989), schoolteacher and educationist, was
born on 25 November 1900 at Charters
Towers, Queensland, elder child of George
Marks, a miner from Cornwall, England,
and his Scottish-born wife Harriet Ann,
née McGregor. Her brother (b.1905) died
in infancy. In 1906-10 the family lived in
Cornwall. They returned to Charters Towers,
where young Harriet attended the local state
high school; she won an open university
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Marks
scholarship in 1919. While studying science
at the University of Queensland (B.Sc., 1923)
she lived at the Women’s College, when Freda
Bage [q.v.7] was principal. She taught physics
and mathematics in high schools and technical
colleges at Cairns (1923-27), Brisbane (1928-
36) and Toowoomba (1938-44), with other
shorter appointments in between. Influenced
by Marianne Brydon [q.v.Supp], she became
interested in teaching domestic science.
In 1944 Marks was transferred back to
Brisbane to devise and supervise teaching of a
homemaking course—including such subjects
as dressmaking, cooking, physiology, hygiene,
nutrition, mothercraft and handicraft—for
members of the Australian Women’s Army
and the Australian Army Medical Women’s
services. From 1946 to 1951 she was in
charge of a Commonwealth Reconstruction
Training Scheme program, administered by
the Central Technical College, that provided
day and evening classes in dressmaking, cookery,
pastry-making, cake-icing and millinery
for ex-servicewomen (and men). In 1944-53
she was also a resident tutor, and sometime
assistant to Bage, at Women’s College.
Appointed principal of the Domestic Science
High School, Brisbane, in 1951, Marks became
inspectress of women’s work in Queensland
secondary schools two years later. She moved
around the State, examining the teaching of
domestic science, and also supervised the
domestic science cars that, hooked up to a
train, travelled around the State making sixweek
stops at remote locations. Students were
required to cook meals and to serve them on
tables covered with clean, ironed tablecloths,
and decorated with flowers.
Fascinated by the science of nutrition,
Marks founded (1960) the Home Economics
Association of Queensland. In 1966 she
became the first female president of the
State’s Institute of Inspectors of Schools. She
retired that year and in 1968 published Nutrition
and Elementary Food Science, a textbook
that revealed her broad scientific approach
to the teaching of domestic science; a British
edition followed in 1970. She was elected a
fellow of the Australian College of Education
(1970) and of the Home Economics Association
of Australia (1987).
A long-time member of the University of
Queensland Women Graduates’ Association
(later the Queensland Association of University
Women), Marks always maintained a
close link with Women’s College, her ‘second
home’. She was a council member for many
years until 1986, Old Collegians Association
president (1950) and a member of the building
appeal and standing committees. In 1989 she
was made a founding fellow of the college; the
dining hall had been named after her in 1981.
Never married, Marks died on 1 March
1989 at Auchenflower and was cremated with
128
A. D. B.
Uniting Church forms. An obituarist wrote
that she combined ‘creative vision with down
to earth practical good sense and a lively sharp
wit’. The Harriet Marks bursary, financed by
a bequest of about $63 000 made by Marks,
was established in 1990 at the University
of Queensland.
H. Brotherton, A College is Built (1973);
G. Logan, A Centenary History of Home Economics
Education in Queensland, 1881-1981 (1981);
R. Bonnin (ed), Dazzling Prospects (1988);
T. Watson, ‘Harriet Elizabeth Marks’ in E. Clark and
T. Watson (eds), Soldiers of the Service, vol 3 (2006);
Newsletter (Home Economics Assn of Aust), Mar
1989, p 3; Univ of Qld, Women’s College, Calendar,
1989, pp 18, 49; H. E. Marks, reminiscences (ts,
1977, copy held on ADB file); Marks staff record
(Education Qld Lib Services, Brisbane).
toM watSon
MARKS, Sir JOHN HEDLEY DOUGLAS
(1916-1982), businessman, was born on
8 May 1916 at Mosman, Sydney, third of
five children of Frederick William Marks,
public accountant, and his wife Viva Bessie
Meurant, née Stinson, both born in New South
Wales. Educated at Sydney Church of England
Grammar School (Shore), John started work
with the city accountants Eric S. Kelynack &
Higman, became a chartered accountant, and
obtained his secretarial qualifications. In the
late 1930s he established an accounting firm,
initially with Alec Fyfe.
Commissioned in the Militia in 1940,
Marks was appointed a lieutenant, Australian
Imperial Force, on 1 February 1941 and
posted to the 2/6th Armoured Regiment. The
following year he transferred to the Australian
Army Ordnance Corps. He served in New
Guinea on the staff of the 5th Division from
December 1943 and was promoted to temporary
lieutenant colonel in May 1944. After
being repatriated in August, he transferred
to the Reserve of Officers on 6 November.
He had married with Anglican rites Judith
Norma Glenwright, a stenographer, on 8 May
1941 at the Church of All Saints, Woollahra.
Judy became closely involved in his business
activities; he later described her as the ‘governing
director’.
Marks again practised as an accountant
from 1945; he specialised in taxation matters
and built up a large group of overseas contacts
and clients. Late in the 1950s he established
J. H. D. Marks & Partners. His Australian and
overseas clients appointed him to create joint
ventures and to supervise their investments.
He became a fellow (1947) of the Institute of
Chartered Accountants in Australia.
In 1953 Marks set up an investment banking
service, Development Finance Co. Ltd, to
assist Australia’s industrial development by
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1981–1990
providing long-term finance and permanent
capital to Australian companies. DFC became
a public company in 1957 and was listed on
the stock exchange in 1959. Some shares
were taken up by the overseas insurance and
banking organisations with which Marks had
been associated during his travels. He worked
as managing director (until 1975) and chairman
(until 1982).
Among DFC’s subsidiaries were Delfin
Discount Co. Ltd, an official dealer in the
authorised money market, and two merchantbanking
companies associated with the Bank
of New York and the Dai-Ichi Kangyo Bank of
Japan. Another important initiative was the
takeover of Australian Fixed Trusts in 1957.
A member (1966-81) of the Electricity Commission
of New South Wales, he served as
chairman of the boards of Brambles Industries
Ltd, Garratt’s Ltd, the Reinsurance Co. of
Australasia Ltd and the Japan Australia Investment
Co. Ltd, and as a director of numerous
other companies.
With a reputation as a workaholic who had a
computer-like memory, Marks encouraged initiative
in those working for him and delegated
authority to them. He served on the boards of
the Prince Henry, Prince of Wales and Eastern
Suburbs hospitals and on the council (1964-
76) of Macquarie University. Appointed CBE
in 1966, he was knighted in 1972. Gregarious
and a ready conversationalist, although not
a public figure, he enjoyed golf, fishing and
painting in his later years. Survived by his
wife and their two daughters, Sir John Marks
died of cancer on 22 October 1982 at Little
Bay, Sydney, and was cremated. His memoir
Reflections was published in 1984.
R. T. Appleyard and C. B. Schedvin (eds), Australian
Financiers (1988); National Times, 31 Jan-5 Feb
1977, p 47; SMH, 23 Oct 1982, pp 27, 28; B883,
NX12520 (NAA); private information.
JiM Bain
MARSH, RALPH BENSON (1909-1989),
trade unionist and politician, was born on
30 September 1909 at Newcastle, New South
Wales, fourth of seven children of Irish-born
Hugh Marsh, engineer, and his wife Jane
Ann, née Benson, born in New South Wales.
Ralph was educated at Nambucca Heads Public
School and commenced a boiler making
apprenticeship with the New South Wales
Government Railways in 1926. Apart from a
period of unemployment during the Depression,
he worked with the railways, mainly at
West Narrabri and in Sydney at Chullora, until
his resignation in 1949. He married Englishborn
Irene Mary Kermode (d.1976) on 11
February 1933 at St Mary’s Cathedral, Sydney;
he had converted to her Catholic faith.
129
Marsh
He joined the Australian Labor Party in 1933
and was active in the local branches.
Prominent in the Boilermakers’ Society of
Australia, in 1949 Marsh became the full-time
secretary-treasurer of the Redfern branch,
with an office at the Sydney Trades Hall. He
was a member of one of the industrial groups
maintained by the ALP to fight communism in
the unions. Elected to the central executive of
the State ALP as a ‘grouper’ in 1952, he was
to serve until 1962, when he filled a vacancy
in the New South Wales Legislative Council.
He was also a State representative on the
interstate liaison committee of the industrial
groups. When the 1955 federal conference
withdrew recognition of them, Marsh decided
to stay in the ALP.
Marsh’s anti-communist credentials and
reputation for trustworthiness attracted the
attention of the right-wing leadership of the
Labor Council of New South Wales. He won
an election in 1957 for the new position of
organiser, rising to assistant secretary in 1958
and to secretary in 1967. A ‘cheerful, plump
man’ (according to the journalist Mungo
McCallum), as secretary, he presided over
the construction of a new building for the
Labor Council in Sussex Street, Sydney. His
colleague John Ducker found him ‘placid,
peaceful [and] amenable’ but in May 1971 he
dealt firmly with the militant Australian Builders’
Labourers’ Federation by successfully
moving for its suspension from the council
pending an investigation, after some men,
allegedly BLF members, disrupted a meeting.
He criticised the BLF in February 1972 for its
policy of green bans against the demolition of
historic buildings.
Labor Council representative (1965-69,
1972-73) on the executive of the Australian
Council of Trade Unions, Marsh served
(1969-71, 1973-75) as junior vice-president.
He attended conferences of the International
Labour Organization and the International
Confederation of Free Trade Unions. Travelling
widely to labour conferences, including
one in the Soviet Union (1973), he called
for unions to organise more effectively on
an international basis to curb the growing
power of multinational corporations.
Late in 1975 Marsh resigned as secretary
of the Labor Council to take up a part-time
position (1975-79) on the Public Transport
Commission of New South Wales. He was
appointed OBE in 1975. Next year his term
on the Legislative Council ended. His recreations
included bowling, swimming, fishing and
watching rugby league. Survived by his son and
two daughters, he died on 9 May 1989 at Bankstown
and was buried in Leppington cemetery.
R. Markey, In Case of Oppression (1994);
M. Dodkin, Brothers (2001); Australian, 21 Oct
1967, p 3. GreG PatMore
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Marshall
MARSHALL, ALAN (1902-1984), writer
and humanist, was born on 2 May 1902 at
Noorat, in the Western District of Victoria,
fourth surviving child and only son of Victorian-
born parents William Bertred Marshall, storekeeper,
and his wife Adameina Henrietta, née
Leister. He was named William Allen. Alan
was attending Noorat State School when he
contracted poliomyelitis at the age of 6; it left
him crippled but undaunted. Through a painful
convalescence he avidly read boys’ adventure
comics and books. Rejecting attempts to
patronise him, and with the encourage ment of
his parents, particularly his father, he insisted
on sharing all the activities of his schoolmates.
He went rabbiting and rambling on crutches
through the bush, and learned to ride and
swim. His physical disadvantage generated his
desire ‘to record life as it really was’.
In the Western District, Marshall later
wrote, the wealthy and the poor, the Scots
Protestants and the Irish Catholics, lived side
by side. The Marshalls attended the Presbyterian
Church: Alan refined his debating skills
in its Young Men’s Guild and later began his
literary career as, briefly, the editor of the
guild’s Gazette. Like his father he sided with
the poor. Influenced by reading Robert Blatchford
and by a crippled neighbour, Frank Smith,
an atheist, he became increasingly revolutionary
in his outlook, rejecting all religions.
After two troubled years at Terang Higher
Elementary School, Marshall left to work
with his father. In 1920 the family moved to
Diamond Creek, near Melbourne, so that he
could pursue studies at Stott’s Business College,
to which he had won a full scholarship.
He left without completing his qualifications
and moved through several temporary jobs.
His story ‘Retribution’, submitted to the
Bulletin in 1923, brought the encouragement
‘crude but strong . . . keep at it’. However,
none of the twenty-eight stories he wrote
between 1923 and 1934 was published. In
1930 he became an accountant at Trueform,
a Collingwood shoe factory. Following the
factory’s closure in 1935 he determined to
become a full-time writer.
Often unpaid, Marshall contributed to
a variety of left-wing journals’ sketches of
lives blighted by prevailing economic conditions.
From 1937 his ‘Proletarian Picture
Book’ appeared, sometimes under the name
‘Steve Kennedy’, in Workers’ Voice (a weekly
published by the Victorian branch of the Communist
Party of Australia), the Communist
Review and, as ‘Australian Picture-book’, in
the British Left Review. He won the Australian
Literature Society Short Story Award three
times, the first in 1933. In 1940 the Victorian
Writers’ League published in an austere, greycovered
roneoed format, These Are My People,
six stories including his most popular: ‘Tell Us
130
A. D. B.
About the Turkey, Jo’. He contributed articles
supporting the campaign against the deportation
of Egon Kisch [q.v.15], and edited Point,
an anti-fascist magazine.
From the mid-1930s, through his opposition
to fascism and war, Marshall was engaged
in various communist activities. He became
president of the VWL in 1938 but never joined
the party, believing that the work of writers
suffered from the discipline of party membership.
While he dismissed reports of persecution
of Soviet writers, he believed they were
pressed to distort their work in the interests
of the state. From 1949 he was under frequent
surveillance by the Australian Security and
Intelligence Organisation.
Marshall’s first commercial publication
had come in 1934, when John Hetherington
[q.v.14] accepted ‘The Little Black Bottle’
for the Sun News-Pictorial and Smith’s Weekly
published ‘It Happened One Night’. In 1937,
when he was writing eight thousand words a
month, he earned £184 13s 4d. His first novel,
How Beautiful Are Thy Feet, also completed
that year, remained unpublished until 1949.
Based on his experiences at Trueform, the
book vividly portrayed the misery of Melbourne
in the grip of Depression. He also
gave talks on radio-station 3LO, provided the
text for three comic strips and wrote a play. In
addition he collaborated with the artist Rem
McClintock, the journalist Kim Keane and
the writer Leo Cash on another play, Thirteen
Dead, the story of a disaster in a Wonthaggi
coalmine, which was produced by the New
Theatre League in July 1937. Through the
Writers’ League he met Olive Dulcie Dixon, a
divorcee; they married on 30 May 1941 at the
office of the government statist, Melbourne.
Having become well known, Marshall was
selected by the editors of A.I.F. News, a weekly
paper published by the army for the troops
in the Middle East, to tour Victoria gathering
messages from their wives, mothers and
friends. In February he and Olive set off in a
horse-drawn caravan. His reports appeared
in the News from 30 May 1942 until February
1943—only interrupted in June 1942 by his
fall from a horse and three months in Swan
Hill hospital. These trips provided characters
and incidents on which he drew for many later
stories, and for his book, also titled These Are
My People (1944), published by F. W. Cheshire
[q.v.17].
While on the road, Marshall provided a
correspondence course on freelance journalism
for Melbourne Technical College, and in
1944 he was engaged by the Army Education
Service to deliver a series of lectures.
In 1945 and 1946 he drove by car through
Queensland and the Northern Territory,
where his first extended encounters with
Aborigines included visits to sacred sites.
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1981–1990
The result of these experiences was Ourselves
Writ Strange (1948), reissued as These Were
My Tribesmen (1965), and two later books on
Aboriginal myths.
Although Olive supported Marshall during
these journeys, there were tensions between
her desire to settle down and his determination
to travel and write. They had several
separations and were divorced shortly before
her death in 1957. Marshall did not marry
again, but had many warm epistolary and personal
relationships with women. His weekly
advice column, ‘Alan Marshall’s Casebook’,
ran in the Argus from 1952 until the paper’s
cessation in 1957, and was distinguished by
its common-sense approach to lonely men
and women, wives with drinking husbands,
bewildered teenagers, troubled parents and
self-righteous straiteners.
Marshall’s first commercially published
volume of short stories, Tell Us About the
Turkey, Jo (1946), was followed by two collections
of newspaper sketches, Pull Down
the Blind (1949) and Bumping into Friends
(1950). Yarns of the mythical Speewah station,
published in How’s Andy Going? (1956),
showed his interest in Australian humour and
folklore, and with the artist Doug Tainsh, he
later developed these tales into a series of
comic strips for the Argus.
In 1954 Marshall received a Commonwealth
Literary Fund grant to work on the first volume
of his fictionalised autobiography, I Can
Jump Puddles (1955), his best-known book.
Selling not only in Australia but abroad—
particularly, in translation, in Russia and
eastern Europe—it was an inspiring account
of courage in dealing with a devastating handicap,
and also succeeded in showing through
a child’s eyes the life and variety of a country
town. In the darker second and third books
of the trilogy—This Is the Grass (1962) and In
Mine Own Heart (1963)—Marshall wrote of
Melbourne in the 1930s.
Living at Eltham from 1955, Marshall
became a keen defender of the shire’s natural
and cultural heritage, in publications including
Pioneers and Painters (1971). He continued
to write prolifically, producing several more
collections of short stories and humorous
sketches, as well as The Gay Provider (1962),
a commissioned history of the Myer [q.v.10]
Emporium. He received another CLF fellowship
in 1961. His earnings from writing had
totalled £36 198 or a little less than £1600
a year.
Marshall was the subject of radio and
screen documentaries, and several of his
works were later filmed—notably I Can Jump
Puddles, in a Czech version (1970), and as a
television series for the Australian Broadcasting
Commission in 1981. In his later years,
he became interested in the sexual needs of
131
Marshall
the disabled, and campaigned to have their
rights recognised. In 1974 he worked with
Fred Schepisi on a film about the employment
of the handicapped, and in 1979 assisted
Genni Batterham with a documentary, ‘Pins
and Needles’ (1980), on the problems of the
handicapped. His letters gave her the title of
a second film, ‘Riding the Gate’ (1987).
In 1972 Marshall was awarded an hononary
LL D by the University of Melbourne. In
1977 he received the Soviet Union’s Order of
Friendship of Peoples. He was appointed OBE
in 1972 and AM in 1981. Enduring increasing
weakness, he moved to suburban Black Rock
where he was cared for by his sister Elsie,
until forced to enter a nursing home in 1982.
His long professional partnership with Frank
Cheshire had ended when the latter declined
to publish Marshall’s Hammers over the Anvil
(1975), believing that the violence and cruelty
seen through a child’s eyes in this work would
destroy Marshall’s image as a kind, brave and
sympathetic individual. Yet Cheshire was so
horrified by the conditions in which Marshall
was living that he arranged to move him into
nursing quarters that he had purchased for
himself, but these too proved unsatisfactory.
Marshall died at East Brighton on 21 January
1984, survived by his two daughters. He
was buried in Nillumbik cemetery, Diamond
Creek. The Victorian branch of the Fellowship
of Australian Writers instituted an award in
his name.
Marshall believed that positive human qualities
always arise from suffering. His letters
showed the same skill in storytelling as his
published work, and revealed his gift for friendship.
People who knew him from his writing or
talks wrote to him in trust and affection, and
his replies elicited moving accounts of their
lives. Some took pride when he incorporated
these stories in his own; others he encouraged
to seek publication for themselves. Always
working from experience, he saw life as a
series of peaks and plains, a writer’s task being
to describe the view from the peaks. Millions
of copies of I Can Jump Puddles were sold
worldwide. The darker stories of Hammers over
the Anvil did not achieve the same popularity,
but they perhaps represented his greatest
achievement, entering as they did into the
most painful corners of life with sympathy for
those who suffered from the power of others
or from their own weaknesses. Marshall saw
even these aspects of life with a child’s sense
of wonder and an adult’s rage and pity.
H. Marks, I Can Jump Oceans (1976); J. Beasley,
Red Letter Days (1979); J. Morrison, The Happy
Warrior (1987); Dictionary of Literary Biography,
vol 260, 2002, p 204; Marshall papers (NLA); J.
Smith papers (NLA); G. Hardisty papers (SLV);
A6119, items 511, 3449, 3450, 3460, 3461 (NAA).
John McLaren
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Martin
MARTIN, Sir DAVID JAMES (1933-
1990), naval officer and governor, was born
on 15 April 1933 at Darling Point, Sydney,
only child of Sydney-born parents William
Harold Martin, naval officer, and his wife Isla
Estelle, née Murray. David was educated at
Scots College, Sydney, and in 1947 entered
the Royal Australian Naval College, Flinders
Naval Depot, Westernport, Victoria, as a cadet
midshipman. He was studious and an excellent
sportsman, becoming cadet captain of his
division and captaining the rugby union first
XV in his final year (1950).
After training in Britain with the Royal Navy,
Martin served (1951-52) in the aircraft carrier,
HMAS Sydney, during the Korean War. In 1953
he undertook further training in Britain and
was promoted to sub lieutenant. Returning
to Australia in 1954, he joined the aircraft
carrier, HMAS Vengeance, the following year
as an officer of the watch. The ship sailed to
Britain to pay off, and the ship’s company
transferred to the new aircraft carrier, HMAS
Melbourne. Promoted to lieutenant in 1955,
he was posted the following year to HMAS
Torrens, a shore establishment in Adelaide.
On 5 January 1957 Martin married Suzanne
Millear at All Saints Church of England,
Willaura, Victoria. Later that year he returned
to England where, after attending specialist
gunnery training, he undertook exchange
service with the Royal Navy in the destroyer,
HMS Battleaxe. He joined the destroyer,
HMAS Voyager, in 1962 as gunnery officer
and next year was promoted to lieutenant
commander. Martin left the ship in August—
six months before it sank in a collision with
HMAS Melbourne on 10 February 1964—to
become weapons adviser on the naval staff at
Australia House, London. In 1966 he trained
at the Royal Naval College, Greenwich, before
returning home to take up an appointment
as executive officer in the destroyer, HMAS
Vampire. Later that year he gave evidence at
the second royal commission into the loss of
the Voyager. Promoted to commander in 1967,
he was appointed in July as executive officer
of the Royal Australian Naval College, Jervis
Bay, Australian Capital Territory. There he
made a significant impression on a cohort of
young officers.
Martin took command in 1969 of the
training frigate, HMAS Queenborough, and
in the following year he was appointed fleet
operations officer, responsible for the movements
and activities of all Australian naval
units. In 1972 he attended the Joint Services
Staff College, Weston Creek, Canberra, and
in December was promoted to captain. He
then became director of naval reserves and
cadets. Although it was a low profile position,
he approached it with vigour and imagination.
In 1974 Martin returned to sea as commanding
officer of the destroyer escort,
132
A. D. B.
HMAS Torrens, and commander of the Third
Destroyer Squadron. During a successful command,
Torrens escorted HMY Britannia from
Norfolk Island to Port Moresby, Papua New
Guinea, in February during Queen Elizabeth
II’s tour of the South-West Pacific. From
1975 to 1977 he worked as director, capability
review, within the force development and
analysis section, Department of Defence,
which assessed future force structure options.
This civilian-dominated section generally
viewed its uniformed members with suspicion
but Martin demonstrated an excellent ability
to get on with a diverse range of people. He
subsequently served for seven months as
deputy-chief of navy materiel.
By this time Martin was being prepared
for flag rank. From 1978 he served briefly
as commanding officer of the tanker, HMAS
Supply, before being promoted to commodore
in January 1979 and assuming command of
HMAS Melbourne. As a commanding officer,
Martin was again well liked. In 1980 he went
to Britain once more, this time as a student
at the prestigious Royal College of Defence
Studies, London. On returning to Australia
in 1981 he was appointed director-general
of naval manpower, Canberra, a difficult role
in which he excelled. He served as a councillor
of the Australian Naval Institute and as
president of the Navy Ski Club. Martin was
promoted to rear admiral and appointed chief
of naval personnel in April 1982. This was a
particularly demanding job as the navy had
downsized after the government’s decision
not to replace HMAS Melbourne. Adding to his
burden, he was diagnosed with emphysema.
In 1984 Martin became flag officer, Naval
Support Command, Sydney, the Navy’s fourth
most senior position. In addition to the heavy
administrative load, the job entailed a substantial
social dimension, the pinnacle of which
was his organisation of the shore-based activities
of the RAN’s 75th birthday celebrations.
With his communication skills and experience,
he was ideally suited to this post and did much
to rebuild the navy’s post-carrier standing and
morale. In 1985 he was appointed AO.
Martin, who retired from the navy in February
1988, possessed a ready smile and a
sparkle of the eye that left a lasting impression
on many he met. He was one of the most
admired and respected naval officers of his era
and his rapport with sailors was exceptional.
Later in 1988 Martin received the New South
Wales Father of the Year award and in August
he accepted the government’s offer to become
the State’s thirty-fourth governor. Sworn in
on 20 January 1989, he was the first RAN
officer to hold the position. In December he
was appointed KCMG.
His governorship was marked by less formality,
but retained the pomp and ceremony.
Handsome and charismatic, Sir David became
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1981–1990
hugely popular and was dubbed the people’s
governor by the media. In 1990 he was diagnosed
with mesothelioma and, in a public
announcement in August, he revealed his condition
and impending resignation. On 7 August
he and Lady Martin left Government House
intending to retire in Sydney. Survived by his
wife, and their two daughters and son, he died
at Darlinghurst three days later, on 10 August,
and, after a state funeral, was cremated. An
official portrait of him by Brian Westwood
hangs in Government House, Sydney.
Martin’s sense of humanity, his deep concern
for the less fortunate and his awareness
of the need to provide practical ways to help
improve their circumstances were recognised
in the establishment of the Sir David Martin
Foundation, which assists disadvantaged
youth in the State. A reserve at Rushcutters
Bay, Sydney, and a Sydney Harbour catamaran
ferry bear his name.
M. Stenmark, Sir David Martin (1996); Sir
David Martin Research Project, A Call to Duty
(1995); A6769, item MARTIN D J (NAA); private
information. Peter D. JoneS
MARTIN, Sir HAROLD BROWNLOW
MORGAN (1918-1988), ‘dam buster’ and
air force officer, was born on 27 February
1918 at Darling Point, Sydney, second of
three children of Irish-born Joseph Harold
Osborne Martin, medical practitioner, and his
New South Wales-born wife Colina Elizabeth,
née Dixon. Harold was educated at Lindfield
Public and Randwick Boys’ Intermediate High
schools and left Australia in 1937, intent on
seeing the world.
In England in 1940 Martin joined the Royal
Air Force Volunteer Reserve. Training initially
as a fighter pilot, he was promoted to pilot
officer in June 1941 and transferred in October
to the Royal Australian Air Force’s No.455
Squadron, Bomber Command. After carrying
out thirteen operations flying Hampden bombers,
mainly against highly defended German
targets in the Ruhr Valley, he was posted
to No.50 Squadron, RAF, which operated
Lancaster bombers. He completed a further
twenty-five sorties, finishing his first tour in
October 1942; he was awarded the Distinguished
Flying Cross the following month.
During this period ‘Mick’ Martin developed
an effective method of penetrating enemy
defences at night, flying at low level. When
No.617 Squadron (the ‘Dam Busters’) was
formed in March 1943, its commanding
officer, Wing Commander Guy Gibson, aware
of Martin’s low-level flying technique, had him
posted to the squadron. Martin’s main task
was to train air crews in the art of low-level
133
Martin
night flying, in preparation for a planned
attack on German dams.
On 16 May, flying at 150 ft (46 m), Martin
(Gibson’s no.3) was in the first wave of aircraft
briefed to breach the Möhne dam. At a height
of 60 ft (18 m) he flew over the dam three
times; his aeroplane was struck by anti-aircraft
fire. He acted with Gibson to distract enemy
guns from the other attacking aircraft and,
after the dam wall had been successfully
breached, flew the Lancaster safely back to
base. Awarded the Distinguished Service
Order, he was promoted to flight lieutenant
in June.
Martin remained with No.617 Squadron,
taking part in precision bombing of Italian
targets in July and, more importantly, in a
costly attack in September on the Dortmund-
Ems Canal, Germany. The squadron’s commanding
officer was killed during the raid
and Martin took over the lead; five of the
eight attacking Lancasters were lost. He was
awarded a Bar to his DFC and, as acting squadron
leader, was placed in temporary command
of the now heavily depleted squadron. When
(Baron) Leonard Cheshire assumed command,
he and Martin devised an effective low-level
target-marking technique. In February 1944,
when Martin took part in the unsuccessful and
tragic raid on the Antheor Viaduct, France, his
aircraft was badly damaged. Awarded a Bar to
his DSO, in March he was posted to Air Staff
Headquarters.
On 14 October 1944 at St Barnabas Church
of England, Kensington, London, Martin
married Wendy Laurence Walker, a widowed
civil servant and daughter of the Melbourne
artist Ida Rentoul Outhwaite [q.v.11]. He
transferred to No.515 Squadron, flying
Mosquitoes, in which he undertook intruder
operations in support of Bomber Command’s
main force attacks. When finally removed from
operations late in 1944, he had completed
eighty-three sorties. In November he was
awarded a second Bar to his DFC. Cheshire
considered Martin a greater operational pilot
than Gibson ‘and indeed the greatest the Air
Force has produced’.
Martin was appointed to a permanent commission
in the RAF with the rank of flight
lieutenant, effective from 1 September 1945.
In 1947, flying a Mosquito, he set a London
to Cape Town, South Africa, record and then
commanded the first jet flight across the
Atlantic made by an RAF squadron. Promoted
to squadron leader that year, he was awarded
the Britannia Trophy and, in 1948, the Air
Force Cross. Martin served (1952-55) as air
attaché at the British embassy, Israel, and as
aide-de-camp (1964-66) to Queen Elizabeth
II. Rising to air vice marshal in 1966 and
air marshal in 1970, he filled a number of
staff appointments, including air officer commanding
No.38 Group, Air Support Command
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Martin
(1967-70), commander-in-chief, RAF Germany
(1970-73), and commander, North Atlantic
Treaty Organisation 2nd Tactical Air Force
(1970-73). He was appointed CB in 1968 and
KCB in 1971. In 1973, as air member for
personnel, Ministry of Defence, he unsuccessfully
opposed service cuts.
Following his retirement from the RAF
in 1974, Sir Harold joined Hawker Siddeley
International Ltd as an adviser. Interested in
horse racing, painting, sculpture, tennis and
travel, he retired in 1985. Survived by his wife
and their two daughters, he died on 3 November
1988 in his home at Kensington, London,
and was buried in Gunnersbury cemetery.
H. Nelson, Chased by the Sun (2002); C. Burgess,
Australia’s Dambusters (2003); ODNB (2004);
Daily Telegraph (London), 4 Nov 1988, p 25; Times
(London), 4 Nov 1988, p 16. John Mccarthy
MARTIN, Sir LESLIE HAROLD (1900-
1983), physicist, was born on 21 December
1900 at Footscray, Melbourne, only surviving
child of Victorian-born parents Henry Richard
Martin, railway worker, and his wife Esther
(Ettie) Emily, née Tutty. Les’s father died in
1913 and money was always scarce for the
family. From Essendon High School he won a
junior scholarship to Melbourne High School
(1917-18), and then a senior government
scholarship to the University of Melbourne
(B.Sc., 1921; M.Sc., 1922). Enrolling first
to train as a science teacher, he transferred
to regular science after obtaining first-class
honours in second-year natural philosophy
(physics). His master’s research, which also
won first-class honours, was part of a wider
program on X-rays being developed under
Professor T. H. Laby [q.v.9] and involved an
investigation of the absorption spectrum of
the rare earth element erbium.
On 13 February 1923 at St James’s Church
of England, Ivanhoe, Martin married Gladys
Maude Elaine Bull, a music student at the
university. Instead of completing her degree,
she accompanied him to England after he
was awarded an 1851 Exhibition scholarship.
Enrolling at the University of Cambridge
(Ph.D., 1934), he became a member of Trinity
College. Supervised by Sir Ernest (Baron)
Rutherford at the Cavendish Laboratory
and initially collaborating with E. C. Stoner
in measuring the variation of absorption of
X-rays with wavelength and atomic number, he
then studied the characteristic X-rays emitted
when different metals were excited by beams
of various wavelengths. In his final year he was
funded by an international research fellowship
from the Rockefeller Foundation.
Appointed to a senior lectureship in physics
at the University of Melbourne, Martin
134
A. D. B.
returned once his thesis was accepted in 1927.
It took some time to assemble the apparatus
he needed, but in due course he resumed
research on X-rays. In 1934 he shared the
David Syme [q.v.6] research prize for his
work on the Auger effect, the emission of
electrons during the reorganisation of atoms
after ionisation by X-rays.
Promoted to associate professor in 1937,
Martin moved into nuclear physics. With
E. H. S. Burhop [q.v.13] he built Australia’s
first particle accelerator, adapting a 230-kV
high-tension DC power unit to accelerate
deuterons onto a target of heavy water
to generate a homogeneous beam of fast
neutrons. Their success prompted Laby to
start assembling funds for a small cyclotron.
The outbreak of World War II thwarted such
ambitions, and Martin immediately switched
to work for the army and air force. Associated
with the Optical Munitions Panel, he led a
group developing a height- and rangefinder
for anti-aircraft use. In early 1942 he and
Burhop were seconded to the Council for
Scientific and Industrial Research’s radiophysics
laboratory in Sydney, joining Australia’s
secret wartime radar project. There he tackled
prob lems associated with the manufacture
of magnetrons and other electronic valves. His
mastery of the necessary vacuum techniques
was displayed in a small book he later wrote
with R. D. Hill, A Manual of Vacuum Practice
(1947). As deputy-chief of the CSIR’s division
of radiophysics (1942-44), he divided
his time between Sydney and the laboratory,
relocated to the University of Melbourne, that
ensured the supply of valves crucial to the
successful deployment of radar by Australia’s
armed services.
On 1 January 1945, following Laby’s resignation,
Martin became Chamber of Manufacturers
professor of physics at the University of
Melbourne. Committed to building his department
into a recognised centre for research
in nuclear physics, he proposed several cooperative
investigations to the CSIR. While
enormous resources were devoted to such
research in the United States of America,
Australians had no detailed information as
to what was being done. As a first step it was
agreed to maintain several technical support
staff in his department. In the longer term, he
and his team were established in the minds
of government ministers and officials as the
local authorities on nuclear science.
The dropping of atomic bombs on Hiroshima
and Nagasaki in Japan in August 1945
heightened perceptions of the need to foster
local expertise in this previously esoteric
field. Automatically included in the discussions
within CSIR, Martin was an inaugural
appointee to the Defence Scientific Advisory
Committee in 1946 and chairman of its atomic
developments sub-committee. In 1947 the
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1981–1990
CSIR supported his travel to Britain to seek
information about current developments.
From 1948 to 1968 he served as defence scientific
adviser and as chairman of the Defence
Research and Development Policy Committee.
In 1949-52 he was a member of the Industrial
Atomic Energy Policy Committee, formed by
the Chifley [q.v.13] government in its final
months ‘to advise . . . on all aspects of the work
to be undertaken in this field in Australia’.
Support for Martin’s own department’s
research was not so forthcoming, beyond the
establishment of a small group facilitating the
use of radioactive tracers in biological research
and industry. With colleagues he therefore
embarked on a home-grown program of
accelerator-building. The pre-war high-tension
unit was revived; a table-model betatron was
built and converted into an 18-MeV electron
synchrotron; two Van der Graaf accelerators
of 1-MeV and 700-keV rating were constructed
out of cheap local materials; and then, in the
1950s, a locally designed 12-MeV variableenergy
cyclotron was built. While the hightension
unit did not last, the other machines
provided introductions to nuclear physics for
several generations of postgraduate students.
A newcomer to work on the nucleus, Martin
provided little sense of an overall strategy to
guide such investigations. Still, these were
boom years for physics everywhere: under
Martin, the Melbourne department grew
dramatically. He taught courses in atomic
and nuclear physics and electromagnetism,
but his involvement in research declined as
he took on commitments elsewhere. Within
the university, he was a member (1951-59)
of the university council and chairman (1955-
56) of the professorial board, and he served
on many committees. Further afield, he was
appointed in 1948 to the interim council of the
Australian National University and in 1953 to
the Scientific Advisory Committee of the Australian
Atomic Energy Commission, of which
he was a commissioner in 1958-68. A trustee
(1953-63, chairman 1962-63) of the Science
Museum of Victoria, he was president (1952-
53) of the Australian branch of the (British)
Institute of Physics and a foundation fellow
(1954) of the Australian Academy of Science.
Appointed CBE (1954), he was elected a fellow
of the Royal Society, London, and knighted
in 1957.
Martin had been an official Australian
observer at the British atomic weapons tests
at the Monte Bello islands, Western Australia,
in 1952, and at Emu Field, South Australia,
in 1953. When the Maralinga test range was
established in 1955, he became chairman of
the atomic weapons test safety committee.
The committee’s responsibility to determine
whether conditions were safe for a test to
proceed brought Martin into conflict with
the biochemist Hedley Marston [q.v.15], who
135
Martin
argued that levels of radioactive contamination
had been significantly understated. Under
pressure from the government Martin was
persuaded too easily to announce that there
was ‘absolutely no danger’ to Australians from
the 1956 tests. After standing down from the
AWTSC in early 1957, he joined Sir Macfarlane
Burnet [q.v.17] on the national radiation
advisory committee, established on their
initiative to report on ‘the wider aspects of
radio-activity’, including the biological hazards
on radiation. He served on this committee
until it was disbanded in 1973.
Rapid postwar growth had placed Australia’s
State-funded universities under great
stress. Following a 1957 report, the Federal
government determined to commit substantial
sums to their renewal, as matching funding
to increased grants from the States. In 1959
Martin resigned his professorship to become
the first chairman of the Australian Universities
Commission, established to co-ordinate
this development. He maintained an excellent
working relationship with Prime Minister
(Sir) Robert Menzies [q.v.15] and close
relations with the States. The AUC’s first
two reports (1960 and 1963) were accepted
in full. Dramatic increases in resources and
staff at existing institutions, the establishment
of several new universities, and new buildings
on campuses throughout the country led to a
halcyon era for the universities.
Among the pressures facing universities
was the increasing demand for student places.
Following a recommendation from the AUC,
in 1961 Menzies established a committee to
inquire into the future of higher education in
Australia. Martin was appointed chairman.
The committee’s 1965 report—reflecting
Menzies’ thinking and Martin’s Cambridgeinspired
view of what a university should
be—assumed that Australia could not afford to
provide such an education for all those seeking
to undertake tertiary studies. Acknowledging
the country’s need for more technically
trained people, the committee proposed the
creation of colleges that would provide a high
level of applied training, focusing on teaching
rather than research. With the acceptance of
the report, which shaped the nation’s highereducation
sector until the late 1980s, the
college sector also entered upon a period of
rapid growth.
Seeing an active engagement in research
as essential in a university, Martin was determined
that some of the new money being
distributed should be used to redress the
lack of support for such activity in Australia.
The AUC’s recommendations included grants
earmarked for research, with the funds being
allocated by the universities themselves. The
creation of the Australian Research Grants
Committee in 1965 meant that grants were
henceforth made directly to competitively
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Martin
selected research projects. To Martin’s
regret, the scheme came at the expense of
the sum recommended by the AUC to provide
general grants to the universities for research
and postgraduate education.
Martin made a number of trips overseas
during these years, seeking information about
developments in higher education and in connection
with his responsibilities as defence
scientific adviser. Through the contacts he
developed, he played a significant role in
maintaining, at a technical level, Australia’s
links with its allies. In May 1961 he visited
Britain and was briefed on changing attitudes
among defence planners towards the use of
tactical nuclear weapons. In London and
Washington in 1965, he discussed the possibility
of Australia’s joining the Tripartite
Technical Co-operation Programme under
which information was shared between
defence authorities in Britain, the USA and
Canada. He subsequently became the Australian
representative on the TTCP’s governing
board. During this trip he also discussed
with British authorities the prospects for a
wider proliferation of nuclear weapons and
Australia’s capacity to acquire an independent
nuclear capability. His report on this matter
sparked a reconsideration of the issues among
senior defence planners in Australia.
In 1966 the AUC’s third report was
rejected by both State and Commonwealth
governments, wrestling with each other over
financial responsibilities. With the commission
then working in a more constrained
environment, Martin retired later that year.
In 1967-70 he served as dean and professor
of physics in the faculty of military studies,
Royal Military College, Duntroon, where his
reputation went far towards winning academic
acceptance for the college and smoothing
relations with its military authorities. He took
to lecturing again, overseeing the appointment
of staff and encouraging them to develop
research programs. He also chaired (1967-
70) the Tertiary Education (Services’ Cadet
Colleges) Committee, whose report led to
the establishment of the Australian Defence
Force Academy.
Sir Leslie Martin was an urbane and friendly
man of stocky build, who rose from humble
beginnings to a position of power and influence
from which he made major contributions
to his country. His success depended largely
on his character and the trust he engendered
in others. The minute of appreciation prepared
at the time of his resignation from
the University of Melbourne noted that he
was ‘a man of the utmost integrity and the
most friendly of colleagues’. Others agreed.
When Marston railed against Martin over
his statement about radioactive fallout, (Sir)
Mark Oliphant insisted that he was man of
honour who would not knowingly have lied to
136
A. D. B.
the public. As chairman of the AUC, Martin
had the full confidence of the prime minister.
He also had that of the Australian defence
hierarchy and of his opposite numbers in the
defence establishments in London and Washington,
who entrusted extremely sensitive
information to him.
Martin’s contribution to Australian life was
recognised by the award of several honorary
degrees, including a D.Sc. (1959) and a LL D
(1970) from his alma mater. He retired again,
and for the final time, in March 1971, and lived
quietly in Canberra and then Melbourne. He
suffered a stroke in 1979 that cost him much
of his memory, but from which he other wise
made a good recovery. Survived by his wife
and one of their two sons, he died on 1 February
1983 at Camberwell after declining
slowly during the previous few months; he
was cremated. In 2007 the University of
Melbourne named its Institute for Higher
Education Leadership and Management after
him. His son Raymond (b.1926) was vicechancellor
(1977-87) of Monash University.
A. P. Gallagher, Coordinating Australian University
Development (1982); S. Davies, The Martin
Committee and the Binary Policy of Higher Education
in Australia (1989); E. Muirhead, Leslie Martin at
Melbourne (1998); R. Cross, Fallout: Hedley Marston
and the British Bomb Tests in Australia (2001);
Hist Records of Austn Science, vol 6, no 2, 1985,
p 137, vol 7, no 1, 1987, p 97; R. W. Home, ‘The
Rush to Accelerate’, Hist Studies in the Physical
and Biological Sciences, vol 36, no 2, 2006, p 213;
A1945, items 292/2/134 and 292/2/349, A6119,
item 265 (NAA). r. w. hoMe
MASEL, ALEC (1898-1988), solicitor
and Jewish community leader, was born on
1 September 1898 at Fremantle, Western
Australia, eldest of four sons of Russian-born
parents Esor Masel, jeweller, and his wife
Leah, née Cohen. Philip Masel [q.v.15] was
his brother. Educated at Christian Brothers’
College, Perth (dux 1914), Alec studied at
the University of Western Australia (BA,
1918), where he was encouraged by (Sir)
Walter Murdoch [q.v.10] to read law at the
University of Melbourne (LL B, 1921). In
Melbourne his interest in Jewish communal
matters—at 15 he had been president of the
WA Junior Zionist Society—brought him to
the attention of Michael Philip Fox in whose
office he served his articles. He joined P. D.
Phillips [q.v.15], Fox & Overend in 1922 and
quickly became a partner in the firm. With a
remarkable network of contacts and particular
expertise in insurance law, he rose to senior
partner in the renamed Phillips, Fox & Masel.
On 28 November 1922 at the St Kilda
Synagogue Masel married Marie Schwartz.
Increasingly involved in Jewish affairs, he was
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1981–1990
elected to the board of management of the
Melbourne Hebrew Congregation in 1925
(president 1940, 1951). Enthused by Rabbi
Brodie’s [q.v.13] calls for Jewish solidarity, in
1927 he became a founding member (president
1941-45) of the Zionist Federation of
Australia, for which he drafted the constitution,
and successfully approached Sir John
Monash [q.v.10] to serve as president.
The debate surrounding Dr Isaac Steinberg’s
[q.v.16] campaign, beginning in 1939,
to resettle persecuted European Jews in the
East Kimberley region, forced Masel to tread
a fine line in Jewish communal politics. While
holding deep sympathy for Hitler’s victims, he
knew the proposal was doomed and declared
that Palestine was the only appropriate place
for large-scale Jewish settlement. Sir Isaac
Isaacs [q.v.9] was openly critical of Zionism,
and Masel—who held Isaacs in high personal
esteem—tactfully challenged his views. By
April 1944, then chairman (1942-46) of the
Victorian Jewish Advisory Board, he was
sufficiently angered by Jewish communal
silence in the face of xenophobia and bigotry
to publicly declare: ‘if at a time when our
fellow Jews in Europe are reaching out their
arms to us crying “Save us from death” we
even contemplate remaining silent for fear of
anti-semitic reactions, we are nothing else but
cowards and traitors’.
Rejected on medical reasons for military
service in World War II, Masel became chairman
of the Armed Services Division, South-
West Pacific Area, National Jewish Welfare
Board of the United States of America, which
cared for the spiritual needs of Jewish soldiers
in that theatre. As honorary treasurer (1939-
46) and president (1946-47) of the Australian
Jewish Welfare and Relief Society, he fought
for the admission of Jewish refugees into
Australia at a time when severe restrictions
were placed on the number of Jews permitted
in ships bringing migrants to Australia.
The desire for a more co-ordinated and
forceful representation of Jewish interests
led to Masel’s outstanding achievement: in
August 1944 he led the creation of the lay-led
Executive Council of Australian Jewry, which
replaced the unrepresentative, patrician
Congregational Advisory Board. He served
(1945-46) as its first president. While he was
sometimes severe in his public leadership,
his personal acquaintance with Arthur Calwell
[q.v.13], who became minister for immigration
in 1945, assisted Masel in making the case for
postwar Jewish migration. In 1946-47 he was
appointed a government envoy to Shanghai,
China, to investigate the problems encountered
by stateless Jewish refugees attempting
to migrate to Australia. Despite the unsympathetic
bureaucratic maze he encountered
in China, his visit facilitated the migration of
over 1600 people.
137
Mason
Putting aside most of his communal offices
by 1947, although remaining a prominent
speaker on Jewish affairs, Masel continued
to practise as a solicitor, serving (1966-69)
as chairman of the Chief Justice’s Statutory
Committee. He was respected for his integrity
and remained a consultant to Phillips Fox
after his retirement in 1986. Appointed OBE
(1972), he held several company directorships,
became the senior trustee of Mount
Scopus Memorial College, served as president
of the Victorian Jewish War Services Association
and helped to found the Young Men’s
Hebrew Association. Predeceased (1982) by
his wife, he died on 2 January 1988 at Prahran,
survived by his two sons, and was buried in
Chevra Kadisha cemetery, Springvale. A prize
in civil procedure was established at Monash
University in his honour.
H. L. Rubinstein, The Jews in Australia, vol 1
(1991); J. Aron and J. Arndt, The Enduring Remnant
(1992); R. Benjamin, ‘A Serious Influx of Jews’
(1998); Law Inst Jnl, vol 60, no 12, 1986, p 1364;
Austn Jewish Hist Soc Jnl, vol 29, no 2, 2008, p 269;
A. Masel scrapbook (Austn Jewish Hist Soc records,
SLV); private information. J. S. Levi
MASON, PETER (1922-1987), physicist,
educator and science communicator, was born
on 25 February 1922 at St Pancras, London,
son of Alfred George Mason, chemist, and
his wife Winnie, née Wheeldon, both committed
pacifists. Peter was educated at Eriva
Dene School, Fleet, St Clement’s Mixed and
Bournemouth schools, Bournemouth, and
Hartley University College, Southampton,
University of London (B.Sc., 1943; M.Sc.,
1946), where he achieved first-class honours
in mathematics and physics.
At the Ministry of Supply from 1943 to 1946
Mason worked on the military applications
of quartz crystals and met the physicist John
Desmond Bernal, who had a great influence
on him. Mason was admitted (1945) as an
associate-member of the Institute of Physics.
On 7 June 1945 at the Bournemouth register
office he married Sheila Mabelle Clegg, a
staff member at the Signals Research and
Development Establishment. They were both
active in the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament.
Sheila’s committed membership of the
Society of Friends (Quakers), along with his
parents’ pacifism, had a profound influence
on Mason’s approach to life. Described as ‘a
friendly non-Friend of the Society’, he could
never ‘take the final leap of faith’ and join
the Quakers.
Mason worked at the building research
station, Department of Scientific and Industrial
Research, in 1946-53 and with the British
Rubber Producers’ Research Association in
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Mason
1953-61. He completed a thesis entitled ‘The
Visco-elasticity of Strained Rubber’ for the
University of London (Ph.D., 1960; D.Sc.,
1979). In 1962 he arrived in Australia to
take up a post-doctoral fellowship, studying
keratin, at the division of textile physics, Commonwealth
Scientific and Industrial Research
Organization, Sydney, and subsequently
became a principal research officer. In 1965
he was leader of the leather research section,
CSIRO division of protein chemistry,
Melbourne, and worked on collagen.
Appointed foundation professor of physics
at the new Macquarie University, North Ryde,
Sydney, in 1966, the following year he gave the
first undergraduate lecture. As an educator,
he advocated and taught ‘general education’
courses that incorporated strands from
history, philosophy and the social sciences
and that emphasised the social responsibility
of science. Some were jointly presented with
other disciplines, for example history, and
others were run by the physics department
alone. Mason served two terms (1974-77,
1980-86) on the Macquarie University council.
Espousing his views against the Vietnam War
and proclaiming his interest in education, he
stood, unsuccessfully, as an Australian Reform
Movement candidate for the Senate in the
1967 Federal election. In his policy statement
he raised his concern about the small
number of women attending university and
the even smaller number studying medicine
and science.
Involved with the Australian and New
Zealand Association for the Advancement
of Science, particularly through his contributions
to the youth section, and to the
journal Search, Mason was elected a fellow in
1986. Representing Macquarie University,
he served on the council of the Australian
Institute of Nuclear Science and Engineering
in 1966-86 (vice-president 1983-85). He was a
founding council-member (1971-77) of Griffith
University, Brisbane. A councillor (1971-75)
of the Public Library of New South Wales, in
1983-86 he was the convenor of the national
advisory council of the Australian Broadcasting
Corporation. In 1984-87 he served on the
minister for science’s Commission for the
Future and was active in Scientists Against
Nuclear Arms.
In the 1970s Mason had become a science
communicator on Australian Broadcasting
Commission radio. This process culminated
in a series of programs for the ABC’s ‘Science
Show’ between 1978 and 1985 and the publication
of books related to them. He researched
and wrote the scripts and presented the
material on air. The programs had an underlying
anti-war or social justice theme and each
was developed in a historical context: ‘Genesis
to Jupiter’ (1978), ‘Cauchu, The Weeping
Wood, a History of Rubber’ (1979), ‘The Light
138
A. D. B.
Fantastic’ (1982), and ‘Blood and Iron’ (1984)
for which Mason shared (with Robyn Williams
and Halina Szewczyk) a United Nations media
peace prize gold citation in 1985. Half Your
Luck, a book on probability, was published
in 1986. Over the course of his career he
wrote seventy scientific papers, primarily on
polymer science and biophysics; he identified
cells in the hypothalamus as being the sensors
involved in the thermal control mechanisms
of the body.
With a sense of humour and a beaming
smile, this gentle man was enthusiastic in his
approach to life. In his hobby of windsurfing
he was able to find an example of applied
polymer science. Late in 1985 he could not
complete an undergraduate lecture and, following
medical tests, was diagnosed with a
brain tumour. He demonstrated a scientific
approach even towards his illness. He retired
from the university in 1986 and was appointed
an emeritus professor. Survived by his wife
and their son and two daughters, he died on
20 March 1987 at Wahroonga, Sydney, and
was cremated. The general education courses
involving science were still taught by the
physics department at Macquarie University
twenty years after his death. The Peter Mason
prize is awarded annually for proficiency in
one of them.
SMH, 23 Mar 1987, p 15, 23 May 1987, p 44;
Sirius: Macquarie Univ Convocation Mag, 1987,
p 10; Mason papers (Macquarie Univ Archives,
Sydney); private information.
anna-euGenia Binnie
MASSEY, Sir HARRIE STEWART WILSON
(1908-1983), physicist, was born on 16 May
1908 at Invermay, Victoria, only child of
Tasmanian-born Harrie Stewart Massey,
miner, and his Victorian-born wife Eleanor
Elizabeth, née Wilson. Harrie spent his early
years at Hoddles Creek, Victoria, where his
father owned a sawmill, and obtained his merit
certificate at the local state school in four
years instead of the usual eight. He moved
to Melbourne with his mother to take up a
scholarship at University High School, where
he was senior prefect in his final year.
Supported by a government scholarship,
in 1925 Massey enrolled at the University
of Melbourne (B.Sc., 1928; BA Hons, 1929;
M.Sc., 1929), winning a succession of prizes
and exhibitions and completing full honours
courses in physics, chemistry and mathematics.
No drudge, he found plenty of time for
sport and relaxation, especially billiards,
tennis, baseball—at which he represented
the university—and his great love, cricket, at
which he excelled. In 1926, while attending an
Australasian Association for the Advancement
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1981–1990
of Science congress in Perth, he met Jessica
Eliza Bruce, a schoolteacher: they married
on 11 January 1928 at the Perth district
registrar’s office.
In research for his master’s degree,
Massey collaborated with C. B. O. Mohr in
studying the reflection of soft X-rays from
metal surfaces. These experiments were
part of a program of research on X-rays led
by T. H. Laby [q.v.9], and utilised an ultra-highquality
diffraction grating manufactured by
Sir Thomas Lyle on the ruling engine built by
H. J. Grayson [qq.v.10,9]. Massey also wrote a
comprehensive 400-page critical review of the
new field of wave mechanics which, invented
only two years earlier, offered a revolutionary
understanding of the behaviour of matter
at the atomic level. With Edna Briggs, who
had recently returned from Cambridge, he
led discussion of ‘the new quantum theory’
at the first national conference of Australian
physicists, held in Canberra in August 1928.
Securing the University of Melbourne’s
Aitchison travelling scholarship, Massey left
for the Cavendish Laboratory, Cambridge, in
August 1929. Admitted to Trinity College, he
quickly built up an impressive list of publications
on the application of wave mechanics to
collisions between atomic particles. Several
were written jointly with Mohr, who joined
him in Cambridge, and with whom he continued
to collaborate for many years. While
most of these early papers were theoretical,
he also worked with E. C. (Sir Edward) Bullard
on a highly successful experimental study of
the scattering of electrons in gases, which
provided one of the early demonstrations of
the wave behaviour of these particles.
The Aitchison scholarship expired after
two years, but Massey was awarded an 1851
Exhibition senior studentship, enabling him
to remain at the University of Cambridge
(Ph.D., 1932). With the future Nobel prize
winner, N. F. (Sir Neville) Mott, he wrote
The Theory of Atomic Collisions (1933), which
quickly became a classic: Massey was largely
responsible for keeping the work up to date
in later editions. In 1933 he was appointed
independent lecturer in mathematical physics
at Queen’s University, Belfast. He proved
a superb lecturer while also maintaining a
prodigious output of research publications
on collision theory which, in its many ramifications,
remained a lifelong preoccupation.
He also began a long-running study of negative
ions and their role in the ionosphere.
His Negative Ions (1938) largely defined the
field and in a series of papers written with
his student, (Sir) David Bates, he developed
the theory of recombination processes that
underpinned subsequent thinking about the
behaviour of the ionosphere.
In 1938 Massey was appointed Goldsmid
professor of mathematics at University
139
Massey
College, London, but shortly after the outbreak
of World War II he joined an Admiralty
research group developing defences against
German mines. He later led a group designing
mines for use against German shipping. In
August 1943 he went to the United States of
America as a member of the British team that
worked with the Americans in developing the
atomic bomb. For the next two years he was
the leader of a group at Berkeley, California,
that investigated problems associated with
the use of cyclotron techniques to separate
uranium-235 from natural uranium.
Returning to London in October 1945 to
rebuild his department, Massey appointed
a number of mathematical physicists, with
most of whom he had previously collaborated,
and established a research program in experimental
atomic physics. In 1950, when he
transferred within UCL to the Quain chair of
physics, this group went with him. For the next
quarter-century, under Massey’s leadership,
physics prospered exceedingly at University
College, with a research program heavily
orientated towards atomic and nuclear physics.
The department acquired several particle
accelerators and, as such machines became
larger and more expensive, collaborated with
the Atomic Energy Research Establishment at
Harwell and, later, with CERN, the European
centre for nuclear research in Geneva.
Massey’s rate of publication remained
impres sive, including, besides research
papers, a number of influential treatises,
extended review articles and advanced textbooks,
and several more popular expositions
of contemporary physics. Best known was
an experimental companion to ‘Mott and
Massey’, Electronic and Ionic Impact Phenomena
(1952), co-authored with his long-time
friend and colleague E. H. S. Burhop [q.v.13].
He also took on increasingly heavy administrative
responsibilities, eventually becoming one
of the most influential scientists in Britain.
Elected (1940) a fellow of the Royal Society
of London, and winner of its Hughes (1955)
and Royal (1958) medals, Massey was a member
of the Society’s council (1949-51, 1959-
60) before serving as physical secretary and
vice-president (1969-78). He was a member
of the nuclear physics sub-committee of the
United Kingdom’s Department of Scientific
and Industrial Research from 1956, of the
governing board of the National Institute for
Research in Nuclear Science from its foundation
in 1957, and of the Research Grants
Committee from 1959. Knighted in 1960, Sir
Harrie became the foundation chair (1965-69)
of the Council for Scientific Policy, established
to advise the minister on all aspects of civil
science policy. He served as vice-provost
(1969-73) of University College.
When rockets, developed initially for military
purposes, became available for civilian
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Massey
use in the 1950s, Massey seized the opportunity
they offered for direct study of the
ionosphere. From then until his death, he
devoted a significant proportion of his time
to promoting civilian space research, first in
Britain—later writing History of British Space
Science (1984) with M. O. Robins—and then in
the Commonwealth and Europe. In 1959 he
became a founding executive member of the
Committee on Space Research, established
by the International Council of Scientific
Unions, holding that office until 1978 and
serving simultaneously as chair of the British
national committee. He was a central figure
in the negotiations that led to the formation
of the European Space Research Organisation
(later the European Space Agency) in
1962, and was elected the first chairman of
its governing council.
Massey had visited Australia several
times during the 1930s and 1940s, and the
University of Melbourne had tried hard to
persuade him to take up its chair of physics
following Laby’s retirement in 1942. Later
that decade many hoped that he would join
(Sir) Mark Oliphant as a founding member
of the Research School of Physical Sciences
at the new Australian National University in
Canberra. In the 1950s and 1960s his involvement
in space science brought him back more
frequently since the principal launch site for
Britain’s rocket program was at Woomera,
South Australia. So, too, did his involvement
in the negotiations leading to the establishment
of the Anglo-Australian Telescope at
Siding Spring Mountain, New South Wales.
He was a United Kingdom member (1975-83)
of the AAT’s governing board, and served as
its chairman in 1980-83.
In all, Massey returned to Australia more
than twenty times and, in the process, had
a significant impact on the nation’s science.
A familiar figure in government circles in
Canberra, on scientific committees, and in the
press (as an advocate for atomic power and
an enthusiast for space exploration), he was
elected a corresponding member of the Australian
Academy of Science in 1976. Among
the many honorary degrees he received were
an honorary LL D (1955) and D.Sc. (1974)
from the University of Melbourne. Short,
wiry, with penetrating, deep-set eyes and
an engaging zest for life, he was kindly and
thoughtful in his relations with others. He
had an astonishing memory and remarkable
powers of concentration. Retaining a strong
affection for his native land, he never lost his
Australian accent. Massey died on 27 November
1983 at Elmbridge, Surrey, survived by
his wife and their daughter. A lecture theatre
at University College is named in his honour,
and the Harrie Massey medal and prize
was inaugurated in 1990 by the Australian
Institute of Physics.
140
A. D. B.
H. Kleinpoppen et al (eds), Fundamental
Processes in Atomic Collision Physics (1985);
Advances in Atomic and Molecular Physics, vol 4,
1968, p 1; Australian Physicist, vol 18, 1981,
p 135; Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal
Society, vol 30, 1984, p 445; H. de Berg, interview
with H. Massey (ts, 1970, NLA); Massey papers
(University College, London). r. w. hoMe
MASSEY, JOHN TOLSON (1887-1981),
Young Men’s Christian Association organiser,
was born on 1 May 1887 at Hawthorn, Melbourne,
eldest child of Victorian-born parents
Herbert John Massey, draper, and his wife
Fanny, née Tolson. Like his brother Claude
[q.v.15], Jack was educated at Footscray
College. In 1903 he joined the importing firm
Paterson, Laing & Bruce [q.v.3] Ltd. An active
member of the Church of England, he soon
became involved in youth work. He joined
the Australian Natives’ Association, serving
as president of its Elsternwick and Caulfield
branch. His pacifism was overtaken by the
outbreak of World War I, and after rejection
for army service because of a leg injury, he
embarked upon what would become both
career and ministry by joining the YMCA
as a field secretary with the Australian
Imperial Force.
Attached to the 4th Division, Massey went
to England in 1916 and then to France and
Belgium, where he helped to provide comforts
for the troops. Granted the honorary rank of
captain in 1918, he remained in Belgium until
January 1919 when he joined the International
YMCA Hospitality League in London, caring
for soldiers awaiting repatriation. In August
1919 he returned to Australia. Winning the
Dallen prize as dux of the YMCA’s training
school, he was appointed assistant general
secretary of its Melbourne branch.
In February 1920 Massey was named general
secretary of the YMCA in South Australia,
but before taking up this position he funded
his own travel to North America for further
study. Once settled in Adelaide, he rebuilt and
extended an organisation neglected during the
war and expanded its activities, establishing
himself as an effective speaker and organiser
and a well-loved ‘chief’. He conducted difficult
negotiations to buy the association’s building,
undertook fund-raising, promoted staff training
and superannuation and a staff journal,
and played cricket and football for the ‘Y’.
He travelled extensively to YMCA centres
and conferences, touring overseas in 1925-
26 (when he was an Australian delegate to
the first conference of the Institute of Pacific
Relations at Honolulu, Hawaii) and in 1936 to
Japan, India and North Africa.
Massey wrote and spoke on youth affairs,
served as chairman (1932-35) of the SA
State council of the Australian Student
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1981–1990
Christian Movement and helped to establish
several organisations, including Adelaide’s
Legacy Club (1928). He provided recreational
materials and advice for British boys arriving
under an agricultural immigration scheme
and, during the Depression, joined the State
Unemployment Relief Committee. A justice
of the peace, he assisted in establishing a
court for juvenile offenders and served as an
honorary magistrate of the South Australian
Children’s Court.
In December 1937 Massey was appointed
principal of Fairbridge Farm School for child
migrants at Pinjarra, Western Australia. At
Christ Church of England, North Adelaide,
on 13 January 1938 he married his secretary,
Jessie Pretoria Sarah Dunstone, an
active Young Women’s Christian Association
member and henceforth partner in his work.
They left for London early in 1939 following
Massey’s appointment as secretary to the
English national council of YMCAs. His
responsibilities soon included the provision
of amenities for troops mobilised for World
War II; in February 1940 he was posted to
Cairo to oversee the needs of British and
Commonwealth forces in the Middle East.
Returning to Melbourne in 1944 as the
YMCA’s associate national secretary, Massey
was elected national general secretary in
November. He worked with prisoners of war
interned in Australia, sought to assist Australian
POWs abroad, and—after accompanying
evacuated children back to England—lectured
on demobilisation to soldiers in Germany and
attended a conference in Geneva on POW
and refugee re-settlement. In 1948 and 1949
he inspected YMCA services available to the
Australian Occupation Force in Japan. He
resigned as national secretary in 1956.
Seconded (1949-59) to be the Commonwealth
co-ordinator of the Good Neighbour
Movement, Massey organised the first and
subsequent Australian Citizenship Conventions.
In 1960-63, before retiring, he was
back at the YMCA as director of staff training.
Awarded the British Empire Medal (1920), he
was appointed OBE in 1962. He wrote histories
of the YMCA in Australia (1950) and of the
British and Foreign Bible Society in Victoria
(1967). Survived by his wife, he died on 18 July
1981 at Camberwell and was cremated.
G. Sherington and C. Jeffery, Fairbridge,
Empire and Child Migration (1998); J. W. Daly,
The Adelaide Y.M.C.A. (BA Hons thesis, Univ of
Adelaide, 1972); Massey papers (AWM, NLA and
SLV); YMCA papers (Univ of Melbourne archives).
ceciLy cLoSe
MASTERMAN, KAY CHAUNCY (1896-
1981), schoolteacher and classical scholar,
was born on 4 October 1896 at Northwood,
141
Masterman
Middlesex, England, eldest of six children of
Charles Edward Masterman, civil engineer,
and his wife Lilla, née Osmond. Nancen
Chauncy [q.v.13] was his sister. Educated at
Charterhouse, Surrey, Kay migrated with his
family to Tasmania in 1912 after a decline in
his father’s fortunes. From 1914 the Mastermans
developed an apple orchard at Bagdad,
north of Hobart.
After studying the classics at the University
of Tasmania (BA, 1917), Masterman
enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force on
17 August 1917. He served in France in the
40th Battalion from 23 April to 31 August
1918. Debris from an exploding shell buried
him alive; rescued by German soldiers,
he was a prisoner of war for four months.
Some people who knew him later ascribed
his diffidence and nervous mannerisms to
these experiences. On his release, he was
first granted leave and then discharged from
the AIF in May 1920 in England, in order to
enter Brasenose College, Oxford (BA, 1921;
MA, 1924). He pursued postgraduate study at
King’s College, Cambridge, with the classical
scholar (Sir) John Sheppard, and taught at
Charterhouse. Returning to Australia, he was
a master (1924-26) at the Collegiate School of
St Peter, Adelaide. In 1927 he was acting-head
of classics at the University of Tasmania.
From 1929 to 1955 Masterman was Brice
Mackinnon classics master at Geelong Church
of England Grammar School. Housemaster
of Perry House (1929-36), he was editor of
the Corian (1940-49) and college librarian
(1940-55). In 1931 he organised a pageant to
celebrate the bimillennium of Virgil’s birth. As
well as Latin and Greek, he also taught English
and offered voluntary courses in Italian;
he established a music program—a contribution
that was ‘immediate and lasting’—and
ran the Scout troop. On 15 January 1936 at
St Paul’s Church of England, Canter bury,
Melbourne, he married Margaret Ramsay
Maxwell, a schoolteacher, and sister of Ian
Maxwell [q.v.15]. Strongly contributing to
the cultural life of the school, the Mastermans
hosted literary societies. He published
Starting Latin Book II (1941), the frequently
reprinted A Latin Word-List (1945) and The
Power of Speech (1952). In 1949-50 he took
leave to teach at Winchester College, England.
Invited in 1955 to establish the classics
department at Canberra University College
(from 1961 the Australian National University),
Masterman was associate-professor
(1956-61). He recruited lively and scholarly
young lecturers. In 1962-71 he taught Latin,
Greek and English part time at Canberra
Grammar School. When ill health in 1970
forced him to reduce his workload, over a
hundred former Geelong Grammar pupils
donated money to relieve his poor financial
situation, to enable him to make necessary
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Masterman
alterations to his house and to revisit Greece,
Italy and England. He sent a letter of thanks,
with the request that it be published, to the
editor of the Corian.
In 1962 Masterman helped to establish the
Australian Capital Territory division of the
Arts Council of Australia (president, 1963-67);
he was federal president in 1968. He was also
president of the Dante Alighieri Society in Canberra.
Deputy-chairman of the Commonwealth
Literary Censorship Board (1964-67), he was
an inaugural member (1968) of the Australian
Council for the Arts (deputy-chairman, 1969-
72). He was appointed cavaliere of the Order
of Merit of the Republic of Italy (1965) and
CBE (1968), and was elected (1968) a fellow
of the Australian College of Education.
Of medium height, Masterman was shy
and modest, courteous and considerate. He
was quiet and tweedy, often absent-minded,
and he had a distinctive chuckle. Unconventional
in the way he walked and talked, he
was indifferent to public opinion. Michael
Hodgman, the minister for the capital territory
in 1981, remembered him as a ‘gentle
and humorous philosopher’ who collected
stamps and Orpington hens. A keen gardener,
Masterman also enjoyed bushwalking and was
well informed on native plants. In Canberra, as
at Geelong Grammar, the Mastermans offered
generous hospitality with good (often homegrown)
food, company and conversation.
Survived by his wife and their daughter,
Masterman died on 4 February 1981 in
Canberra and was buried in Gungahlin cemetery.
His son had died, aged 26, in a motorvehicle
accident in 1965. The long-serving
head master of Geelong Grammar, Sir James
Darling, described him as ‘cultured in the
best sense, liberal in mind’, concerned for
the oppressed and ‘fearless in the defence of
the good’. A former pupil, Sir Robert Southey,
wrote that, ‘as a schoolmaster and a scholar he
earned at Geelong the gratitude, admiration,
and affection’ of a generation of schoolboys.
Canberra Times, 5 June 1968, p 17, 7 Feb 1981,
p 13, 18 Feb 1981, p 17; Corian, June 1972, p 423,
Sept 1981, p 11; B2455, item MASTERMAN KAY
CHAUCY (sic) (NAA); private information and
personal knowledge. r. St.c. JohnSon
MASTERS, OLGA MEREDITH (1919-
1986), author and journalist, was born on
28 May 1919 at Pambula, New South Wales,
second of eight children of Joseph Leo Lawler,
labourer, and his wife Dorcas Esther Jane,
née Robinson, both born in New South Wales.
Leo was a Catholic and Dorcas an Anglican.
Olga was educated in the south coast area of
142
A. D. B.
New South Wales, mostly at state schools,
including Cobargo Public School, which she
left aged 15.
In 1937 Olga moved to Sydney, where she
worked as a clerk and typist. She married
Charles Frederick Masters, a schoolteacher,
on 28 December 1940 at St Michael’s Catholic
Church, Stanmore. They began the peripatetic
life of the country schoolteacher’s family,
moving around towns in northern New South
Wales, including Grafton, Urbenville and
Lismore, then, from 1963, various suburbs
of Sydney. By 1961 they had five sons and
two daughters.
In the late 1950s Olga became a part-time
journalist for the Northern Star, Lismore,
writing regular social columns. After the family
returned to Sydney, she wrote for suburban
papers before taking a full-time position on the
Manly Daily in the early 1970s. Determined to
write fiction, in 1977 she retired from full-time
work. Olga and Charles moved to Austinmer in
1985. She visited the Soviet Union that year
as part of a delegation from the Literature
board of the Australia Council for the Arts.
The Home Girls, Masters’ first collection of
short stories, was published in 1982, when
she was 63; this book won second prize in the
National Book Council awards in 1983. She
received three general writing grants from the
Literature Board. Her novel, Loving Daughters
(1984), was highly commended in the
National Book Council awards in 1985. That
year she received a $20 000 grant from the
Australian Bicentennial Authority and A Long
Time Dying, a novel comprising a collection of
interrelated stories, was published. A further
novel, Amy’s Children (1987); a collection of
stories, The Rose Fancier (1988); a play, A
Working Man’s Castle (1988); and a collection
of her journalism, Olga Masters Reporting
Home (1990), were published after her death.
Her fiction drew mainly on her experiences
in a poor rural family during the Depression,
and on her observations of small-town life as
a country schoolteacher’s wife. She wrote
from the perspectives of children and women
whose power to change their situation was
limited and she lavished care on the small
domestic pleasures that gave them hope.
Masters’ acute understanding of the pain
of ordinary life seemed to be reserved for
her fiction, while she herself maintained
the outward appearance of a cheerful, witty
matriarch. She enjoyed family life and often
declared that her children were her greatest
achievements. With a good-humoured face
and a crooked smile, by the 1980s she had
the approachable manner of an experienced
grandmother. Diagnosed with diabetes in the
1970s, she was careful about her diet and
health but died of a cerebrovascular accident
on 27 September 1986 at Wollongong and was
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1981–1990
cremated. Her husband and their children
survived her.
J. Lewis, Olga Masters (1991); Dictionary of
Literary Biography, vol 325 (2006).
SuSan Lever
MATHIAS, REX COLLIS (1907-1986),
Methodist clergyman and peace activist,
was born on 9 January 1907 at Maldon,
Victoria, elder son of Welsh-born Richard
Mathias, tailor, and his Victorian-born wife
Edith Minnie, née Wearne. He was named
Reginald Collis. Educated at state primary
schools, Melbourne High School and Wesley
College, Rex was employed as a journalist
with the Melbourne Herald (1923-24) and
the Argus (1924-32). In 1932, having been
accepted as a candidate for the Methodist
ministry in Victoria and Tasmania, he entered
Theological Hall, Queen’s College, University
of Melbourne (BA, 1934; MA, 1936). A nonsmoker,
teetotaller and cricket enthusiast,
Mathias accepted a home mission appointment
at Derby, Tasmania. He was ordained in
1936. During 1937 he studied for a diploma of
religious education at Westhill Training College,
Selly Oak, Birmingham, England. He was
appointed a staff lecturer at Westhill, but in
1939 he returned to Australia and on 8 April
at Camberwell Methodist Church, Melbourne,
married Helen Hardie Watters, a nurse.
Never enthusiastic about a parish ministry,
Mathias spent most of his professional life
in Christian education. In 1940-44 he was
chaplain at Wesley College. Appointed the
founding director of the Council for Christian
Education in Schools in Victoria in 1944, he
was responsible for designing a syllabus for
religious instruction in Victorian state schools
and for editing the three volumes of Plan for
Living (1944, 1945, 1948). Two years later he
became the first director of the Youth Publications
Department (subsequently the Methodist
Federal Board of Education). Remaining
in the post until 1964, he planned courses
and edited religious literature for the Joint
Board of Graded Lessons of Australia and
New Zealand. As national secretary (1953-
56) of the church’s Mission to the Nation, he
collaborated with the missioner, Rev. (Sir)
Alan Walker, arguing that Christian faith
was relevant to all issues facing Australian
society. Like Walker, he believed in a ‘whole
gospel for the whole world’. He brought to the
mission a professionalism that reflected his
many years in journalism and long experience
in publishing.
A passionate and able communicator,
Mathias was not afraid to air his views publicly.
In 1949-62 he and his colleague Rev. Frank
143
Matters
Hartley [q.v.14] were regularly the ‘voice of
Methodism’ on the Yarra Bank. During the
Cold War years he participated in the peace
movement, which led to frequent accusations
that he was either a communist or a friend
of communists. ‘We meet the challenge of
Communism’, he responded, ‘only if we give
without strings, out of compassion for those
in need, and if we fight, not another ideology,
but hunger, ignorance, poverty, disease and
injustice’. He was also active in Melbourne’s
Peace Quest Forum and the Victorian branch
of the Fellowship of Reconciliation.
Notwithstanding his uncompromising views
on many social and political issues, Mathias
was recognised by the Methodist Church of
Australasia as an outstanding leader; he was
secretary (1961) and president (1962-63) of
the Victoria and Tasmania Conference, and
secretary-general (1969-72) and presidentgeneral
(1972-75) of the General Conference.
He was superintendent minister of the
Canberra Methodist Circuit (1965-70), where
he pursued a strong ecumenical ministry, and
of Wesley Church, Geelong, Victoria (1970-75).
Predeceased (1981) by his wife and survived by
their daughter and son, he died on 7 April 1986
at Geelong and was cremated. His history,
Mission to the Nation, was published in 1986.
Methodist Church of Australasia, Minutes of the
General Conference, 1957-72, Minutes of the Victoria
and Tasmania Conference, 1961-63; People (Sydney),
16 June 1954, p 40; Age (Melbourne), 20 Apr 1960,
p 3; H. de Berg, interview with Rex Mathias (ts,
1977, NLA); A6119, item 1099 (NLA).
Brian howe
MATTERS, ARNOLD HATHERLEIGH
(1901-1990), baritone and opera producer, was
born on 11 April 1901 at Malvern, Adelaide,
youngest of four children of South Australianborn
Richard Adams Matters, ironmonger, and
his wife Emily Grace, née Williams. Educated
at Unley High School, in 1916 Arnold joined
the staff of the South Australian Treasury, and
was admitted as an associate of the Federal
Institute of Accountants in 1925. His musical
interests were fostered by his membership of
the Malvern Methodist Church choir. He studied
part time with Frederick Bevan and Clive
Carey at the Elder [q.v.4] Conservatorium
of Music, University of Adelaide, and gained
the diploma of associate in music (singing)
in 1926.
In 1927 Matters won the Sun Operatic
Aria competition at Ballarat, Victoria, and
was invited by Dame Nellie Melba [q.v.10]
to sing with her at a concert in Melbourne.
Resigning from the Treasury in 1930, he
travelled to London where, on a scholarship,
he studied with W. Johnstone-Douglas at the
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Matters
Webber-Douglas School of Singing, and again
with Carey, at the Royal College of Music. In
the 1930s he was bass soloist in the choir of
Westminster Abbey, and sang at King George
VI’s coronation in 1937. Joining the Vic-Wells
(Sadler’s Wells) Opera Company in 1932 and
named principal baritone, he made his first
appearance that year as Valentin in Gounod’s
Faust. On 4 April 1933 at the parish church
of St James, Westminster, he married Rose
Ellen Waters, from Adelaide.
In 1935 Matters made his début at Covent
Garden as the herald in Wagner’s Lohengrin.
For over twenty-five years, apart from a period
(1940-46) when he was back in Australia
(where he gave recitals and toured for the
Australian Broadcasting Commission and
the Army Education Service), he appeared
regularly for Sadler’s Wells in major roles,
including Don Giovanni, Wotan in Wagner’s
Die Walküre, and Falstaff. In 1948 he sang
the lead role in the first British performance
of Verdi’s Simon Boccanegra. He created
the roles of Pilgrim in Vaughan Williams’s
Pilgrim’s Progress (1951) and Cecil in
Britten’s coronation opera, Gloriana (1953).
Considered a stalwart of the company, he had
a warm voice, ‘faultless diction’ and a gift for
characterisation. He also freelanced and
often performed in programs for the British
Broadcasting Corporation. In the 1950s he
taught singing and produced operas at the
Royal College of Music.
Back in Australia by 1957, Matters produced
Tosca and Otello for the Australian Elizabethan
Theatre Trust. He taught (1959-66) at the
Elder Conservatorium; Thomas Edmonds,
Robert Dawe, Kandiah Kamalesvaran
(Kamahl) and Gillian Sullivan were among
his many students. In Adelaide he produced
operas—including works by Gluck (Iphigenia
in Tauris), Verdi (Don Carlos and Nabucco)
and Puccini (Madama Butterfly)—and a wide
range of small-scale works for the Intimate
Opera Group. He himself played Falstaff in
1963. Straightforward, kind and polite in his
relations with others, he was a good administrator
and a respected colleague. His last
public performance was in Adelaide in 1981.
One of the best loved Australian singers of his
generation, he was appointed OAM in 1985.
Childless, and predeceased by his wife, he
died on 21 September 1990 at Westbourne
Park, Adelaide, and was cremated. Each year
the Adelaide Eisteddfod Society awards the
Arnold Matters vocal scholarship.
A. D. McCredie (ed), From Colonel Light into
the Footlights (1988); Advertiser (Adelaide), 13 Nov
1940, p 7, 22 Sept 1990, p 12; Times (London),
26 Sept 1990, p 14; Opera (London), Nov 1990,
p 1311; Daily Telegraph (London), 1 Dec 1990, p 19;
SP173/1, item MATTERS ARNOLD, and SP1011/1,
item 3267 (NAA); Matters papers (NLA).
DaviD SwaLe
144
A. D. B.
MATZEK, KARL (1895-1983), painter, was
born on 6 July 1895 at Graz, Austria, son of
Czech-born Karl Matzek and his Austrian-born
wife Maria, née Pichler. In 1901 the family
moved to Mexico City where Karl, as a boy,
won the first of some eight gold medals,
from several countries, for his art. In 1911
he went to the United States of America. He
travelled via Russia, whence he claimed to
have received a medal from Tsar Nicholas II
for his contribution to the panorama of the
battle of Borodino. Working as a film extra and
with a circus in California, he painted advertising
and posters for the travelling troupe and
married a trapeze artist. In World War I he
reputedly fought with the Austrian cavalry on
the Russian front.
In 1927-28 Matzek studied at the Academy
of the Arts, Berlin, and in Vienna. A resident
of Yugoslavia from about 1928, in February
1957 he married Darinka Pejic. He and his
wife arrived in Sydney in February 1958 (he
had visited Australia as a tourist in 1921), but
soon moved to Melbourne. In Perth by 1960,
he painted the Stations of the Cross for the
Holy Family Catholic Church, Como, and a
series of murals for the Church of Sts Peter
and Paul at the Redemptorist Monastery,
North Perth. He was naturalised on 29 January
1964. Moving back to Sydney, he painted
scenes from the lives of Christ and the Serbian
saints for the new St George Free Serbian
Orthodox Church, Cabramatta.
In 1968 Matzek was commissioned to paint
icons for St George’s Free Serbian Orthodox
Church, Forrest, Canberra. Having installed
the icons, he set about painting the church
interior. His chef d’oeuvre, it is entirely covered
with the artist’s representations of Biblical
and historical scenes. The ceiling bears
the crucifixion, the transfiguration and the
resurrection of Lazarus. Panels on the walls,
captioned in English and Serbian, depict
individual saints and narrative scenes. Two
twenty-metre murals evoke significant historical
events, including the battle in 312 AD
near Rome between the Serbian-born Roman
emperor, Constantine, and Maxentius, and
the Serbian-Ottoman battle of Kosovo in 1389.
For the Tiber battle scene he painted about
a thousand figures and hundreds of horses.
The church is on the registers of the national
estate and ACT heritage.
Installed in a flat behind the church and
cared for by members of the women’s auxiliary,
Matzek worked not for remuneration, but
because it brought him happiness. In 1976 he
stated that: ‘I would like to be remembered
for doing something for people to enjoy and
for this wonderful [free] country’. His Royal
Talens oil paints, imported from the Netherlands,
were purchased with money collected
from church visitors. Working on a stepladder,
the elderly artist would slump, drowsing, with
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1981–1990
an arm or a leg intertwined in the rungs to
prevent a fall.
Matzek retained traces of his peripatetic
and adventurous early life and a faint air
of Bohemianism. Quietly content, he was
essentially unreligious but converted from
Catholicism to the Serbian Orthodox faith and
adopted the name George. On 16 April 1983
he died in Canberra and was buried in the
St Sava Monastery cemetery, Hall, ACT. It is
not known if he had children.
Canberra Times, 8 June 1971, p 17; Austn
Women’s Weekly, 7 July 1976, p 26; Comity, no 3,
1977, p 4; private information.
Sarah enGLeDow
MAYNE, CHARLES (1906-1990), Jesuit
priest and teacher, was born on 2 September
1906 at Moss Side, Manchester, England, son
of William Mayne, clerk, and his wife Norah,
née Mulvey. Charlie was reared in Ireland and
educated by the Christian Brothers in North
Dublin. In 1924 he joined the Society of Jesus
and in 1927 ill health prompted him to take
a teaching position at St Ignatius College,
Riverview, New South Wales. He remained
there until returning to Ireland in 1931 to
complete his studies. On 24 June 1937 he was
ordained a priest.
Voyaging back to Australia in 1939, Mayne
taught English to several Jewish refugees, one
of whom remained his friend for life. After a
further two years at Riverview, in 1942 he
was appointed dean of discipline at Corpus
Christi College, Werribee, a seminary serving
Victoria and Tasmania. From 1947 to 1958
he was rector of the college, although a less
likely administrator is difficult to imagine.
He was so painfully shy (while also aware of
his responsibilities as a disciplinarian) that
he habitually averted his eyes when passing
students lest he observe them engaged in
behaviour judged to be unbecoming in young
men destined for the priesthood.
Despite his seeming ineptness, Corpus
Christi flourished under Mayne, both at
Werribee and following its transfer to Glen
Waverley, where he was rector in 1960-68.
He was determined to form men who would
become good priests, rather than good priests
who happened to be men. He trusted students
to follow their interests and manage their
own engagement with the community; he
encouraged laymen and women to address
the student body; and he taught seminarians
to value the fundamental role of the laity in
the Church.
Concerned with social issues, Mayne discussed
in Exit Australia (1943) the declining
birth rate and proposed practical policies
in support of large families. As professor
145
Mayo
of Catholic Action and moral theology, he
advocated the role of small groups in Christianising
their environments, but insisted that any
involvement in politics by Catholic Action was
injurious to the divine mission of the Church.
He almost physically abhorred B. A. Santamaria’s
Catholic Social Studies Movement.
After retiring from Corpus Christi, in
1971 Mayne embarked on work in Papua
New Guinea, leading the clergy and laity in
spiritual formation. Back in Australia from
1976, he advised Archbishop James Gleeson
in Adelaide on the development of parish
councils and wrote Parish and Lay Renewal
(1979) with Fr Bob Wilkinson. Returning
to Melbourne in 1985, he assisted in the
Ministry to Priests program.
A man of unflinching integrity and decency,
Mayne urged all he met to fulfil their destiny.
He could never be stereotyped: no one knew
where he was likely to turn up next, brimming
with new ideas. No priest exercised a greater
influence on the Catholic Church of his time
in Australia. He died on 28 November 1990 at
East Kew and was buried in Boroondara cemetery.
In his funeral homily Archbishop Frank
Little, a former student, honoured Mayne’s
‘outstanding contribution’ to his church.
D. Strong, The Australian Dictionary of Jesuit
Biography (1999); Footprints (Fitzroy), vol 8,
no 1, 1991, p 1; private information and personal
knowledge. John n. MoLony
MAYO, LILIAN DAPHNE (1895-1982),
sculptor and art advocate, was born on
1 October 1895 at Balmain North, Sydney,
younger child of English-born parents William
McArthur Mayo, commercial traveller, and his
wife Eliza Mary (Lila), née Saxelby. Early in
Daphne’s childhood the Mayo family moved
to Brisbane where her father became superintendent
of the Mutual Life & Citizens Assurance
Co. Ltd and her mother a well-known
naturalist and nature writer. Daphne attended
the Eton High School for Girls, Hamilton
(later St Margaret’s Church of England Girls’
School), and probably the Brisbane Central
Girls’ State School, ending her schooling in
1910 on account of chronic asthma. In 1911-13
she undertook a diploma in art craftsmanship
at the Brisbane Central Technical College,
studying under the art master R. Godfrey
Rivers [q.v.11] and specialising in modelling
under L. J. Harvey [q.v.9]. In 1914 she was
awarded Queensland’s first publicly funded
travelling art scholarship, sponsored by the
local Wattle Day League. When her departure
overseas was delayed by the outbreak
of World War I, she attended Julian Ashton’s
[q.v.7] Sydney Art School and worked with the
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Mayo
Ipswich monumental mason Frank Williams
to gain experience in stone carving.
Arriving in London in 1919, Mayo attended
the Royal College of Art briefly and worked
as an assistant to the sculptor John Angel
before entering the Sculpture School of the
Royal Academy of Arts in December 1920.
On graduation in December 1923 she was
awarded the school’s gold medal for sculpture,
which carried with it the Edward Stott Travelling
Studentship to Italy. She travelled to
Rome with a fellow art student from Brisbane,
Lloyd Rees [q.v.], to whom she had recently
become engaged, before continuing her studies.
She was planning to stay abroad, until
her brother’s death in November 1924 from
a war-related illness caused her to return to
Brisbane. She arrived back home in June 1925
and, resolved on an independent career, broke
her engagement with Rees.
Fêted as ‘Queensland’s girl sculptress’,
Mayo received large public commissions,
including the Brisbane City Hall tympanum
(1927-30), the Queensland Women’s War
Memorial in Anzac Square (1929-32) and
relief panels for the original chapel at Mount
Thompson Crematorium (1934). These
works, ornamenting Classical Revival buildings,
called for conventional treatment and
were carved in situ with the help of assistants.
For the largest work, the City Hall tympanum,
she created a pageant of colonial conquest,
‘The Progress of Civilisation in the State of
Queensland’. Her contract fee of £5750 was
reportedly the highest yet received by an Australian
woman artist. To mark her success she
purchased land on the crest of Highgate Hill,
near her childhood home; she moved her City
Hall studio to the site and added a cottage.
Mayo possessed a sharp intellect and firm
convictions. Her tiny frame belied enormous
energy and commitment as she undertook
extraordinary physical labours and zealously
promoted art in Queensland. In 1929, with
her friend the painter Vida Lahey [q.v.9], she
founded the Queensland Art Fund, which
purchased works (mostly contemporary British)
for the Queensland National Art Gallery
(later Queensland Art Gallery). In 1930 she
organised Brisbane’s first important loan
exhibition for almost a decade, bringing over
one hundred pictures from southern States.
In 1932 she was instrumental in obtaining
for the gallery its first major endowment,
the Godfrey Rivers Trust (in memory of her
former teacher), enabling it to acquire contemporary
Australian art. Initially, in 1933 and
1935, works were obtained through biennial
prize exhibitions organised by Mayo. William
Dobell’s [q.v.14] ‘The Cypriot’ was a notable
acquisition in 1943; Mayo continued as ‘buyer’
for the bequest until 1966. She suspended her
sculptural work in 1934-35 to lead a successful
public appeal for the £10 000 needed to
146
A. D. B.
secure a large bequest for art in Queensland
left by the wealthy Brisbane businessman,
John Darnell, a seemingly impossible task
during the Depression. In 1936 she and Lahey
established the State’s first art reference
library. For her public work in Queensland
the Society of Artists (Sydney) awarded her
its medal in 1938.
In 1938-39 Mayo travelled in Europe and
North America to observe recent developments
in art. On her return she moved to
Sydney in search of a more stimulating artistic
environment and to undertake a major commission
for the east doors of the new Public
Library of New South Wales building (1940-
42). Opening a studio in lower George Street,
she also worked speculatively on smaller
modernist sculpture intended for domestic
settings, and experimented with ceramics.
She took part in the Society of Artists’
annual exhibitions until 1958 and, in 1946,
with Lyndon Dadswell [q.v.17] and Arthur
Fleischmann, staged the Three Sculptors
exhibition. In 1949 the National Gallery of
Victoria’s Felton [q.v.4] Bequest acquired her
truncated torso of an athlete, ‘The Olympian’.
However, little other speculative work sold
and she was forced to depend again on public
commissions. These included a war memorial
for The King’s School, Parramatta (1948-52),
a portrait bust of Sir Thomas Blamey [q.v.13]
for the Australian War Memorial, Canberra
(1957-58), and ‘The Jolly Swagman’ statue
for the western Queensland town of Winton
(1959). Becoming fatigued by the physical
labours of sculpture, she sought relaxation in
the gentler art of painting, taking lessons from
E. A. Harvey at the East Sydney Technical
College and also from Roland Wakelin [q.v.12].
In 1959 Mayo was appointed MBE. Returning
to Brisbane, in 1961-65 she undertook her
last major commission, a statue of Sir William
Glasgow [q.v.9]. Having been appointed (1960)
the Queensland Art Gallery’s first woman trustee,
she resigned in 1967 with Professor R. P.
Cummings [q.v.17], voicing her disapproval of
its administration. In retire ment she remained
in Brisbane while maintaining her Sydney
studio. She was Australia’s best-known woman
sculptor of her generation. Never married,
she died on 31 July 1982 at Brisbane and was
cremated with Uniting Church forms.
Daphne Mayo’s work is represented in
public collections throughout Australia. The
Queensland Art Gallery, the University of
Queensland and the Museum of Brisbane
hold painted self-portraits; the latter also has
a portrait of her by Mary Edwards. Mayo was
honoured by the naming in 1988 of an art
studio at St Margaret’s School, and from 2003
by an annual visiting professorship in visual
culture at the University of Queensland. The
university held a retrospective exhibition of
her sculpture in 1981, followed by a larger
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1981–1990
exhibition at the Queensland Art Gallery
in 2011.
J. McKay and M. Hawker, Daphne Mayo: Let
There Be Sculpture (2011); J. McKay, Daphne Mayo:
A Tribute to Her Work for Art in Qld (1983), and
‘Daphne Mayo and a Decade of Public Monuments
for Brisbane’, Art and Aust, Autumn 1982, p 360,
and Daphne Mayo, Sculptor (MA thesis, Univ of
Sydney, 1982); Queenslander, 9 Aug 1919, pp 16
and 25, 11 July 1925, p 7; Woman’s World, 1 Aug
1925, p 471; Art in Aust, no 72, Aug 1938, p 12;
H. de Berg, interview with D. Mayo (ts, 1963, NLA);
D. Mayo papers and Qld Art Fund papers (Univ of
Qld Fryer Lib); private information and personal
knowledge. JuDith M. Mckay
MEADOWS, ARTHUR WILKES (1911-
1987), psychologist, was born on 11 June
1911 at Wigan, Lancashire, England, son of
Thomas Meadows, accountant, and his wife
Kate, née Brookes. Arriving in Melbourne as
a child, Arthur was educated at Queen’s College,
St Kilda, and then Melbourne Technical
School. After five years (1929-33) as a junior
teacher, Meadows attended Melbourne Teachers’
College under bond in 1934. Next year he
was appointed to the school for Aboriginal children
at Framlingham. On 23 December 1935
at Christ Church, St Kilda, he married with
Anglican rites Mavis Elizabeth McLennan, a
typist. In 1937 he moved to South Melbourne
Technical School. He proved to be an enthusiastic
and capable teacher, especially of those
categorised as atypical children.
In 1939 Meadows was appointed a stipendiary
probation officer of the Victorian Children’s
Court. After investigating ‘problem cases’ that
came before the court, he provided social and
psychological reports and follow-up, including
supervising and ‘re-educating’ young male
sex offenders. He worked in the Children’s
Court clinic as acting psychologist (1941),
psychologist (1945), senior psychologist
(1949) and principal psychologist (1954). His
other clinical positions included an honorary
appointment at the Royal Melbourne Hospital.
Meadows studied part time at the University
of Melbourne (BA Hons, 1946; MA,
1949), graduating with first-class honours,
and completed a PhD (1951) at the University
of London. He became a fellow of the British
Psychological Society in 1951 and a foundation
fellow (1966) of its Australian counterpart.
His work in Melbourne became increasingly
research-focused: he carried out social and
psychological studies first of delinquency and
later of physical and mental illness.
In 1955 Meadows was appointed as a senior
lecturer in psychology in the school of philosophy
at the University of Adelaide. Next
year the university established a separate
department of psychology with Meadows
147
Meagher
as its head. He resigned in 1960 to work in
the private sector—as manager of the market
research division of W. D. Scott & Co. Pty
Ltd in Sydney—before returning to academia
in 1961 as a senior lecturer in the school of
applied psychology at the University of New
South Wales.
As his interest turned increasingly to the
practical and commercial imperatives of
market research, Meadows served as chairman
of both the New South Wales division
(1961-63) and the federal council (1964-66)
of the Market Research Society of Australia
and, in the 1970s, as editor of its journal; he
was awarded life membership in 1973. He also
worked in the market research field, auditing
the radio and television audience surveys
carried out by McNair Anderson [qq.v.15,13]
Associates Pty Ltd. Retiring from the university
in 1971, he established Arthur Meadows
& Co. Pty Ltd, a consultancy that carried out a
range of commissioned studies, including surveys
of cinema, theatre and opera audiences.
As a teacher, clinician, researcher and
consultant, Meadows worked in fields
where psychology had a major impact. He
showed intellectual curiosity and humanitarian
concern. Predeceased (1970) by their
elder daughter and survived by his wife and
their son and younger daughter, he died on
18 December 1987 at St Leonards, Sydney,
and was cremated.
Austn Jnl of Marketing Research, vol 5, no 2, 1972,
p 38; Bulletin of the Austn Psychological Soc, May
1988, p 72; A9300, item MEADOWS A W (NAA).
SiMon cooke
MEAGHER, EDWARD RAYMOND (1908-
1988), politician, was born on 22 November
1908 at Brunswick, Melbourne, son of
Edward Roden Meagher, storeman, and his
wife Florence May, née Williams. Ray was
educated at Moreland State School and the
Working Men’s College, leaving just before
his fifteenth birthday. Unemployed for several
years, he eventually gained work as a clerk
with the Brunswick City Council. On 9 September
1939 at Brunswick he married with
Congregational forms Winifred Jean Hard,
a typist.
Already holding a commission in the Citizen
Military Forces, Meagher was appointed as
a captain in the Australian Imperial Force
on 2 May 1940 and promoted to major in
October. As second-in-command of the 2/2nd
Pioneer Battalion, he served in Syria (1941)
and Java (1942), before being taken prisoner
by the Japanese and sent to Thailand. For
bravery and leadership in action and in captivity,
he was appointed MBE (1947). He was
demobilised in Australia in January 1946.
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Meagher
From 1948 Meagher ran a newsagency,
milk bar and grocery in the Melbourne
suburb of Beaumaris. His views, hardened
by the Depres sion and war, led him to join
the Liberal Party of Australia and to accept
pre selection for the ostensibly safe Australian
Labor Party seat of Mentone for the 1955
State election. The Labor split of that year
saw him victorious, and he served as government
whip (1956-58) and secretary to cabinet
(1958-61). In 1967 he transferred to the
neighbouring seat of Frankston.
Meagher’s succinct and direct parliamentary
contributions were occasional rather
than frequent; finance, taxation and public
administration were his main areas of interest.
Independently minded, he took literally his
party’s policy on parliamentarians’ freedom
and crossed the floor three times, most
notably opposing a controversial bill in 1960 to
introduce a totalizator in Victoria and so raise
public revenue from gambling. Such behaviour
may not have impressed the premier, (Sir)
Henry Bolte [q.v.17], but Meagher held the
respect of colleagues who elected him to a
succession of cabinet positions. He served
as minister without portfolio (1961-62), then
held the portfolios of immigration (1962),
transport (1962-67, 1973-76), housing (1967-
72), forests (1967-73), and Aboriginal affairs
(1967-72). He was assistant chief secretary
and assistant attorney-general in 1962 and
chief secretary in 1972-73.
While seen as allied to the right-wing
elements of his party, Meagher proclaimed
himself ‘a genuine Liberal’. As minister for
Aboriginal affairs he was responsible for
granting Indigenous land rights in Victoria
in 1970—only the second such instance in
Australia (after South Australia). As housing
minister he opposed high-rise development
in inner-suburban Melbourne, but people protesting
against his support for ‘slum clearance’
burned him in effigy. While transport minister
he oversaw the development of Melbourne’s
underground rail loop. His commitment to
public transport—which included a suggestion
for fringe parking stations from which
commuters would travel by bus, tram or train
to the central business district—distinguished
Meagher from most of his conservative
colleagues, including Bolte.
Meagher ran against (Sir) Rupert Hamer
for the post of deputy-leader in 1971 and for
leader the following year, losing on both occasions.
He argued that a contest was preferable
to the unopposed election of Bolte’s favoured
candidate, but he might also have acted on
an innate suspicion of a more progressively
aligned leader, especially one trained in the
Upper House. While often railing against the
press’s portrayal of him as reactionary, as
chief secretary Meagher appeared intent
on imitating the outraged puritanism of his
148
A. D. B.
predecessor, Sir Arthur Rylah [q.v.16], on
censorship, but, in a rapidly changing society,
achieved not much more than looking
ridiculous and out of touch. A low point was
the notoriety he achieved during his attempt
to prosecute a Melbourne bookseller who
displayed posters of Michelangelo’s ‘David’.
In 1975 he also voted against the abolition
of capital punishment, one of the defining
issues of Hamer’s premiership. That year he
made the colourful, if hyperbolic, observation:
‘I didn’t get filled full of bullet holes on the
Burma Railway to see a bunch of socialists
take over this country’.
Retiring in 1976, to care for his ailing wife
(d.1979), Meagher remained critical of the
Liberal government, threatening to resign
his party membership in 1977 over the expulsion
of Douglas Jennings [q.v.17] and Charles
Francis. Appointed CBE in 1976, Ray Meagher
died at Frankston on 31 May 1988, survived by
his son, Douglas, a prominent Melbourne QC.
He was cremated with Anglican rites.
P. Blazey, Bolte (1972); R. Broome, Aboriginal
Victorians (2005); PD (LA, Vic), 2 Aug 1988, p 1;
Herald (Melbourne), 25 May 1972, p 4; Bulletin,
7 Oct 1972, p 21; National Times, 25-30 Aug 1975,
p 5. P. k. roDan
MEARES, AINSLIE DIXON (1910-1986),
psychiatrist, was born on 3 March 1910
at Sandringham, Melbourne, eldest son
of Victorian-born parents Albert George
Meares, medical practitioner, and his wife
Eva Gertrude, née Ham (d.1926). Ainslie’s
grandfathers, George Meares and C.J. Ham
[q.v.4], were both successful businessmen and
lord mayors of Melbourne. Taught by a governess
at home at Toorak until aged 10, Meares
then attended Melbourne Church of England
Grammar School. At first shy, introverted and
gangling, he built his self-confidence through
boxing and debating and in 1928 became a
school prefect. He was orphaned that year. His
report of a school tour of Ceylon (Sri Lanka)
and India, written for the school journal,
showed his sensitivity to social inequalities.
As the Depression hit, Meares spent a year
working on country properties owned by his
extended family, before proceeding to the
University of Melbourne (B.Ag.Sc., 1934).
On 18 June 1934 at the MCEGS chapel he
married Bonnie Sylvia Byrne, who encouraged
him to return to the university to study
medicine (MB, BS 1940; DPM, 1947; MD,
1958). Appointed as a captain, Australian
Army Medical Corps, Australian Imperial
Force, on 1 November 1941, Meares served
mainly in Australia. In 1944 he was medical
officer of the 7th Battalion in New Guinea. He
transferred to the reserve on 10 August 1946.
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1981–1990
Intrigued by hypno-analysis, during which
patients were encouraged to air sublimated
feelings of conflict, Meares served as a clinical
assistant in psychiatry at the Alfred Hospital
(1947-50), assistant psychiatrist at the Royal
Melbourne Hospital (1946-57) and honorary
psychiatrist at the Austin Hospital (1949-53).
Having completed the diploma of psychological
medicine, he began private psychiatric practice
and in 1955 delivered the annual Beattie
Smith [q.v.11] lectures. A turning-point was a
visit in 1956 to Nepal, where he spent several
days with an elderly yogi who taught him how
to induce profound relaxation through meditation.
Immersing himself in psychological
therapies that went beyond orthodoxies of the
time, he devoted himself to learning Eastern
approaches to calmness of mind and control of
pain—approaches tested in his own experience
of having teeth removed without anaesthetic.
Already the author of a volume of poetry,
How Distant the Stars (1949), he published
in 1958 The Door of Serenity, a version of his
doctoral thesis. Although a foundation fellow
(1963) of the (Royal) Australian and New
Zealand College of Psychiatrists, he broke
away from the practice of most colleagues. As
president (1961-63) of the International Society
for Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, he
continued travelling to remote places, exploring
local customs and non-drug-induced states
of mind that were capable of transcending
pain, tension and anxiety. He drew on these
experiences in his best-selling work, Relief
Without Drugs (1968), as well as in Strange
Places and Simple Truths (1969).
Although describing himself as ‘a conservative
person’ with, in the main, ‘an orthodox
way of life’, Meares increasingly departed
from convention in his professional and private
lives. Challenging the prevailing schism
between private and public psychiatry, he
befriended the chairman of Victoria’s Mental
Health Authority, Dr Eric Cunningham Dax,
and regularly attended educational meetings
of State mental hospital doctors. Despite
arriving in his Bentley or Rolls Royce, and
dressed sartorially, he earned grudging
respect for his interest.
Meares was one of the first Australian
psychiatrists to write self-help books for a
general audience: they included Student Problems
and a Guide to Study (1969), The Way Up
(1970), and Dialogue with Youth (1973). In his
self-described ‘humble attempt at community
service’, from 1973 to 1979 he held ‘meditative
self-hypnosis’ classes—sometimes in the
‘Quiet Place’ of his own premises—attracting
over a hundred people a week. Participants
sought inner calm as he walked among them,
murmuring soothing sounds, and touching
foreheads, arms, shoulders and chests.
Away from work, Meares marched against
Australia’s involvement in Vietnam, warned
149
Meillon
against drug use and experimentation with
homosexuality, walloped with an umbrella cars
that infringed his right-of-way, and ordered
patients he thought impertinent to leave
his office. He grew his hair long, became a
media celebrity and dined out on the day when
someone, who saw him rummaging through a
rubbish bin for duck food, gave him a dollar.
As he acquired the status of Australia’s bestknown
psychiatrist, some colleagues alleged
self-advertising, and in 1973 he requested
that his name be removed from the Victorian
Register of Medical Practitioners, citing difficulties
discussing his work on television and
in other media. As a non-medical consultant in
mental relaxation, he wrote prolifically from
his personal and professional experience,
producing titles including The New Woman
(1974), Why Be Old? (1975), The Introvert
(1976), Let’s Be Human (1976), Marriage and
Personality (1977), Cancer – Another Way?
(1977), The Wealth Within (1978) and Hidden
Powers of Leadership (1978).
In such works Meares claimed a biological
basis for the influence of intensive meditation
on serious conditions, reported better
results when patients were not also having
chemotherapy or radiotherapy, and suggested
that psychological mechanisms might cause
some cases of cancer. Although many specialists
advised patients not to see him, Meares
defended his stance, saying that while few of
his patients with cancer were able to repress
the disease completely, many lived longer than
expected and died with a better quality of life.
Although saddened by conflict with his peers,
he regretted only the time he had lost in not
fully pursuing his hunch.
After his wife died in 1978, Meares no longer
entertained at home, eating most meals at the
Melbourne Club and engaging friends in fierce
games of tennis. Continuing to write, speak
publicly and teach, he described himself as a
‘workaholic’. He died on 19 September 1986
at Fitzroy and was cremated. His son and two
daughters survived him. Several of his books
were published posthumously, including Let’s
Be At Ease (1987), Life Without Stress (1987),
Man and Woman (1987) and The Silver Years
(1988). A portrait by Louis Kahan is held by
his family.
D. Zwar, Doctor Ahead of His Times (1985); Herald
(Melbourne), 11 Sept 1971, p 6; Age (Melbourne),
15 Aug 1972, p 2, 24 Dec 1973, p 2, 6 June 1986,
‘Good Weekend’, p 39; private information.
ann weStMore
MEILLON, JOHN (1934-1989), actor, was
born on 1 May 1934 at Mosman, Sydney, eldest
of three children of Sydney-born parents
Theodor Boesan Meillon, clerk, and his wife
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Meillon
Florence Beatrice ‘Jill’, née Callaghan. John
was educated at Mosman Church of England
Preparatory and Sydney Grammar schools.
As a child he performed at the Mosman
Children’s Theatre Club, of which his parents
were founding members.
In 1944 Meillon made his radio début in
the Australian Broadcasting Commission’s
‘Bush Christmas’. He played an Aboriginal
boy in ‘The Search for the Golden Boomerang’
on 2UW. Subsequently he appeared in
many other ABC children’s serials including
‘The Gangos’, ‘Land of the Rainbow’ and
‘Budge’s Gang’. Other radio work comprised
the ‘Cadbury Show’ and the title role in
Ruth Park’s ‘Stumpy’ in 1947. That year he
received praise for his role as Young David in
‘David Copperfield’ on 2CH; he also played
Jim Hawkins in ‘Treasure Island’. He acted in
various radio plays and series, among them
‘Rebecca’, ‘On the Waterfront’ and Australia’s
longest-running serial ‘Blue Hills’, which
began in 1949.
Meillon had made his stage début in 1946
as Master Wakefield in Whiteoaks at the
Independent Theatre. His first professional
performance was in 1948, with the title role
in The Winslow Boy at the Minerva Theatre,
Kings Cross. He performed (1951-52) with the
John Alden [q.v.13] Shakespearian Company
in productions such as King Lear and The
Merchant of Venice. Returning to the Independent,
he played in Arthur Miller’s Death of a
Salesman and Clifford Odets’ Winter Journey.
In 1956 he toured Australia and New Zealand
in J. C. Williamson’s [q.v.6] production of The
Reluctant Debutante and in 1958 appeared
opposite June Salter in the Phillip Street revue
Cross Section. He married her on 21 June 1958
at St James’s Church of England, Sydney.
The couple travelled to England, where
Meillon continued to work on stage, as well
as in television and on films such as Billy Budd
(1962), Guns at Batasi (1964) and 633 Squadron
(1964). He returned to Australia in 1964
to appear on stage in Rattle of a Simple Man
opposite Salter. Though their marriage ended
in divorce in 1971 they remained friends. On
5 April 1972 at Crows Nest Methodist Church
Meillon married English-born actress Rita
(Bunny) Gibson.
Meillon’s film career had begun in 1959
with a cameo role in On the Beach; his next
film was The Sundowners (1960). In 1966 he
took the role of Dennis in They’re a Weird Mob;
he had starred (1958) as Nino in a serialised
radio version. He appeared in more than
twenty local features including Walkabout
(1971), Wake in Fright (1971), The Cars That
Ate Paris (1974), Ride a Wild Pony (1975), The
Picture Show Man (1977), Heatwave (1982),
The Wild Duck (1983), Crocodile Dundee
(1986), Crocodile Dundee II (1988) and The
Everlasting Secret Family (1988). In 1977 he
150
A. D. B.
received the Australian Film Institute award
for best actor for his portrayal of James Casey
in The Fourth Wish, having won (1975) a Logie
award for his role in the television series of
the same name.
With lead roles in ‘Thunder of Silence’ and
‘A Tongue of Silver’ for Channel 7, Meillon
started on television in 1959. He became a
house hold name in the 1960s playing Wally
Stiller in the comedy series ‘My Name’s
McGooley—What’s Yours?’ and the sequel
‘Rita and Wally’. Although Meillon shied away
from ongoing roles in television serials, he
guest starred in many popular series including
‘Skippy’, ‘Homicide’, ‘Division 4’ and
‘Spyforce’. He played a memorable character
in JNP Production’s ‘A Country Practice’, on
which his brother, the director Robert (Bob)
Meillon, also worked.
Meillon received a Logie award in 1979
for his performance in ‘Bit Part’. Other ABC
productions included ‘Over There’, ‘Lane
End’ and Robert Caswell’s acclaimed miniseries
‘Scales of Justice’. In the 1980s he
played Governor-General Sir John Kerr in
Byron Kennedy [q.v.17] and George Miller’s
‘The Dismissal’ and Brigadier-General Ian
Templeton in ‘The Dunera Boys’. Television
commercials for Berger Paints NSW Pty Ltd
and Carlton and United Breweries made
Meillon’s face and voice recognisable across
Australia. In 1979 he was appointed OBE.
At 16 Meillon had been junior diving champion
of New South Wales. He continued to
enjoy swimming, as well as fishing, golf and
pub culture. Survived by his wife and his son
from his first marriage, he died of cirrhosis
of the liver on 10 August 1989 at his home
at Neutral Bay and was cremated. He was
awarded the Raymond Longford [q.v.10]
lifetime achievement award posthumously.
R. Lane, The Golden Age of Australian Radio
Drama (1994); J. Salter, A Pinch of Salt (1995); B.
Gibson and F. Gauntlett, Thanks a Meillon! (2006).
niGeL GiLeS
MELVILLE, JAMES (1908-1984), agricultural
scientist, was born on 10 July 1908 at
Lovells Flat, Otago, New Zealand, third of four
children of Andrew Melville, farmer, and his
wife Isabella, née Somerville, both born in
New Zealand. Jim had a frugal Presby terian
upbringing. Completing his schooling at
Otago Boys’ High School, Dunedin, he
studied science at the University of Otago
(B.Sc., NZ, 1929; M.Sc., 1930), gaining
first-class honours in chemistry. A travelling
scholarship supported him in 1932-34 at the
Imperial College of Science and Technology,
University of London (Ph.D., 1934), and a
Commonwealth Fund fellowship enabled him
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1981–1990
to undertake postdoctoral research in 1934-36
at Yale University, United States of America.
He returned to New Zealand and joined the
staff of the Wheat Research Institute, Christchurch,
as an assistant chemist. On 9 April
1938 at the Presbyterian Church, Cashmere
Hills, he married Margaret Ogilvie.
In 1938 Melville was appointed a biochemist
at the plant chemistry laboratory, Department
of Science and Industrial Research,
Palmerston North; next year he became
director. Commissioned in the New Zealand
Military Forces in December 1941 and promoted
to temporary captain, he carried out
operational and chemical-warfare research
in the South and South-West Pacific areas,
before being demobilised in December 1944
and resuming duties at the laboratory. In 1952
he took over as director of DSIR’s grasslands
division. His research, which encompassed
plant nitrogen metabolism and protein
chemistry, led to an improved understanding
of the impact of pasture growth and quality
on animal production.
Appointed director of the Waite [q.v.6]
Agricultural Research Institute, University of
Adelaide, Melville arrived in South Australia
in January 1956. The family lived on campus,
in Urrbrae House, the residence bequeathed
to the university by Peter Waite. Melville vigorously
encouraged colleagues to collaborate
with researchers in the State Department of
Agriculture and the Commonwealth Scientific
and Industrial Research Organization and with
university staff located at North Terrace.
Over the next few years, using a collegiate
management style, he increased the number
of departments in the institute from two to
six, one of which was animal physiology, a
major new field. The number of postgraduate
students rose from six to sixty-five. He sat
on the university council (1958-78) and was
a part-time member (1958-66) of the CSIRO
executive. Colleagues found him gentlemanly,
pleasant, fair and decisive.
Throughout his career Melville sought to
contribute to the development of agricultural
industries on a national rather than parochial
basis. A council-member of the Australian
Wine Research Institute (1956-70), he also
sat on the Wool Research (1957-63) and Wool
Production Research Advisory (1964-66) committees,
and chaired (1964-66) the Australian
Wool Industry Conference. He was an adviser
to the Rural Credits Development Fund of the
Commonwealth Bank of Australia. Elected
a fellow of the Royal Australian Chemical
Institute (1957) and of the Australian Institute
of Agricultural Science (1966), he was
federal president of AIAS in 1970. That year
he was awarded the Farrer [q.v.8] memorial
medal; in his oration he advocated the use of
birth-control measures to curb world population
growth. Two months later in his Thomas
151
Mendoza
Cawthron memorial lecture at Nelson, New
Zealand, he delivered a similar message. In
1973 he undertook a review of agricultural
research in Spain for the World Bank.
Retiring as director of the Waite on
31 December 1973, Melville moved to a
20-acre (8-ha) property at Longwood in the
Adelaide Hills. From May to November 1974
he returned to work as the university’s acting
deputy vice-chancellor, and occasionally as
acting vice-chancellor. In 1975-76 he sat on
the Industries Assistance Commission for
the inquiry ‘Financing Rural Research’. The
university conferred on him the honorary
degree of doctor of the university in 1979.
He had been appointed CMG in 1969.
Melville’s interests included the arts. He
also served on the board of management
(1969-84) of the Adelaide Children’s Hospital.
Chairman of the Bushfire Research Committee
of South Australia in 1959-77, he made a
mea culpa statement on television after having
to be rescued by police while driving through
a bushfire to his home in February 1980. Soon
after, he and his wife moved to Resthaven,
Bellevue Heights. He died on 8 October 1984
at Daw Park, Adelaide, and was cremated. His
wife and their son and two daughters survived
him; one daughter had died in infancy.
V. A. Edgeloe, The Waite Agricultural Research
Institute (1984); Advertiser (Adelaide), 21 Feb
1980, p 8, 10 Oct 1984, p 9; Melville papers (Univ
of Adelaide Archives); private information and
personal knowledge. John c. raDcLiFFe
MENDOZA, DORIS ROSETTA ELIZABETH
(DOT) (1899-1986), pianist, was born on
11 September 1899 in Perth, only child of
Queensland-born Frederick Herbert Mendoza,
commission agent, and his Victorian-born wife
Phoebe, née Herman. Playing the piano at 4,
Dot accompanied her father, a tenor, in concerts
from the age of 7, began lessons with
the Melbourne music teacher Edward Goll
[q.v.9] at 12, and won a Melbourne University
Conservatorium scholarship at 17. She
completed two years of the bachelor of music
degree. Musically versatile, she was skilled
at sight-reading, playing melodies by ear, and
transposing on sight.
In 1919 Dot successfully auditioned as a
rehearsal pianist for J. C. Williamson [q.v.6].
She toured Australia and New Zealand with
Anna Pavlova in 1926, and with Colonel Wassily
de Basil’s ballet companies between 1936 and
1940. In 1944 Melbourne radio-station 3XY
employed her as staff pianist; she scripted and
compered ‘Dot Mendoza at Home’ and, with
Frank Thring, a children’s show.
Dot had married Frederick John Morton, a
musician, on 26 November 1921 at St George’s
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Mendoza
Presbyterian Church, East St Kilda, Melbourne.
When they separated six years later,
she had one young child and was pregnant. At
barely five feet (153 cm) tall, of slim build, with
red curly hair, a husky voice and a tendency
to use vivid lipstick, she attracted male
attention. She divorced Morton in 1942 and
married Francis Daniel Forde, also a musician,
on 27 September 1943 at Wesley Methodist
Church, Melbourne; the relationship did not
last. Her lively sense of humour, fondness for
pet names and passion for dogs were qualities
that were apparent in her undated collection
of short stories The Tail is Familiar!
After World War II Mendoza nurtured the
Minerva Theatre in Sydney and made three
recordings with Columbia Records. While
engaged in a project to rejuvenate Tasmanian
theatre in late 1950, she received treatment
from a local surgeon for her debilitating and
painful osteoarthritis. She had a permanent
limp, despite having had as a child twenty
operations on a flat hip socket. The doctor’s
efforts were unsuccessful and she struggled
physically and financially. Her children persuaded
her to visit them in London, where she
received further treatment and did some work
for the British Broadcasting Corporation.
On her return to Sydney in the mid-1950s
Mendoza joined the Phillip Street Theatre:
she composed music, wrote lyrics, performed
and directed. Alice in Wonderland (1956),
set to music by Dot, secured the theatre’s
future. Drawn into the world of satirical
comedy, she was the musical director of the
revue Is Australia Really Necessary? She also
contributed to The Mavis Bramston Show as
scriptwriter, composer and performer. More
seriously, she wrote the score for The Vatican,
a sound recording that included material
from Vatican radio as well as dramatisation by
Australian actors.
Mendoza coached actors in performance
and voice production; among those she taught
were Barry Humphries, June Salter, Gordon
Chater, John Meillon [q.v.] and Jill Perryman.
In 1985 she was awarded the OAM. Survived
by her daughter June and son Peter, Dot died
on 19 or 20 May 1986 in her home at Mount
Waverley, Victoria, and was cremated.
People (Sydney), 27 Sept 1950, p 20; Sunday
Telegraph (Sydney), 13 Dec 1964, p 33; Sun-Herald
(Sydney), 11 Dec 1977, p 180; Age (Melbourne),
14 Sept 1979, p 12; SMH, 22 May 1986, p 9; This
Is Your Life, D. Mendoza (ts, 1978, NFSA); private
information. Jane e. hunt
MENLOVE, DESMOND AUBREY (1906-
1990), naval officer, was born on 24 August
1906 at Temora, New South Wales, youngest
of three children of Australian-born parents
152
A. D. B.
Edward John Menlove, bank clerk, and his wife
Elsie Bertha, née Smith. Desmond entered
the Royal Australian Naval College, Jervis
Bay, Federal Capital Territory, on 1 January
1920 in the rank of cadet midshipman. As a
result of defence cuts, he transferred to the
RAN Reserve and joined the Merchant Navy
where he served with several shipping lines.
Described by his colleague William Craike
as ‘a keen and efficient officer’ who ‘did not
suffer fools gladly’, Menlove rose steadily
through the ranks of the merchant service.
His RAN Reserve training continued and he
was promoted to midshipman in 1924 and
lieutenant in 1932. He married Hilda Marion
Stevens on 2 July 1936 at St Michael’s Church
of England, Vaucluse, Sydney.
Following a general mobilisation of the
RAN Reserve, Menlove joined the light
cruiser, HMAS Adelaide, as a watch-keeping
officer on 1 September. He was promoted
to lieutenant commander on 1 August 1940,
and became navigator. On 22 August 1941
Menlove took command of the minesweeper,
HMAS Deloraine, which was commissioned
in Sydney on 22 November. After sea trials
she departed for Darwin on 26 December
and arrived on 7 January 1942. The vessel
was immediately engaged in escort duties,
anti-submarine patrols and minesweeping in
the Arafura Sea.
On 20 January Deloraine was ordered to
a location 60 miles (97 km) west of Darwin
where the Japanese submarine I-124 and three
sister submarines had been laying mines
and attempting to torpedo Allied shipping.
On arrival Deloraine’s starboard lookout
sighted a torpedo approaching the ship but
by a combination of decisive commands and
an alert and effective ship’s company it was
avoided and Deloraine dropped a pattern of six
depth charges. I-124 half-surfaced, perhaps to
engage with her deck gun, but was despatched
by a depth charge dropped at point blank
range. She was the first Japanese submarine
sunk by the RAN. Menlove was awarded the
Distinguished Service Order.
Menlove relinquished command of
Deloraine on 5 May 1942 and, after shore
appointments at HMAS Rushcutter, Sydney,
and HMAS Cerberus, Westernport, Victoria,
he took command of HMAS Kapunda on
10 October. He served as executive officer in
HMA ships Kanimbla and Westralia between
15 February and 26 September 1943, and
in HMAS Manoora during the Tanamerah
Bay and Wadke Island landings in April-May
1944. In August 1944 he assumed command
of HMAS Platypus. Demobilised on 5 October
1945, Menlove rejoined the merchant service
and later became a life assurance consultant
with the Australian Mutual Provident Society
in Sydney. He was known as a witty raconteur
who nominated work as his major hobby.
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1981–1990
Divorced in 1961, Menlove married Jean
Ruth Culliford, a secretary, on 15 December
that year at the registrar general’s office, Sydney.
He died at Elizabeth Bay on 1 September
1990 and was cremated. His wife and the two
sons of his first marriage survived him.
F. B. Eldridge, A History of the Royal Australian
Naval College (1949); T. Lewis, Sensuikan I-124
(1997); A6769, item MENLOVE D A (NAA).
toM LewiS
MENUHIN, HEPHZIBAH (1920-1981),
pianist and social activist, was born on 20 May
1920 in San Francisco, United States of
America, second child of Russian-born Moshe
Menuhin, manager of the Jewish Education
Society, and his wife Marutha, née Sher.
Hephzibah’s childhood was shaped by the
career of her elder brother Yehudi, who was
widely regarded as the twentieth century’s
greatest child prodigy violinist. From 1926 the
family travelled in Europe for long periods,
the children all observing a strict regime of
study and practice.
Like her younger sister, Yaltah, Menuhin
showed great early talent as a pianist and
made her public début in San Francisco aged
8. Although her parents rejected a career in
music for her, she was allowed to be Yehudi’s
accompanist. In 1933 their recording of
Mozart’s Sonata in A won the Candide prize,
and their musical partnership continued at
intervals for the rest of Hephzibah’s life.
In 1934, while living in Paris, the family
travelled with Yehudi on a concert tour to
Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. They
settled in Los Gatos, California, in 1936 and
Hephzibah was offered a solo début with the
New York Philharmonic Orchestra for 1939.
After a performance in London in March
1938, she and Yehudi had been introduced
by (Sir) Bernard Heinze [q.v.17] to Lindsay
and Nola Nicholas, the children of George
Nicholas [q.v.11]. Yehudi and Nola quickly
became engaged. Hephzibah proposed to the
twenty-one-year-old Lindsay; they married on
16 July 1938 in a civil ceremony at Los Gatos.
Returning to Australia to live on the Nicholas’s
sheep property Terinallum in Victoria’s
Western District, Menuhin took to life in the
country with enthusiasm—if with views on
diet, dress and education seen by locals as
idiosyncratic. Unselfconsciously beautiful,
with flowing golden hair, she gave concerts in
Melbourne and other parts of Australia during
World War II, often for charity, established
Red Cross units in her area, and fostered
Melbourne war orphans and refugees. In 1948
she initiated and ran Victoria’s first travelling
library for children.
153
Menuhin
Continuing her concert career after the
war, Menuhin supported the new Musica
Viva Society of Australia, often toured with
Ernest Llewellyn [q.v.] and introduced
works by Bloch, Bartok and Shostakovitch
to Australian audiences. In 1947, during a
tour of the USA and Europe with Yehudi, she
visited Theresienstadt concentration camp
in Czechoslovakia (Czech Republic), an
experience that affirmed her Jewishness and
exposed what she now saw as the smallness of
her Australian life. Questioning her political,
religious and social assumptions, she began to
speak out and write about progressive causes,
including education and women’s issues. Her
interests in left-wing ideas and politics were
encouraged by the Melbourne businessman,
Paul Morawetz, who was her lover from 1946
to 1949.
Menuhin’s marriage was increasingly troubled
but it did not break until she met Richard
Hauser in 1952. A Viennese-born Jewish
refugee, Hauser possessed a passionate
devotion to social and humanitarian causes
which fuelled her own. Early in 1954 she
left Nicholas and their two sons to live and
work with Hauser in Sydney. Divorced on
10 November 1954, she married Hauser at the
registrar general’s office, Sydney, on 22 April
1955. In March 1957 they left Australia and
settled in London.
Although continuing to perform, mainly in
recitals with Yehudi and in chamber groups,
Menuhin now considered her concert appearances
subordinate to her work with Hauser.
Partly supported by wealthy philanthropists,
they usually had at least twenty projects
running at once, including counselling marginalised
ethnic minorities, prison inmates
and victims of domestic violence; undertaking
social surveys for the British Home Office;
working with the peace movement in India;
and trying to establish human rights centres
and to mediate between paramilitary groups
in Northern Ireland. Together they wrote
The Fraternal Society (1962), outlining their
theories and practices.
Colleagues and visitors found their work
stimulating but undisciplined. Their challenge
was to encourage individuals to change
destructive patterns of behaviour; their
success is hard to evaluate. While Menuhin
always deferred to Hauser’s intuitive, autocratic
brilliance, she was the better organiser,
writer and strategic thinker. In 1977-81 she
served as British president of the Women’s
International League for Peace and Freedom.
Menuhin frequently returned to Australia,
sometimes to perform with her brother. In
1977 she joined the judging panel for the first
Sydney International Piano Competition. In
that year she developed cancer of the throat,
against which she battled until her death in
London on 1 January 1981. She was survived
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Menuhin
by her husband, the two sons of her first
marriage and the daughter of her second.
A piano scholarship in her memory was
established by the New South Wales State
Conservatorium of Music, and a chair in piano
studies at the Rubin Academy of Music and
Dance in Jerusalem.
Y. Menuhin, Unfinished Journey (1978); L. M.
Rolfe, The Menuhins (1978); J. Kent, An Exacting
Heart (2008); private information.
JacqueLine kent
MERCIER, EMILE ALFRED LUCIEN
(1901-1981), cartoonist, was born on
10 August 1901 in Noumea, son of French
parents Edouard Mercier, baker, and his
wife Emilie, née Le Mescam. Emile came
to Sydney at the age of 21, took a job in a
flour-milling firm as an office boy and started
to teach himself English. Showing an early
talent in black-and-white drawing, he attended
Julian Ashton’s [q.v.7] Sydney Art School.
Mercier sold his first cartoon to Smith’s
Weekly in February 1923. Continuing with
freelance sales to the diggers’ magazine Aussie,
the Bulletin, the Melbourne Punch, the
Melbourne Herald, the Sydney Sportsman and
the ABC Weekly, he also made money with
humorous cartoons for advertising campaigns.
His 1927 brochure for Advanx Tires included
the caption ‘invite us to your flat’.
On 1 March 1924 Mercier married Esther
Rodo Dunbar at the Methodist parsonage,
Robertson. Divorced in November 1932, on
17 December he married Flora Hazel Joan
Gallagher (d.1958), a bookkeeping machine
operator, at St Canice’s Catholic Church,
Darlinghurst; they had two sons. Together
Emile and Flora produced alphabet primers
and children’s books. He was naturalised in
1940. On 22 May 1963 at the district registrar’s
office, Chatswood, he married Patricia
Clare Alfonso, a 40-year-old divorced typist
with three sons.
When Lennie Lower [q.v.10], Australia’s
greatest prose humorist, had rejoined Smith’s
Weekly in 1940, Mercier was one of the artists
selected to illustrate his pieces. His fellow
artists and journalists saw Mercier as a man
who could never control his ‘natural Gallic
naughtiness’. He worked on Truth and then
Sydney’s Daily Mirror as a cartoonist during
World War II. Entering the world of comic
production with the Sydney publisher Frank
Johnson, Mercier sent up American cartoon
heroes with his own action characters from
Supa Dupa Man and Mudrake the Magician
to Tripalong Hoppity.
Mercier obtained full-time employment on
the tabloid Sydney Sun in 1949 and remained
154
A. D. B.
there until 1968. His cartoons were syndicated
to newspapers in other States and Angus &
Robertson [qq.v.7,11] Ltd published thematic
collections of his cartoons in book form. Wake
Me up at Nine (1950) was followed by Sauce or
Mustard? (1951). In the foreword to Gravy Pie
(1953), Kenneth Slessor [q.v.16] described
Mercier’s cartoons as ‘the Late Final Extra
of black and white . . . Yet, because they are
founded on the constants of human life and
not on its crotchets, they do not die in the
morning as the evening papers die’. In the
tenth volume, Hold It! (1960), an Australian
seeking ‘corn beef and cabbage’ in Kings
Cross finds instead ‘Gou Lash’, ‘Escargots’
and ‘Nasi Goreng’.
Most of the characters in Mercier’s cartoons
are everyday people, including down-and-outs.
One of his greatest cartoons depicts unshaven
and unwashed street buskers looking at a
press announcement of the Queen’s birthday
honours, anticipating that they too were on the
list. With an unnerving ability to detect and
lampoon pretension in an Australia that liked
to think of itself as egalitarian, he delighted
in crisp language and tart observations to
celebrate human foibles. He regularly contributed
to the International Salon of Cartoons,
which exhibited in the Montreal International
Pavilion of Humour, Canada.
Vane Lindesay, author and illustrator, suggested
that Mercier rejected the then popular
stock situations (mothers-in-law, pretty secretaries)
in favour of satirising characters unique
to Australia. Mercier showed us crowded pub
bars, backstreet alleys and the denizens of
the city, from waitresses to taxation officials.
Lindesay quoted Mercier as saying ‘I am
more interested in types than personalities’.
His signature characters included gossiping
housewives, a bearded Frenchman, barefoot
city kids and scruffy dogs and cats. The nonsensical
‘Post No Shrdlus’ appeared as a small
sign in countless of his cartoons. Eschewing
party politics, he created cartoons that were
about daily life, not about the day’s editorial.
Mercier depicted himself with a pointy
nose, moustache and quizzical eyebrows. A
medium-sized man, at work he dressed in a
short-sleeved shirt and a tie. He stood up to
bullying newspaper editors and earned the
respect of his fellow cartoonists. After retirement
he continued to produce cartoons for
the Sun and then for the Wine & Spirit Buying
Guide (1976-80), which was ironic, as he had
always satirised wine as ‘plonk’, with one of
his best-known motifs a wheelbarrow full of
empty bottles. He suffered for some years
from Parkinson’s disease. Survived by his wife
and the two sons of his second marriage, he
died on 10 March 1981 at Castlecrag and was
buried in the Catholic section of the Northern
Suburbs cemetery.
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1981–1990
G. Blaikie, Remember Smith’s Weekly? (1966); V.
Lindesay, The Inked-in Image (1979); Sun (Sydney),
11 Mar 1981, p 2, 16 Mar 1981, p 15; Telegraph
(Brisbane), 13 Mar 1981, p 6; North Shore Times,
18 Mar 1981, p 26; SMH, 24 Nov 2001, ‘Good
Weekend’, p 34. Peter SPearritt
MERRIFIELD, SAMUEL (1904-1982),
surveyor and politician, was born on 6 February
1904 at Moonee Ponds, Melbourne,
third child of Victorian-born parents William
Merrifield, carpenter, and his wife Sarah, née
Semmens. Sam’s education at Moonee Ponds
West Primary and Essendon High schools was
impeded by hearing difficulties, for which he
compensated with voracious, attentive reading.
His self-discipline helped him through a
surveying apprenticeship as well as evening
classes at Taylor’s College and the Working
Men’s College, Melbourne. Having secured
a surveyor’s licence in 1925, he worked as
a draftsman and surveyor for the Melbourne
and Metropolitan Tramways Board, the Victorian
Forests Commission and the Country
Roads Board until his retrenchment in 1931,
a casualty of the Depression.
Political radicalism had featured in
Merrifield’s family since his grandfather’s
involvement in agitation on the Victorian
goldfields in 1854. Sam attended Australian
Labor and Socialist party functions in his
youth, and at 18 he had joined the Moonee
Ponds branch of the ALP. His bout of unemployment
hardened his political resolve,
deepening his sympathy for people fallen on
hard times. Always an enthusiastic sportsman,
he immersed himself more widely in the sporting
and civic affairs of his local community.
After living off his wits, including a period
raising poultry, Merrifield returned to paid
employment for the Tramways Board (1935-
39), the State Electricity Commission (1940),
and from 1940 the Commonwealth Department
of the Interior, where he applied his
drafting, surveying and broad engineering
skills with customary precision and diligence.
On 7 March 1936 at the Ascot Vale Congregational
Church he married Margaret Lillian
(Lil) Smith, a typist. They had no children.
In June 1943 Merrifield won the Victorian
Legislative Assembly seat of Essendon for
the ALP and, after an electoral redistribution,
successfully contested that of Moonee Ponds
in 1945-52. He gave assiduous attention to his
electorate and served on numerous parliamentary
committees. He was vice-president
(1947-49) of the State Schools Committees’
Association of Victoria. Appointed minister for
public works in 1952, he tackled increasing
demands for the renewal and expansion of
155
Merrifield
public infrastructure. Facing overcrowding
in state schools, for instance, he oversaw the
introduction of portable classrooms.
Sparsely-built and quietly-spoken, Merrifield
nonetheless was drawn into controversy
in 1949 when he was named during the Lowe
[q.v.15] royal commission into communism
in Victoria as a Communist Party of Australia
contact in the ALP. He vigorously denied
these allegations, which were never proved,
but remained a figure of suspicion for anticommunist
campaigners in the ALP. The flow
of preferences to the Australian Labor Party
(Anti-Communist) saw him defeated in the
election that followed the split in the Cain
[q.v.13] government in April 1955.
Infuriated but outwardly calm, Merrifield
was then employed as a surveyor by the
Keilor City Council: he had retained close
ties with his profession as president (1946)
and fellow (1947-64) of the Victorian Institute
of Surveyors. He also set about rebuilding his
political career. In June 1958 he was elected
to the Victorian Legislative Council as the
member for Doutta Galla. As deputy-leader
of the Opposition in the council from 1960
until his retirement in 1970, he won respect
for his courteous demeanour and punctilious
attention to parliamentary duties. His favourite
appointment was to the Parliamentary
Library committee, which allowed him to
indulge a long-standing passion for reading,
particularly history.
Always committed to representing ‘the
underdog’, in the early 1960s Merrifield
joined Brian Fitzpatrick [q.v.14] and others
in establishing the Melbourne branch of the
Australian Society for the Study of Labour
History. Building on his substantial and
constantly growing collection of historical
material on the Australian labour movement,
in 1964 he launched the Recorder—a
newsletter that became the starting point for
many researchers who found their way to his
increasingly cluttered house and garage at
Moonee Ponds. After his retirement it became
his principal interest, along with his founding
membership of the Essendon Historical
Society and service to the local library. In
1971 the ASSLH conferred on him its second
life membership (Fitzpatrick was the first) and
in 1973 Monash University awarded him an
honorary doctorate of letters, recognising his
contribution to the field.
Lil Merrifield, who had devotedly supported
her husband, died in 1978; Sam soon commenced
donating his library and papers to the
La Trobe Library. His dedication to his community,
including fifteen years as president
of the Essendon District Football League and
twenty-six years on the Essendon Hospital
committee, was widely recognised. He died on
24 August 1982 at Parkville, Melbourne, and
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Merrifield
was cremated. In 1983 the Essendon Public
Library was named after him.
R. Murray, The Split (1970); PD (Vic), 7 Sept
1982, p 2; Labour Hist, no 20, 1971, p 74, no 44,
1983, p 113; Austn Builder, Apr 1955, p 249; Herald
(Melbourne), 15 May 1973, p 42; Essendon Gazette,
30 June 1982, p 6, 1 Sept 1982, p 1, 23 Feb 1983,
p 10. Peter Love
MESLEY, JACK STATTON (1910-1987),
naval officer, was born on 11 December
1910 at Brunswick, Victoria, second child of
Victorian-born parents Arthur Mesley, school
teacher, and his wife Annie Jeanette Catherine,
née Skinner. Educated at Leongatha Primary
School, Jack entered the Royal Australian
Naval College, Jervis Bay, Federal Capital
Territory, as a cadet midshipman on 1 January
1924. There he excelled scholastically and at
sport. Appointed a midshipman in 1928, he
was posted to Britain, where he trained at the
Royal Naval College, Greenwich, and aboard
HM ships Tiger, Marlborough and Renown.
Promoted to lieutenant on 1 February 1932,
Mesley specialised in navigation. On 8 May
1939 he married Edna Gay Curtis at St Mark’s
Church of England, Woollahra, Sydney.
At the outbreak of World War II Mesley
was navigating officer in the cruiser, HMS
Hawkins, which captured several Italian ships
off the coast of Italian Somaliland in April
1941. In July, now a lieutenant commander,
he joined the light cruiser, HMAS Hobart,
and, after serving in the Mediterranean until
November, he returned to Australia and was
posted to HMAS Canberra, which was lost in
August 1942 during the battle of Savo Island.
After his rescue, he was appointed to the staff
of the flag officer in command, Sydney, and in
July 1943 became staff officer (operational)
Port Moresby, Papua. On 16 November he
took command of the destroyer, HMAS Vendetta,
that was engaged in escort duties in Australian
and New Guinean waters, and a year
later he became squadron navigating officer in
the heavy cruiser, HMAS Australia, that saw
action during the Lingayen Gulf operations.
Joining HMAS Shropshire in March 1945, he
participated in numerous operations during
the closing months of the war, for which
he was awarded the Distinguished Service
Cross. He was promoted to commander on
31 December.
From 19 February 1947 Mesley commanded
HMAS Rushcutter, a shore establishment in
Sydney, where his duties included that of
staff officer reserves and recruiting officer. In
January 1949 he joined the joint planning staff
in Navy Office and in May 1950 he became
executive officer at the training establishment,
HMAS Cerberus, Westernport, Victoria.
156
A. D. B.
During the Korean War Mesley commanded
the destroyer, HMAS Tobruk, from April 1952,
and on 23 March 1953, as commanding officer
of HMAS Anzac, became captain of the 10th
Destroyer Squadron. Appointed MVO in recognition
of his service during the royal tour
of Australia, he served as an honorary aidede-camp
to the governor-general from 1 July
1954. In January 1957 he took command of the
aircraft carrier, HMAS Sydney, and 14 months
later was put in charge of the establishments
Watson and Rushcutter, Sydney.
Mesley became chief staff officer to the flag
officer commanding the Australian Fleet in
July 1958 and attended courses at the Imperial
Defence College, Britain. Returning to
Australia in December 1959, he commanded
the flagship, HMAS Melbourne, until January
1961, when he assumed command of the shore
base, HMAS Penguin, Sydney, followed by the
naval air station, HMAS Albatross, Nowra. In
August he became a naval aide-de-camp to
the Queen. He remained at Albatross until
June 1965, having been appointed CBE on
1 January. Promoted to rear admiral in July, he
held the positions of second naval member of
the Naval Board and chief of naval personnel,
until his retirement on 7 December 1967.
Known simply as ‘Mes’ throughout his
career, he earned a reputation as a highly
capable and experienced sea-going officer who
possessed a brisk and cheerful disposition.
Survived by his wife and three sons, Mesley
died on 24 February 1987 at Darlinghurst and,
after a service at HMAS Watson, was cremated.
F. B. Eldridge, A History of the Royal Australian
Naval College (1949); J. J. Atkinson, By Skill &
Valour (1986); A6769, item MESLEY J S (NAA);
Mesley’s personal papers, file 2006/1015432/1,
(Naval History Section, Sea Power Centre
– Australia). John PerryMan
METCALFE, JOHN WALLACE (1901-
1982), librarian, was born on 16 May 1901
at Blackburn, Lancashire, England, eldest of
three sons of Henry Harwood Metcalfe, paperbag
maker, and his wife Lilian, née Wilcock.
The family migrated to New Zealand in 1908,
then to Australia, living briefly in Adelaide
before settling in Sydney in 1911. Educated at
Marrickville Superior Public School and Fort
Street Boys’ High School, Metcalfe joined the
State Department of Taxation in 1917. After
a few weeks he took up an appointment in
the Fisher [q.v.4] Library at the University
of Sydney. He enrolled as an evening student,
graduating (BA, 1923) with first-class honours
in history. In 1927 he won the Beauchamp
prize for an essay on a literary subject.
In 1923 Metcalfe was appointed to the
Public (State) Library of New South Wales.
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1981–1990
When he failed cataloguing in the librarianship
examination in 1928, the principal librarian,
W. H. Ifould [q.v.9], arranged some practical
experience for him. Metcalfe developed a
passion for the subject and in his own time
compared cataloguing in the Public Library
with five other codes. To prevent a woman
succeeding Ifould, Metcalfe was promoted to
the new position of deputy principal librarian
in 1932. He delivered a paper on public
library systems at a conference in Melbourne
in 1933. Awarded a Carnegie Corporation of
New York travel grant, in 1934 he began a
six-month study tour of libraries in the United
States of America and Europe. His report was
widely circulated.
Metcalfe became, in his own words, ‘technical
adviser and chief publicity writer’ for the
Free Library Movement, a citizens’ lobby
group, in 1935. Led by Geoffrey Cochrane
Remington [q.v.16], the FLM gained representation
on the Libraries Advisory Committee,
established in 1937. As the committee secretary,
Metcalfe wrote most of its report and
helped to draft a bill, which became the basis
for the New South Wales Library Act, 1939,
and the blueprint for government-subsidised
public libraries.
In 1937 Metcalfe helped to found the first
local professional association of librarians, the
Australian Institute of Librarians (from 1949
the Library Association of Australia and from
1989 the Australian Library and Information
Association). He drafted much of its constitution,
served as the institute’s first honorary
general secretary, and devised its examination
scheme, setting the first national professional
standards for librarianship in Australia. At the
Public Library he conducted a library training
course for teachers in 1938 and prepared an
abridged edition of the Dewey decimal classification
for school libraries. He directed
the first formal Australian library school at
his library from 1939 and wrote most of its
textbooks. President (1946-48) of AIL, he
masterminded its transformation, with wider
membership and an expanded role, into the
LAA in 1949. He was interim president (1949-
50) and honorary general secretary (1950-53).
Foundation editor (1951-54) of the Australian
Library Journal, he again served (1956-59) as
LAA president.
In 1942 Metcalfe had succeeded Ifould
as principal librarian and from 1944 he was
the executive member of the Library Board
of New South Wales. Then Australia’s most
influential librarian, he became known to the
public through radio broadcasts and journal
articles. In 1947 he was an Australian delegate
to the second United Nations Educational,
Scientific and Cultural Organization general
conference in Mexico City, chairing a working
party on public libraries. He established a
central purchasing and cataloguing scheme
157
Metcalfe
for books for New South Wales public libraries
and arranged for government department
libraries to be staffed by his own officers, a
system that remained in place until the 1970s.
An archives department was established in
the library in 1953. When Metcalfe left the
Library Board in 1959, two-thirds of the New
South Wales population had access to a free
public library.
Metcalfe had been seconded in 1956 to
the University of Sydney library to survey its
future needs, returning to the Public Library
next year. In 1959 he joined the University
of New South Wales as university librarian
and director-designate of the first library
school at an Australian university. The school
of librarianship opened in 1960, offering
a postgraduate diploma and soon adding a
master’s program and the opportunity for
doctoral research. He revelled in his new
roles. In 1963 he travelled to Britain to buy
books and to visit library schools. He returned
to Australia via the United States in 1964,
presenting a seminar at Rutgers, the State
University of New Jersey, on the organisation
of information. In 1966 he relinquished the
university librarianship; two years later he
retired from the school of librarianship.
Remaining active professionally, Metcalfe
was, according to a younger librarian, Jack
Nelson, ‘as tendentious, polemical and
argumentative as ever’. Widely if not always
sympathetically reviewed, Metcalfe’s major
works were Information Indexing and Subject
Cataloging (1957), Subject Classifying and
Indexing of Libraries and Literature (1959),
Alphabetical Subject Indication of Information
(1964) and Information Retrieval, British &
American, 1876-1976 (1976). Of the first he
declared: ‘if a dozen people understand it that
will be good enough’.
Metcalfe had been awarded, by examination,
a fellowship (1936) of the Library Association
of the United Kingdom. He was made a fellow
of the LAA in 1964 and nine years later was
the first recipient of its highest professional
honour, the H. C. L. Anderson [q.v.7] award.
Scholarships at the University of New South
Wales, the Metcalfe auditorium at the State
Library of New South Wales and the Metcalfe
medallion, awarded (1984-98) by ALIA for outstanding
student work, commemorated him.
According to Metcalfe’s colleague Wilma
Radford, he was ‘unusually direct, forthright,
honest’ and often thoughtful and considerate,
but he could also be ‘rude and abrasive in
confrontations’. Although he could write for a
popular audience and even in ‘Basic English’,
his major works were impenetrable to many.
‘He affected to despise literature’, yet his writings
were ‘larded with literary allusions’. A
custodian of archival collections, he allegedly
threw away some of the Public Library’s official
records. Although careful with money, he
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Metcalfe
made anonymous donations to that institution;
his widow also made major bequests to the
library as well as to the University of New
South Wales.
Metcalfe was a man of intense energy
and wide interests, including Blissymbolics
(a system of pictorial symbols for communication),
mass observation, public opinion
polls and documentary films. An opponent
of strict censorship, he appeared before the
Supreme Court of Queensland in 1955 in a
case involving ‘objectionable’ comics. He was
never active in politics but suspected that his
liberal views led some people to believe that
he was a communist. Fascinated by the use
of machines in libraries, he initiated trials of
microfilm, catalogue card reproduction and
copying equipment. His influence on information
theory has been acknowledged, and had
he been writing at a time when information
technology was more advanced, his ideas
might have had even more impact.
Of average height, with erect bearing and
a neatly trimmed moustache, Metcalfe often
had a half-smile playing on his face. He was
more interested in what he was doing than
how he appeared and towards the end of his
career he had an air of eccentricity, although
his mind remained as sharp as ever.
On 3 March 1934 at St Matthew’s Church
of England, Manly, Metcalfe had married
TheLMa ConStance (1898-1984), second
daughter of Victorian-born parents Harry
Vagg, farmer, and his wife Emily Ann, née
Sallery. Thelma was born on 10 September
1898 at Fitzroy, Melbourne. Educated at
Albury District School and the University of
Sydney (BA, 1922; Dip.Ed., 1923), she taught
languages in New South Wales public schools
from 1922 until her marriage.
Mrs Metcalfe was an early member of the
council of the Free Library Movement and
president of the Lyceum Club (Sydney) in
the 1940s. Honorary secretary (1941-48) and
president (1948-60) of the State branch of
the National Council of Women, she lobbied
for the foundation of the Nutrition Advisory
Council, the Housekeepers’ Emergency Service
and the Children’s Film (and Television)
Council. She was the State branch convenor
on immigration until 1981. President of the
Australian National Council of Women for two
terms, ending in 1960, she was elected life
vice-president of the State branch in 1970.
Other organisations that she supported
were the Pan-Pacific and South East Asia
Women’s Association of Australia, the British
Drama League, the New South Wales committee
for International Children’s Book Week,
the tenancy applications advisory committee
of the State Housing Commission, the State
division of the United Nations Association of
Australia, the State division of the Arts Council
of Australia and the Good Neighbour Council
158
A. D. B.
of New South Wales. Seeing herself as ‘the
best Annual Meeting attender in Australia’,
she was valued by fellow members for her
perseverance, tolerance, good humour and
objectivity. She was appointed MBE in 1956.
John Metcalfe died on 7 February 1982 at
Katoomba and was buried in Penrith cemetery.
Thelma Metcalfe died on 18 May 1984
at Emu Plains and was buried in Kingswood
cemetery. They had no children.
W. B. Rayward (ed), The Variety of Librarianship
(1976), and Libraries and Life in a Changing World
(1993), and Developing a Profession of Librarianship
in Australia (1995); C. Myall and R. C. Carter (eds),
Portraits in Cataloging and Classification (1998);
J. P. Whyte and D. J. Jones, Uniting a Profession
(2007); Austn Lib Jnl, Jan 1959, p 36, May 1971,
p 5, Nov 1973, p 423; N.C.W. News (Sydney),
Aug 1984, p 6; D. J. Jones, W. H. Ifould and the
Development of Library Services in New South
Wales, 1912-1942 (PhD thesis, Univ of NSW,
1993); H. de Berg, interview with J. Metcalfe
(ts, 1974, NLA); Austn Lib and Information Assn
papers (NLA); Wilma Radford—papers relating to
J. Metcalfe (SLNSW); private information.
DaviD J. JoneS
MEYER, Sir OSCAR GWYNNE (1910-
1981), engineer and businessman, was born
on 10 February 1910 at North Sydney, eldest
of three children of Italian-born Oscar Arthur
Meyer and his wife Muriel Alice Gwynne, née
O’Brien, born in New South Wales. Oscar was
educated at North Sydney Boys’ High School.
He followed his father, a clerk with New South
Wales Railways, joining as a cadet engineer
in 1926. Studying mechanical engineering at
Sydney Technical College, he qualified in 1931
and the next year was appointed an engineer
with the railways. On 19 December 1938 at
St John’s Church of England, Milsons Point,
he married Marion Bohlé, a secretary.
Having served in the Citizen Military Forces
since 1931, Meyer was appointed as a captain,
Royal Australian Engineers, Australian
Imperial Force, on 1 May 1940. Promoted to
major, he embarked for the Middle East in
October with the 7th Division. He saw action
in Syria and was mentioned in despatches
before returning to Australia in April 1942.
Promoted to lieutenant colonel in September,
he joined the Northern Territory Force. He
was seconded to Advanced Land Headquarters
in November 1944 and in 1945 served in New
Guinea, Borneo and Morotai, and was again
mentioned in despatches. In March 1946 he
was placed on the Reserve of Officers with
the rank of honorary colonel and the following
year was appointed OBE. He continued his
association with the CMF, serving as colonel
commandant RAE, 3rd Military District,
until 1976.
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1981–1990
In 1946 Meyer became assistant-director
of civil engineering, later of mechanical engineering,
in the rail standardisation branch,
Commonwealth Department of Shipping
and Transport. Appointed Victorian railways
commissioner in 1950, he was also deputychairman
in 1956-58. He oversaw planning
for an underground railway in Melbourne.
From September to December 1956, sponsored
by the State government, he attended
an advanced management course at Harvard
Business School, United States of America;
he returned at the end of January 1957 after
inspecting modern railway methods in the
USA. He resigned from the railways early in
1958, prompting questions in the Victorian
parliament; the assistant-minister for transport,
(Sir) Murray Porter, notified the House
of Assembly that Meyer had given ‘a verbal
agreement to remain with the railways for a
reasonable time’.
On 1 April 1958 Meyer became managing
director of Australian Carbon Black Pty Ltd.
Plans to locate its plant at Altona, Victoria,
were initially rejected by the local shire
council, which was worried about pollution,
but were finally approved after intervention
by the Victorian government, fearful of rival
bids from other States. Meyer successfully
steered the firm through these negotiations.
Stepping down as managing director in 1973,
he served to 1975 as chairman.
In 1965 Meyer was appointed chairman of
the Lower Yarra Crossing (later the West Gate
Bridge) Authority. He was a strong advocate
for the bridge which, when completed in 1978,
was the largest of its type in the southern
hemisphere, spanning the Yarra River and
providing ready access between Melbourne
and Geelong. Construction was not without
its problems, the worst of which saw the
deaths of thirty-five workmen when part of
the structure collapsed on 15 October 1970.
The building design was then modified; asked
about the safety of the bridge, Meyer replied
with his characteristic humour ‘it will stand
up to a herd of copulating elephants’.
Meyer served on a number of boards of
directors, including Yellow Express Carriers
Ltd (1961-71), Colonial Mutual Life Assurance
Society Ltd (1966-80), Australian
Innovation Corporation Ltd (1976-79) and
Nylex Corporation Ltd (1967-80). He was
also a member of the Commonwealth Serum
Laboratories Commission (1962-67) and the
Export Development Council (1965-71). Later
he was chairman of (E.A.) Watts Holdings Ltd
(1974-81) and Mildara Wines Ltd (1979-81).
President of the Melbourne division (1965-66)
and national president (1970-72) of the Australian
Institute of Management, in 1970 he
became a fellow; in 1976 he was awarded the
John Storey [q.v.12] medal. He was knighted
in 1978.
159
Michaelis
For many years Meyer lived at Toorak and
spent leisure time at Barwon Heads, where
he enjoyed sailing. He was a member of the
Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron, the Naval &
Military and Australian clubs (Melbourne),
and the Royal Melbourne and Barwon Heads
golf clubs. A colourful character, who smoked
a pipe, he was known for ‘calling a spade a
spade’. Survived by his wife and their son and
daughter, he died on 30 September 1981 at
Prahran, Melbourne, and was cremated.
Herald (Melbourne), 3 Nov 1955, p 5; 13 Mar
1958, p 2; 10 Apr 1958, p 9; Age (Melbourne),
20 Mar 1958, p 7; 13 Nov 1978, p 17; 2 Oct 1981,
p 19; B883, item NX384 (NAA).
SteLLa M. BarBer
MICHAELIS, MARGARETHE (1902-1985),
photographer, was born on 6 April 1902 at
Dzieditz, near Bielsko, Austria (Poland),
daughter of Jewish parents Heinrich Gross,
doctor, and his wife Fanni, née Robinsohn.
She moved to Vienna to study (1918-21) at the
Graphische Lehr-und Versuchsanstalt (Institute
of Graphic Arts and Research). After a job
at the Studio d’Ora, in 1922 she joined Grete
Kolliner Atelier Für Porträt Photographie,
where she remained for five years. She then
worked in Berlin at Binder Photographie
and in Prague at Fotostyle studio. Settling
in Berlin in 1929, she was hired by Atelier
K. Schenker, Suse Byk Atelier Für Photographische
Porträts and Photos Winterfeld but
also experienced intermittent unemployment.
Margarethe married Rudolf (Michel)
Michaelis, an archaeological restorer and
an anarcho-syndicalist, on 2 October 1933 in
Berlin. Following the Nazi Party’s consolidation
of power, they were arrested in separate
incidents and Rudolf was imprisoned. After his
release in December 1933 they fled to Spain,
where they separated in 1934 and divorced
in 1937.
In Barcelona Michaelis established her
own business, Foto-elis, and collaborated
with a group of progressive Catalan architects
associated with Josep Lluis Sert. Her fine
architectural and documentary photographs,
published in the magazines A.C. and D’Ací
i d’Allà, played an important (though often
anonymous) role in the representation of
Barcelona’s modernity. Following the outbreak
of the Spanish Civil War she worked primarily
in an anti-fascist mode. Her photographs
appeared in Generalitat Propaganda Commissariat
publications, including Nova Iberia.
Michaelis returned to her family at Bielsko
in 1937. Next year she was granted a German
passport; after some months in London she
travelled to Sydney, arriving in September
1939. She worked initially as a domestic help
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Michaelis
but soon resumed her photographic career. In
1940 having Anglicised her first name, she
opened ‘Photo-studio’ in Castlereagh Street.
She specialised in portraiture—especially
of Jewish subjects and those involved in
the arts. Her subjects included the author
Cynthia Reed, the sculptor Lyndon Dadswell
and members of the Bodenwieser [qq.v.15
Nolan,17,13] Ballet. Michaelis’s photographs
were published in the journal Australia and in
Australian Photography 1947. She joined the
Professional Photographers’ Associations of
New South Wales and Australia in 1941 and
was the sole female member of the Institute
of Photographic Illustrators.
Although Michaelis was under surveillance
by the Australian government during World
War II, she continued to work and was naturalised
in 1945. She closed her studio in 1952,
due to poor eyesight. For two years she was
Richard Hauser’s and Hephzibah Menuhin’s
[q.v.] secretary. On 3 March 1960 at Temple
Beth Israel, St Kilda, Melbourne, she married
Albert George Sachs (d.1965), a glass merchant
who was a widower; she helped him in
his framing business in Melbourne.
In 1981 Michaelis’s work was included
in the touring exhibition Australian Women
Photographers 1840-1960. A small, engaging
and lively woman, who moved and talked
‘like quicksilver’, she could also be intense
and demanding. Margaret Michaelis died
on 16 October 1985 in Melbourne and was
cremated. Solo retrospective exhibitions were
held by the National Gallery of Australia, Canberra
(1987, 2005) and the Institut Valencià
d’Art Modern Centre Julio González, Spain
(1998). Her work is in the National Gallery
of Australia and the Arxiu Històric del Col.
legi d’Arquitectes de Catalunya, Barcelona.
B. Hall and J. Mather, Australian Women
Photographers 1840-1960 (1986); H. Ennis,
‘Michaelis-Sachs, Margaret’, in J. Kerr (ed),
Heritage (1995) and ‘Blue Hydrangeas’, in R. Butler
(ed), The Europeans (1997); H. Ennis, Margaret
Michaelis (2005); Modernism/Modernity, vol 10,
no 1, 2003, p 141; Michaelis-Sachs papers (NGA);
personal knowledge. heLen enniS
MICHAELS, ERIC PHILIP (1948-1988),
anthropologist, was born on 11 February 1948
at Philadelphia, United States of America, one
of three children of Jewish parents Abraham
Michaels, engineer, and his wife Enid Hope,
née Olenick. Describing himself at the end
of his life as a ‘gifted child’ and a ‘troubled’
adolescent of affluent parents, in the 1960s
Eric lived on a hippie commune near Taos,
New Mexico. He also spent time in New York.
After majoring in English at Temple University,
Philadelphia (BA, 1973), he attended
160
A. D. B.
the University of Texas at Austin (MA, 1979;
Ph.D., 1982), where he studied anthropology.
For his doctoral thesis he examined Christian
fundamentalist media protest groups in Texas.
Early in the 1980s he collaborated with the
Chilean video artist, Juan Downey, in a study
of the Yanomami people of Brazil. Immersed
in the American traditions of visual and cultural
anthropology, and advocating ‘handing
over the camera’, he stressed the potential
for radical inversion of the usual subject-object
relations in anthropology.
In November 1982 Michaels began a threeyear
fellowship at the Australian Institute of
Aboriginal Studies, Canberra, conducting
research on the impact of the introduction
of satellite television on remote Aboriginal
communities. Focusing on the Yuendumu
community, Northern Territory, he encouraged
the Warlpiri people to produce videos
themselves, in conjunction with the Warlpiri
Media Association. His approach was aimed
at empowering Aborigines through the
appropriation of new technology, and was at
variance with Eric Willmot’s Out of the Silent
Land (1984), a report of a government task
force on Aboriginal and Islander broadcasting
and communications that lamented the
potential cultural harm of those media.
A prolific and eloquent writer, with a
withering intellect, Michaels wrote numerous
journal articles and papers that brought
together his ethnographic insights and his
theories on culture and media policy. In
1986 he published The Aboriginal Invention
of Television in Central Australia 1982-1986,
which offered a major contemporary anthropological
voice on the postmodern condition
of supposedly pre-modern peoples; in For a
Cultural Future: Francis Jupurrurla Makes
TV at Yuendumu (1987), he promoted
Aboriginal leadership in media, cultural
theory and media policy. His essays, ‘Western
Desert Sandpainting and Post-Modernism’
(Warlukurlangu Artists: Kuruwarri, 1987),
and ‘Bad Aboriginal Art’ (Text & Art, March-
May 1988), analysed the flourishing international
market for Aboriginal ‘dot’ painting.
In a review in Mankind (April 1987) of Fred
Myers’s book Pintupi Country, Pintupi Self
(1986), he controversially disputed a number
of Myers’s interpretations of his data.
Appointed in 1987 a lecturer in media studies
at Griffith University, Brisbane, Michaels
worked through increasing bouts of illness and
hospitalisation. He died of acquired immune
deficiency syndrome on 24 August 1988 in
Brisbane and was cremated. His theories on
the visual arts, media and broadcasting helped
to form policies around satellite services and
television licensing in Central Australia.
Unbecoming: An AIDS Diary, his chronicle
of the months preceding his death edited by
Paul Foss (1990), and Bad Aboriginal Art,
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1981–1990
a collection of his published essays, conference
papers and field reports (1994), were
published after his death.
Austn Inst of Aboriginal Studies, Annual
Report, 1982-86; Austn Aboriginal Studies, no 2,
1988, p 117; Filmnews, vol 18, no 10, 1988, p 5;
Continuum (Perth), vol 3, no 2, 1990 (whole issue);
personal knowledge. Stuart cunninGhaM
MILLER, ERIC STANISLAUS JOSEPH
(1903-1986), barrister, was born on 15 May
1903 at Rockdale, Sydney, second of four
surviving children of Austrian-born Gustav
Miller Prochatschek (d.1918), railway engineer,
and his Irish-born wife Mary Agnes
(Minnie), née Willis. Miller was added to his
names at baptism; the family later adopted it
as a surname. Eric was educated at Marist
Brothers’ Boys’ School, Kogarah, and at
St Joseph’s College, Hunters Hill. In 1921 he
began work as a junior clerk in the sheriff’s
office, Department of the Attorney-General
and of Justice, before moving to the new Workers’
Compensation Commission of New South
Wales in 1926. He attended the University of
Sydney (LL B, 1926) part time. In April 1927
he was appointed associate to the chief judge
in Equity, Justice (Sir) John Harvey [q.v.9],
and on 28 July that year was admitted to the
Bar. He married Rita Clarke, a masseuse,
on 30 December 1931 at St Mary’s Catholic
Cathedral, Sydney.
Although Miller co-authored Short Company
Practice (New South Wales) (1933) and Equity
Forms and Precedents (New South Wales)
(1934), he made his name as a common law
jury and appellate advocate, specialising in
workers’ compensation and industrial law.
He was junior to Herbert Vere Evatt [q.v.14]
in the Caledonian Collieries Case (Nos 1
and 2) (1930) arising out of the 1929 New
South Wales coalminers’ lockout. In 1940 he
took silk.
Miller was counsel assisting Justice (Sir)
Charles Lowe [q.v.15] in the 1943 ‘Brisbane
Line’ royal commission that inquired into
Eddie Ward’s [q.v.16] wild allegations. In
1949 Miller appeared for Ward in Justice
(Sir) George Ligertwood’s [q.v.15] Papua-
New Guinea timber rights royal commission.
The Australian Financial Review erroneously
claimed in 1959 that Ward had refused to give
evidence to the timber royal commission.
Miller acted for him in the defamation case
that followed.
In 1945 Miller had inquired into the administration
of the Peace Officer Guard. Next
year he represented his wife’s cousin John
Joseph Murphy in a court martial on charges
of treacherously giving information to the
Japanese; Murphy was honourably acquitted.
161
Miller
Miller acted for the, at best, ‘grossly negligent’
vice squad sergeant John Freeman in
the 1951-54 royal commission on the liquor
laws in New South Wales. During the 1962-63
off-course betting royal commission, Justice
Edward Kinsella [q.v.15] criticised Miller,
who was representing a bookmaker, claiming
that Miller intended to undermine public
confidence in the commission. The council
of the Bar Association of New South Wales,
chaired by its vice-president, (Sir) John Kerr,
found no professional misconduct.
Miller had a varied workload; some of his
most celebrated cases came from unions or
firms with Catholic connections. He acted
with Kerr for Laurie Short in the long-running
Federated Ironworkers’ Association of Australia
‘forged ballots’ case. Judge Edward
Dunphy found forgery, fraud and irregularity
on a grand scale and installed Short as
national secretary. Miller won Jones v Dunkel
in the High Court of Australia (1959) and
Commissioner for Railways v Quinlan in the
Privy Council (1964).
‘A towering figure of the Bar’, according to
Justice Michael Kirby, Miller was a private
person who kept his emotions under firm
control yet would engage strangers in conversation.
James McClelland, a Sydney lawyer
and Federal politician, described him as a
formidable jury advocate who ‘exuded confidence
in his own rectitude’, and was willing
to challenge judges. However, ‘you wouldn’t
brief him in a complicated constitutional case’.
He was impervious to reversals of fortune in
court. In 1973 he retired from practice.
Miller was a founding member of the Sydney
University Newman Society, a prominent
Catholic layman and a friend of Cardinal Sir
Norman Gilroy [q.v.14]. Developing a passionate
interest in the track after appearing in
a doping inquiry, Miller owned ‘mid-week’
horses. His other interests included tennis,
golf and his property, ‘Bowen Park’, near
Trangie. He and his wife raised his brother
Cecil’s orphaned son. Survived by his wife
and their three sons and four daughters, he
died on 31 March 1986 at Darlinghurst and
was cremated. A portrait (1949) by Edward
M. Smith is in private possession.
J. McClelland, Stirring the Possum (1988); Austn
Law Jnl, vol 60, no 7, 1986, p 421; Austn Jnl of
Family Law, vol 19, no 3, 2005, p 3; Cerise and
Blue, 1928, p 51, May 1986, p 36; SMH, 29 June
1963, p 7; private information. P. a. SeLth
MILLER, JULIUS SUMNER (1909-1987),
physicist, science educator and television performer,
was born on 17 May 1909 at Billerica,
Massachusetts, United States of America,
youngest of nine children of Samuel Miller,
ADB18_057-206_FINAL.indd 161 15/08/12 4:13 PM

Miller
farmer, and his wife Sarah, née Newmark.
His father had come to the USA from Latvia
and his mother from Lithuania. He was named
Julius Simon but later took the name Sumner.
Julius was educated at local schools and at
Boston University (BS, 1932; MA, 1933)
and the University of Idaho (MS, 1940). On
21 April 1934 at Brookline, Massachusetts, he
married Alice Marion Brown, a maid; they had
no children. He earned his living as a butler
for two years.
Employed by Dillard University, New
Orleans (1937-38, 1941-52) and El Camino
College, California (1953-74), Miller worked
in their physics departments. He was a visiting
lecturer (1965-85) at the US Air Force Academy.
In addition to recording science shows
in the USA, he appeared on popular television
programs, including ‘The Groucho Marx
Show’, Walt Disney’s ‘Mickey Mouse Club’ and
Johnny Carson’s ‘The Tonight Show’.
From 1962 to 1986 Miller made twentyseven
visits to Australia, primarily to give
demonstrations and lectures at the annual
science school for high-school students in
the physics department at the University of
Sydney, organised by Professor Harry Messel.
The lectures were televised for years. He
also presented a television program entitled
‘Why Is It So?’ for the Australian Broadcasting
Commission. Delighting in showing
‘how Nature worked its wondrous ways’, he
rarely offered any detailed explanations. He
preferred to encourage his audience to seek
the answers. Bubbling with infectious enthusiasm
not normally associated with the serious
scientist, he brought each presentation to
life with details of the history of the subject
and the origins and meanings of the words
used to describe it. Each session had a strong
element of drama and was punctuated loudly
with phrases such as ‘Watch it now! Watch it!’
or ‘He who is not stirred by the beauty of it
is already dead!’. He set traps to keep people
on their toes; he would ask members of the
audience to verify that a glass was empty and
then berate them for not noticing that it was
full of air.
Australian newspapers published a daily
question posed by Miller, a ‘Millergram’, and
also an answer to the previous day’s question.
He also appeared on television advertisements
for non-stick saucepans, Ampol petroleum and
Cadbury’s chocolate. His publications were
numerous: they included scores of articles in
the American Journal of Physics; Demonstrations
in Physics (1969); a series of books based
on his television and radio shows, among them
Why It Is So (1971) and The Kitchen Professor
(1972); Enchanting Questions for Enquiring
Minds (1982); and his autobiography,
The Days of My Life (1989). Survived by his
wife, he died on 14 April 1987 at his home
at Torrance, Los Angeles, California. He left
162
A. D. B.
his body to the school of dentistry, University
of Southern California. In 1993 the Australian
Science Foundation for Physics established a
fellowship in his memory.
American Men & Women of Science. The Physical
and Biological Sciences, 14th edn, vol 5, 1979,
p 3441; SMH, 29 Apr 1980, p 13, 17 Apr 1987, p 3.
roD croSS
MILLER, ROBERT CLYDE; see Lexcen,
Ben
MILLER, SYDNEY LEON (1901-1983),
cartoonist, was born on 24 December 1901
at Strathfield, Sydney, younger child of Sydney
Miller, stationer and newsagent, and his wife
Leontina Anne, née Thorpe. His father was
born in Sydney and his mother in New Zealand.
Syd was educated at Fort Street Boys’ High
School. After he left in 1916 he worked briefly
for Muir & Neil, pharmaceutical importers.
At the Bulletin Miller started as a trial
apprentice in process engraving while attending
night classes at the Royal Art Society of
New South Wales. In 1917 he joined Harry
Julius’s Cartoon Filmads Pty Ltd, where he
worked on Australia’s first animated films. He
also drew freelance cartoons for the Bulletin
and Aussie. Smith’s Weekly contracted him from
1919 to cartoon, caricature, draw humorous
illustrations and write film and stage reviews.
While his cartoons of animals proved the most
popular, caricatures of famous people were
the most interesting to him. On 12 April 1923
at St John’s Church of England, North Sydney,
he married Susan Austin.
Reputed to have the energy to work ninety
hours a week, Miller (sometimes using professionally
the name Noel) risked dismissal by
taking on freelance work. He resigned from
Smith’s Weekly in 1931. Freelancing for the
Sydney Sun, he also drew ‘Curiosities’ for the
Melbourne Herald and ‘Weird and Wonderful’
for the Daily Telegraph. In 1938, for Smith’s
Weekly, he created ‘Red Gregory’, which he
later published in comic book form. He also
devised ‘Chesty Bond’ with Ted Moloney for
Bond’s Industries Ltd. ‘Chesty Bond’, whom
he described as ‘a strong but not a lumpy
weight-lifting type’, became a regular feature
in the Sun, running three times a week in 1940
and five in 1942; it was possibly the world’s
first daily advertising comic. When Bob Hope
was touring Australia in 1944 Miller used him
in seven episodes without permission, which
brought threats of a lawsuit.
From 1942 to 1945 Miller served with the
Volunteer Defence Corps in Sydney, reaching
the rank of lieutenant. He lampooned Hitler in
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1981–1990
‘The Big Boss’ in Smith’s Weekly and published
comic books from 1940 to 1945. For a short
time he published a children’s newspaper
Monster Comic. The increasing cost of paper
brought his publishing to a halt. He withdrew
from ‘Chesty Bond’ in 1945, when he was
contracted by the Melbourne Herald to draw
‘Sandra’. In 1946 he produced ‘Rod Craig’,
which became a radio serial, and a feature
called ‘Animalaughs’; both were syndicated
around the world.
When ‘Rod Craig’ ended in 1955 Miller
started ‘Us Girls’ for the Herald; he resigned
in 1957 to work in television animation at Ajax
Films Pty Ltd. In the 1950s he drew a comic,
‘A Little Bear Will Fix It’, which advertised
adhesive tape. He retired in the mid-1960s
and enjoyed photography, drawing—especially
scraperboard illustrations of flora and fauna—
and creating copper sculptures. Predeceased
by his wife (d.1978) and survived by his daughter
and son, he died on 31 December 1983 at
Wahroonga and was cremated.
G. Blaikie, Remember Smith’s Weekly? (1966);
J. Ryan, Panel by Panel (1979); A. Shiell and
I. Unger (eds), ACE Biographical Portraits (1994);
SMH, 29 Dec 1982, p 6; private information.
LinDSay FoyLe
MILLS, MAY (1890-1984), schoolteacher
and sports administrator, was born on 19 July
1890 at Millbrae station, Springfield, near
Kanmantoo, South Australia, fifth of nine
children of William George James Mills
[q.v.10], a South Australian-born pastoralist,
and his wife Lizzie Martha, née Champion,
who came from England. Slight, capable and
confident, May drove her younger siblings
five miles (8 km) to the local primary school
by horse and dray. She boarded at Methodist
Ladies’ College, Adelaide, and then worked
on Millbrae; she also played tennis and rode
horses. In 1915-17, after a short teachers’
college course, she was a provisional teacher
at Windsor and at Kilkerran. Her earliest
inspector aptly described her as ‘enthusiastic,
inspiring, sympathetic and successful’.
In 1920, following two years spent at the
Teachers’ Training College, Adelaide, Miss
Mills was appointed a junior assistant at
Unley High School, where she was to remain
throughout her teaching career, apart from a
stint in 1922 at Wallaroo Mines High School.
She studied arts part time at the University of
Adelaide but did not complete her degree. A
geography teacher, she also possessed physical
culture qualifications and coached girls’
sport for over twenty years. From 1923 she
lived with her parents at Sturtbrae farm, on the
southern Adelaide foothills. She spent summer
holidays helping her father to organise
163
Mills
Country Party branches and to publicise the
plight of drought-ridden small farmers.
Joining the Education Department’s
geography and map-making committees,
Mills revised primary school textbooks and
prepared maps. She taught students to make
local observations, incorporating human and
economic geography through ‘living people
and real things’. In 1933 she was probably
the first woman to present a paper (‘Notes on
the Eastern Slopes of the South Mount Lofty
Range’) to the South Australian branch of the
Royal Geographical Society of Australasia.
Charles Fenner [q.v.8] judged it ‘a pioneer
contribution to the study of local geography’.
After their father died in 1933 May and her
sister Margaret purchased Sturtbrae and
‘brought it out of the Depression’. May bred
prize-winning merino sheep; she created a
beautiful garden, and always wore a flower.
President of the High Schools Women
Teachers’ Combined Association in 1937,
and of the Geography Teachers’ Association
for some years from 1938, Mills helped to
strengthen the position of women teachers.
She was vice-president (1939-43, 1947-51) of
the South Australian Public Teachers’ Union
and in 1943-44 its first female president; she
advocated better teacher recruitment, training
and salaries. Appointed senior mistress
at Unley High School in 1942, she reached
retirement age in 1950 but taught ‘temporarily’
until 1953, then travelled overseas for a
year. She was a foundation member (1960) of
the Australian College of Education.
At the 1959 State election Mills stood as
the Liberal and Country League candidate
for the seat of Edwardstown, concerned about
‘the education and well-being of women and
children’, local drainage and road safety. She
lost creditably to the Australian Labor Party’s
Francis Walsh [q.v.16] and continued to work
for public causes: in 1945-63 she convened the
National Council of Women’s standing committee
on cinema and, in the 1960s, served
as vice-president and president of the South
Australian Film and Television Council; she
was also vice-chairman of the South Australian
Council of Social Service. In 1967 she and her
sister completed subdividing Sturtbrae into
the ‘attractive’ suburb, Bellevue Heights. She
recorded her pioneer heritage in Millbrae and
its Founding Family (1973).
Convinced that ‘the wholesome development
of a nation largely depends on wellorganized
and widely-played sport’, Mills had
presided over both State and national women’s
cricket councils. As founding president (1953)
of the South Australian Women’s Amateur
Sports Council, she helped to establish and
develop at St Marys the South Australian
Women’s Memorial Playing Fields, a memorial
to women who had served in both world
wars. Practical, far-sighted and inspiring,
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Mills
Mills organised volunteers for work and fund-
raising. She assisted in levelling the first
oval with ‘pick, shovel and wheelbarrow’,
and planned and supervised tree-planting. In
1960 she was appointed OBE. The SAWMPF
Trust (formed in 1967) opened the wellequipped
May Mills Pavilion in 1969 and
in 1980 celebrated the 90th birthday of the
sprightly ‘Playing Fields May’ with a gala
women’s sports day. Mills chaired the trust’s
maintenance committee into her nineties.
Miss Mills died on 29 January 1984 at
Bedford Park, Adelaide, and was buried in
Blakiston cemetery. She bequeathed her
share of Sturtbrae to the Flinders University
of South Australia, which established the May
Mills re-entry scholarship for women in 1989.
C. Campbell, State High School Unley 1910-1985
(1985); Greater Than Their Knowing (1986); Procs
of the Royal Geographical Soc of A’asia: SA Branch,
vol 82, 1982, p 84; Sunday Mail (Adelaide), 16 Sept
1972, p 112, 6 July 1980, p 110; Mills papers
(SLSA); private information. heLen JoneS
MINC, SALOMON (SALEK) (1906-1983),
medical practitioner and art patron and collector,
was born on 6 February 1906 at Siedlce,
Russian Poland, younger son of Jewish parents
Matys Minc, bank manager, and his wife Roza,
née Kastelanski. The Minc family experienced
anti-Semitism during the Russian Revolution
and, after his father was killed, Salomon fled
with his mother and brother to Warsaw. Completing
his secondary education at the Jewish
gymnasium in 1921, he furthered his studies
in Belgium before moving to Italy in 1922 to
study medicine and surgery. Graduating from
the University of Rome in 1930, he achieved
top marks and high commendation; he worked
as a medical officer and associate-physician at
the United Hospitals of Rome. On 17 March
1930 in Rome he married Latvian-born Rosa
Reisa Temko. He became an Italian citizen in
1932. Interested in art, music and literature,
he was friendly with a number of artists including
Corrado Cagli and Mirko Basaldella. An
excellent singer, he claimed to be the only Jew
to have sung in a Vatican choir.
In September 1938 all foreigners of Jewish
origin who had been granted Italian nationality
after 1 January 1919 were deprived of their
citizenship. Minc moved to England and then
decided, at the toss of a coin, to migrate to
Australia. Leaving in July 1939, he worked on
board the MV Centaur as ship’s surgeon, disembarking
at Fremantle on 6 April 1940. His
wife arrived in July and they settled in Perth;
there were no children from the marriage and
they were to be divorced in 1952. Naturalised
on 25 July 1946, he established a medical practice
as a specialist physician and cardiologist,
164
A. D. B.
with a special interest in preventive cardiology.
He held positions at the (Royal) Perth and
Fremantle hospitals and the Princess Margaret
Hospital for Children; he was an associate and
then full member of the Cardiac Society of
Australia and New Zealand.
In Perth Minc made friends with a number
of intellectuals who shared his cultural
interests. Known as Salek, he collected contemporary
Australian and European art and
took a particular interest in helping young
artists. He was a founding member (1948)
and a chairman of the Art Group and was an
early president of the Art Gallery Society of
Western Australia, with which the Art Group
merged in 1951. During his overseas travels
he amassed a large collection of transparencies,
which he used in public talks on art
appreciation. From 1964 he lectured on
art at the University of Western Australia’s
summer schools; he was a founding member
(1974) of the university’s art collection board
of management. He was a vice-president of
the International Association of Art Critics,
Australian division. In 1981-2005 UWA hosted
the annual Salek Minc lecture series.
Minc continued to work as a doctor until
1983. He died on 10 February that year at
his Crawley home and was buried with Jewish
rites in Karrakatta cemetery. Described by
an obituarist as a ‘rotund, smiling, urbane
figure’ and ‘Renaissance man’, he bequeathed
a large part of his art collection to his friend
Tedye McDiven who, with her husband
Bryant, established the Salek Minc Gallery
next to their home near York. The collection
was opened to the public from 1986 to 1998,
when the gallery closed.
West Australian, 5 Mar 1983, p 41; MJA,
6 Aug 1983, p 152, 17 Nov 1986, p 531; Country
Copy, Nov 1986, p 2; Fremantle Arts Review, July
1990, p 3; A442, item 1952/14/1186, A261, item
1939/1333, PP15/1, item 1953/63/8452 (NAA);
private information. roByn tayLor
MINOGUE, Sir JOHN PATRICK (1909-
1989), judge, was born on 15 September 1909
at Seymour, Victoria, son of Victorian-born
parents John Patrick Minogue, solicitor, and
his wife Emma Mary, née Darcy. John was
educated in Melbourne at St Kevin’s College
and the University of Melbourne (LL B,
1935). Completion of his degree was delayed
by full-time clerical employment, but this was
no hardship as he enjoyed the lighter side
of student life, such as rowing and billiards,
while also serving with the Melbourne University
Rifles (lieutenant 1934). Admitted as
a barrister and solicitor of the Supreme Court
of Victoria on 3 May 1937, he practised as a
solicitor at Bendigo. On 17 March 1938 at
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1981–1990
St Patrick’s Cathedral he married Mary Alicia
O’Farrell, a typist.
Beginning full-time service in the Militia on
1 May 1941, and continuing in the Australian
Imperial Force from August 1942, Minogue
performed staff duties throughout World War
II. As liaison officer (1942-43) at New Guinea
Force headquarters, he distinguished himself
in October 1942 by footslogging along the
Kokoda Track to assess the desperate struggle
against the Japanese. On the 20th, when
he reached the front line, he was (as a lieutenant
colonel) the most senior staff officer to
have made such a visit. He was mentioned in
despatches for his work. As a member of the
Australian Military Mission to Washington
(1945-46), his observance of the eccentricities
of Australia’s foreign minister H. V. Evatt
[q.v.14] supplied material for later pungent,
but not indiscreet, stories. Relinquishing
his AIF appointment in May 1946, Minogue
resumed legal practice and was appointed
QC on 27 November 1957. He served on the
Victorian Bar Council in 1958-62.
In 1962 Minogue was appointed a judge of
the Supreme Court of the Territory of Papua
and New Guinea. He was hand-picked by the
minister for territories, (Sir) Paul Hasluck,
who was determined that the emerging
nation should have a strong and independent
judiciary. Displaying great industry and
ingenuity, Minogue was heedless of danger
and discomfort in travelling on circuit to the
remotest areas. The court might convene
under a roof of rough thatching, but as chief
justice (1970-74) Minogue was always robed
in red beneath a full-bottomed wig. Taking an
abiding interest in the fledgling University
of Papua and New Guinea (pro-chancellor,
1972-74), he was a mentor to its law faculty
and was awarded an honorary LL D (1974).
Returning to Melbourne Minogue was
knighted in 1976 and the following year
appointed Victorian Law Reform Commissioner.
His many well-framed recommendations,
although shrewdly informed by his
experience on the bench, never lost sight
of compassion and humanity. On retirement
in 1982 he expressed disappointment that
neither politicians nor the community showed
enthusiasm for legal reform.
A solidly built and handsome man of
scrupulous character, Minogue had a gift
for sociability, and served as a vice-president
(1982-89) of the Victorian branch of the English
Speaking Union, president (1982-86) of
the University of Melbourne Graduates Union,
and moot-master in his old faculty of law. He
inherited the family property, Marengo Vale,
Seymour. Even in Collins Street his tweeds
somehow suggested the country where
much of his heart still lay. Predeceased by
four months by his wife, and childless, Sir
John Minogue died on 19 September 1989
165
Missen
at Toorak and was cremated with Catholic
rites. His estate was sworn for probate
at $1 653 813, and his will benefited many
charities, including the Victorian Aboriginal
Health Service, which received $200 000. A
portrait by Kurt Pfund is held by the Supreme
Court of Papua New Guinea.
H. Dow (ed), More Memories of Melbourne
University (1985); Papua-New Guinea Post-Courier,
19 Apr 1974, p 4; Age (Melbourne), 23 Jan 1982,
p 3, 20 Sept 1989, p 18; Melbourne Graduate, Nov
1989, p 2; Minogue papers (Univ of Melbourne
Archives); personal knowledge. Peter ryan
MISSEN, ALAN JOSEPH (1925-1986),
solicitor and politician, was born on 22 July
1925 at Kew, Melbourne, only child of
Victorian-born Clifford Athol Missen, moulder,
and his wife Ethel Violet Maud, née Bartley,
born in New South Wales. Educated at Kew
Primary and Box Hill and Melbourne High
schools, Alan joined the United Australia
Party in 1943. He attended the University of
Melbourne (LL B, 1946; LL M, 1947), where
he was active in the Liberal Club. A foundation
member of the Liberal Party of Australia, he
joined the Kew branch in 1946. Admitted to
practice in the Supreme Court of Victoria on
1 April 1948, he worked with Roy Schilling,
solicitor. In 1971 he became a senior partner
of Schilling Missen & Impey.
As vice-president of the Young Liberal
and Country Movement in 1951, Missen
opposed, with a small group of other Liberal
Party members, the referendum proposal of
Prime Minister (Sir) Robert Menzies [q.v.15]
to outlaw the Communist Party of Australia.
His article in the Argus in August that year,
when he objected to the use of totalitarian
methods to restrict the traditional freedoms
of a democratic country, caused a furore in
the party and his temporary suspension.
The referendum was narrowly defeated and
Missen’s defiance caused him to be effectively
overlooked for Liberal preselection for the
next two decades. He was a member (1955-
67) of the Victorian executive of the Liberal
Party and helped to form the Young Liberal
Movement (patron 1982-84).
On 4 May 1963 at the Catholic Church
of Our Lady of Victories, Camberwell, he
married Mary Martha (Mollie) Anchen, a
schoolteacher and a brilliant debater and
public speaker. President (1958-60) of the
Debaters Association of Victoria, and coauthor
of The Australian Debater (1963), Alan
Missen was national president (1964-68) of
the Australian Debating Federation.
After the 1972 defeat of the Federal Liberal
government, the Victorian branch underwent
substantial changes. In 1973 Missen was
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Missen
elected vice-president of the Victorian division
on the same ticket as the president, Peter
Hardie. Chairman (1972-74) of the party’s
State platform committee, he had a mandate
to revise the political platform for the first
time since 1952. In 1973 the Victorian State
executive placed him high on the Senate ticket
and he was elected in 1974. At the time, a
journalist, Alan Trengove, speculated whether
Missen had learned ‘the art of political compromise’
or whether his party had ‘simply
come to terms with his brand of liberalism’.
In his maiden speech on trade practices
legislation, Missen showed his close attention
to detail and interest in law reform. During
the 1975 constitutional crisis, he opposed the
Senate’s withholding of supply from the government,
although he reluctantly voted with
the Opposition on procedural issues. An activist
back-bencher and champion of the Senate
committee process, he was chairman of the
Senate standing committees on constitutional
and legal affairs (1976-83), on regulations
and ordinances (1978-80) and on scrutiny of
bills (1982-83). He served on the joint select
committee on the Family Law Act (1978-80),
as deputy-chairman (1984-86) of the joint
statutory committee on the National Crime
Authority and as a national vice-president
of the International Commission of Jurists;
he had been able to influence the passage of
freedom of information and other legislation.
Missen believed in the value of individual
human rights and civil liberties. Independent
and persistent in pursuing his ideals, he
crossed the floor forty-one times. Chairman
of the Australian parliamentary group of
Amnesty International (1978-80, 1983-86) and
an outspoken supporter of the Human Rights
Commission, he was active in Aboriginal
affairs. He took an interest in environmental
issues, particularly the Great Barrier Reef,
and he spoke out against the building of Tasmania’s
Franklin River dam; he was the longtime
honorary solicitor for the Royal Society
for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.
In Opposition from 1983, Missen was
among a small and shrinking band of small
‘l’ Liberals. He found himself increasingly
isolated as a new generation of economic
reformers took control of the party in Victoria
and elsewhere across Australia. As a
supporter of Andrew Peacock during the mid-
1980s, he was further alienated when John
Howard replaced Peacock as Liberal leader
in 1985; that year he wrote an unpublished
paper about the direction of the Liberal Party,
entitled ‘The Winter of Our Discontent’.
Warm, gentle, tolerant and humble, Missen
was a man of principle. Described by the
Australian Labor Party minister for science,
Barry Jones, as ‘robust and full fleshed’, he
was gaunt in his last years. He enjoyed playing
tennis, golf and contract bridge. Survived by
166
A. D. B.
his wife, he died of diabetes and coronary
artery disease on 29 March 1986 at his home
at Balwyn, Melbourne, and was buried in
Templestowe cemetery. He had no children.
The ALP minister for resources and energy,
Senator Gareth Evans, described him as
‘absolutely, unequivocally and uncompromisingly
an idealist—right over at the far, idealistic
end of the political spectrum’. He is commemorated
by the Alan Missen Foundation
and two annual memorial lectures, organised
by the Amnesty International parliamentary
group and the Victorian Council for Civil
Liberties (Liberty Victoria).
A. Hermann, Alan Missen (1993); PD (Senate),
8 Apr 1986, p 1393; PD (HR), 8 Apr 1986, p 1783;
Sun News-Pictorial (Melbourne), 29 Aug 1973, p 8;
Age (Melbourne), 31 Mar 1986, p 1 and 11, 9 Apr
1986 p 16; T. Miller, interview with A. Missen (ts,
1980, NLA); A. Missen papers (NLA).
anton herMann
MITCHELL, THOMAS WALTER (1906-
1984), barrister, politician and skier, was born
at Towong, Victoria, on 11 November 1906,
son of Victorian-born Walter Edward Mitchell,
grazier, and his Sydney-born wife Winifred
Hatton, née Dibbs. Educated at Cranbrook
School, Sydney, Tom went to England and
entered Jesus College, Cambridge (BA, 1929;
MA, 1932). He was admitted to the Inns of
Court on 30 April 1926 and called to the Bar
at the Inner Temple on 29 April 1931. While
at Cambridge he had developed a passion for
snow skiing. He first represented Australia in
international skiing at Mürren, Switzerland,
in 1931. After extensive travel, he returned to
Australia and was admitted to the New South
Wales Bar on 29 October 1931. On 4 November
1935 at Christ Church, South Yarra,
Melbourne, he married with Anglican rites
Sibyl Elyne Keith Chauvel, daughter of Sir
Henry Chauvel [q.v.7] and later a prominent
author of children’s books.
Lean and rangy, Mitchell managed the
family grazing property, Towong Hill station,
through the 1930s and skied competitively
in Austria, Switzerland and North and South
America. In 1933 he captained the Australian
team. He was a gold medallist in Britain, Australia
and New Zealand, Australian champion
in slalom (1932, 1934, 1936, 1937) and downhill
(1931, 1934) events, and also four times
combined champion. In 1937 he published
the first Australian skiing manual, Ski Heil.
Mitchell’s political career began in 1935
with his election to the Upper Murray Shire
Council. In 1937 he unsuccessfully contested
the Victorian Legislative Assembly seat of
Benambra for the United Australia Party. He
studied international relations at Harvard
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1981–1990
University in 1938. Commissioned in the
Australian Imperial Force in July 1940, he was
promoted to captain in January 1941 and from
May served in Malaya and Singapore with
the 8th Division. He was taken prisoner in
February 1942, and while held at Changi camp
taught himself Japanese (he was also fluent in
Latin and a number of Aboriginal languages)
and helped found the ‘Changi Ski Club’. His
AIF appointment terminated in Australia on
13 November 1945.
Returning to Towong Hill, Mitchell again
became a member (1947-58) of the Upper
Murray council (president 1946-47) and in
June 1947 won Benambra for the Country
Party at a by-election. He served as solicitorgeneral
(1950-51) in the minority government
of (Sir) John (Jack) McDonald [q.v.15]—the
last politician to hold that post—and as
attorney-general (1950-52). Mitchell was a
personable and affable man who held very
conservative opinions. He had no compunction
in recommending the execution of Jean
Lee [q.v.15], and remained a strong supporter
of capital punishment, voting against its
abolition in 1975.
Although Mitchell never again held ministerial
office, he served on several parliamentary
committees, gaining a reputation
for oratory—and for eccentricity when, as
therapy for an injured hand, he knitted in
the cabinet room and Assembly chamber. He
was the initiator of the idea of ski villages
(Mount Buller, Mount Hotham and Falls
Creek) built in the 1950s. Active in his local
community, he served as a district commissioner
(1946-72) and assistant headquarters
commissioner for the Victorian branch of the
Boy Scouts Association (Scout Association
of Australia). He was a qualified pilot, and a
local historian who published Corryong and
‘The Man from Snowy River’ District (1981).
In 1976 he retired from parliament and was
appointed CMG. Survived by his wife, their
two daughters and younger son, he died on
4 February 1984 at Richmond, Melbourne,
and was buried on his property. His estate
was sworn for probate at $2 415 660.
J. M. Lloyd, Skiing into History, 1924-1984 (1986);
PD (LA, Vic), 28 Feb 1984, p 2706; Border Morning
Mail (Albury), 31 May 1975, pp 2 and 10, 11 Feb
1984, pp 10 and 20; Age (Melbourne), 10 Feb 1984,
p 9; National Party in Victoria, National Outlook,
Mar 1984, p 1. B. J. coStar
MOCATTA, ANNIE MILDRED (1887-
1984), kindergarten teacher, medical
practitioner and art patron, was born on
23 November 1887 at St Leonards, Sydney,
third of six surviving children of New South
Wales-born parents George Voss Mocatta,
167
Mocatta
surveyor, and his wife Emmeline Mary
Gertrude, née Hollingdale. Sturdy, dark-haired
and sociable, Mildred attended Woodstock, a
private girls’ school at North Sydney, until
she was 18. Tired of ‘boring’ social activities,
she found a purpose in kindergarten work. In
1910 she completed the three-year course at
Kindergarten Training College, having ‘got
to know practically every slum in Sydney’
through the free kindergartens. She moved
to Perth and taught in a Cottesloe private
school until 1913, when she was appointed
inaugural director of the city’s second free
kindergarten, in Marquis Street. Influenced
by Lillian de Lissa [q.v.8], she introduced
Dr Maria Montessori’s methods and equipment,
and planned future developments with
the Kindergarten Union of Western Australia’s
organising director, Constance Finlayson.
Deciding that medical science would open
further understanding of early childhood,
Mocatta and Finlayson in 1917 studied firstyear
science subjects at the University of
Western Australia, and next year transferred
to the medical faculty at the University of
Melbourne (MB, BS, 1922). Dr Mocatta was
appointed junior medical officer at Adelaide’s
Parkside Mental Hospital in January 1923.
Although disturbed by the practices of
restraint and confinement, she increased
her skills. She became a founding member
(1922) of the Adelaide Lyceum Club, having
been an associate-member of the Melbourne
club; she was to enjoy the company of other
professional women all her life.
In 1925 Mocatta resigned from her hospital
post to establish a medical practice. Refused
a bank loan, she borrowed from her father
to buy a house at Medindie. She gave anaesthetics
to children for a female dentist on
North Terrace, undertook locums, and built
a medical practice from her home, driving a
small bull-nosed car on home visits. Countrywomen
patients brought their children to her,
and she worked with Dr Helen Mayo [q.v.10]
as honorary physician at Mareeba Babies’
Hospital, Woodville. She joined the new South
Australian Medical Women’s Society in 1928,
and became a ‘long-standing and loyal’ member.
In 1936, based in London at the Hammersmith
Hospital, she gained membership of the
Royal College of Physicians. Back in Adelaide,
she established a practice on North Terrace;
she was dedicated to her patients and was
considered a fine diagnostician. In 1940-45
she was assistant honorary anaesthetist at the
Royal Adelaide Hospital. She retired in 1961.
Mocatta had a passion for Australian art
that had begun in girlhood; she started collecting
seriously in 1927 when she bought an
etching by (Sir) Lionel Lindsay [q.v.10]. Her
‘good eye for a good painting’ enabled her to
build a significant collection, including, she
said, ‘quite a number of Lloyd Rees’ [q.v.];
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Mocatta
she also helped promising artists. She enjoyed
theatre and ballet. In 1940 she invited the
lawyer and actress Patricia Hackett [q.v.14] to
share her house. Next year Hackett purchased
and renovated an old house at 69 Hackney
Road, Hackney; Mocatta became a joint
tenant in 1950. In 1953 they opened the
Torch salon theatre in the spacious cellars,
once a distil lery’s store. A play by Hackett
was performed there as a fringe production
in Adelaide’s first Festival of Arts in 1960.
Mocatta customarily gave Festival parties for
musicians and artists. In 1963, when Hackett
died, she inherited Hackett’s share of the
house. That year she was diagnosed with
glaucoma. Soon becoming blind, she coped,
‘with good grace’, for some years.
In 1981 Mocatta bequeathed her house,
most of the contents and a sum for maintenance
to the National Trust of South Australia,
subject to the life tenancies of herself
and her companion, Marjorie Marchant. Discussing
her gift of valuable paintings, she told
Lyceum friends, ‘I owe it to South Australia’.
She died on 15 February 1984 at home and
was cremated. The outcome of her generosity
was unforeseen. After Mrs Marchant’s death,
the trust found that the house, zoned ‘residential’,
could not be used otherwise and sold it in
1994, provoking indignation from both members
and the public. Mocatta’s art collection
was stored but became a burden because of
high insurance premiums. In December 2002,
despite further protests, 170 of her paintings
were sold at auction, and the proceeds deposited
in the Dr Mocatta Trust Fund. Next year
the Mildred Mocatta award for exceptional
service to the National Trust was instituted.
Her portrait by Rex Wood hangs in the trust’s
Adelaide office.
S. Cockburn, The Patriarchs (1983); C. Turney
(ed), Pioneers of Australian Education, vol 3 (1983);
South Australian Medical Women’s Society, The
Hands of a Woman (1994); R. Kerr, A History of the
Kindergarten Union of Western Australia 1911-1973
(1994); C. Cosgrove and S. Marsden, Challenging
Times (2005); Advertiser (Adelaide), 18 Feb 1984,
p 10; S. Sobels, interview with M. Mocatta (ts,
c1980, SLSA); A. G. Geddes, taped interview with
M. Mocatta (1983, SLSA); private information.
heLen JoneS
MOLESWORTH, MAUD MARGARET
(‘MALL’) (1894-1985), tennis player, was
born on 18 October 1894 at South Brisbane,
eldest of three children of Alexander Mutch, a
schoolteacher from Scotland, and his Queensland-born
wife Margaret Agnes, née Thornton.
‘Mall’ completed her education in 1911-12 at
New England Girls’ School, Armidale, New
South Wales, where she captained the tennis
168
A. D. B.
team. Her father, an inspiration for her tennis
career, was her first coach. Frequent practice
with male players helped her develop an
aggressive style with a strong service. In 1913
she won the Brisbane metropolitan singles
and doubles titles, events she was to dominate
for twenty-five years.
On 19 June 1918 at St Philip’s Church of
England, Thompson Estate (Greenslopes),
Brisbane, Mall married Bevil Hugh Molesworth
[q.v.15], a lecturer in history recently
appointed to the University of Tasmania. The
couple moved in 1920 from Hobart to Broken
Hill, New South Wales. Mrs Molesworth won
the New South Wales women’s singles title
in 1919 and added the Victorian and South
Australian titles the following year. Back
in Brisbane in 1921, next year she won
the Queensland championship. When she
defeated Esna Boyd 6-3, 10-8 in the final of the
inaugural Australasian women’s championship
played at Rushcutters Bay, Sydney, in
December 1922, she confirmed her status
as Australian champion. She overpowered
her Victorian opponent with deep commanding
drives and a heavily chopped forehand
and backhand.
Molesworth successfully defended her
title in August 1923; although a finalist in
subsequent years she never won the singles
event again. Her only child, Hugh (d.1960),
was born in 1925. She continued to be a
dominant force in Australian women’s tennis
throughout the rest of the 1920s and 1930s,
winning State championships in every State
except Western Australia, including eight
Queensland women’s singles titles in the
years 1922 to 1933. Also regularly playing
doubles, she won three Australian titles
with a fellow Queenslander, Emily Westacott
(1930, 1933, 1934), and fifteen State doubles
and mixed-doubles titles. At the peak of her
career she had few opportunities to test her
skills against overseas opponents; in a tour of
Europe in 1934 her best result was winning
the North of England doubles championship
with Joy Mowbray-Green. Her last notable success
nationally was a victory with Westacott in
the Australian doubles the same year.
Mall Molesworth was described as the first
woman competitor to hit the ball as hard as a
man. Some contemporaries claimed that she
had the widest range of shots of any player
of her era—male or female. Her talent on the
court was matched by her charm, goodwill
and popularity with tennis enthusiasts. She
retired from championship tennis in 1937 and
moved to Sydney. In 1939 she became Australia’s
first female professional tennis coach;
for some years she ran a highly successful
tennis, squash and table-tennis coaching business
from her home at Lindfield. Widowed in
1971, she died on 9 July 1985 at home and was
cremated. The Mall Molesworth perpetual
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1981–1990
trophy is awarded each year to the winner
of the Queensland women’s championship.
A Century of Queensland Tennis (1988); Brisbane
Courier, 20 Aug 1923, p 12; North West and Hunter
Valley Mag, 5 Oct 1981, p 2; Courier-Mail (Brisbane),
12 July 1985, p 9; V. O’Farrell, Australian Tennis
(PhD thesis, UNSW, 1995). Mark cryLe
MOON, RUPERT THEO VANCE (1892-
1986), soldier and businessman, was born on
14 August 1892 at Bacchus Marsh, Victoria,
fourth child of English-born parents Arthur
Moon, accountant and later bank inspector,
and his wife Helen, née Dunning. Rupert was
educated to junior public certificate level at
Kyneton Grammar School before becoming
a bank clerk at 16 with the National Bank of
Australasia Ltd.
On 21 August 1914 Moon, having served in
the Militia, enlisted in the Australian Imperial
Force as a trumpeter. He embarked on 19
October at Melbourne with the 4th Light
Horse Regiment, which sailed to Egypt with
the lst Division and was employed as infantry
on Gallipoli from 24 May 1915 until evacuated
to Egypt in December. Promoted to sergeant
on 6 March 1916, he left for France where,
on 9 September, he was commissioned as a
second lieutenant and appointed a platoon
commander in the 58th Battalion.
Promoted to lieutenant on 6 April 1917,
Moon led his battalion in the successful
breaching of the Hindenburg Line in the second
battle of Bullecourt next month. Assisted
by the British 7th Division, on 12 May it made
the initial assault on a large dugout, a concrete
machine-gun redoubt and a hostile trench.
Moon personally led the assault during which
he was wounded four times. Despite heavy
enemy shelling his platoon achieved its objectives
and trapped 186 Germans, including
two officers. For this action he was awarded
the Victoria Cross, the citation reading: ‘His
bravery was magnificent and was largely
instrumental in the successful issue against
superior numbers, the safeguarding of the
flank of the attack, and the capture of many
prisoners and machine guns’. Considered by
his brigade commander, H. E. Elliott [q.v.8],
as too diffident for command, Moon had
proved to be a brave and tenacious leader.
In March 1918 Moon was sent home to
recuperate. His bravest act was to volunteer to
return to active service. In August he rejoined
the 58th Battalion near Corbie, France, taking
part in operations at Mont St Quentin. Promoted
to temporary captain on 5 February
1919, he returned to Australia as an honorary
captain in August. His AIF appointment
terminated on 4 October and he was placed
on the Reserve of Officers.
169
Moore
Moon readjusted to civilian life with difficulty.
Having resigned from the National Bank
in December 1919, he accepted numerous
jobs before becoming livestock manager with
the woolbrokers Dennys, Lascelles [qq.v.4,5]
Ltd, Geelong, in 1928. On 17 December
1931 he married Susan Alison May Vincent
at St George’s Presbyterian Church, Geelong.
Rising in the company, Moon became general
manager (1948-59) and a director (1962-75).
He was also a director (1940-75) of Queensland
Stations Pty Ltd and chairman (1961-67)
of The Northern Assurance Co. Ltd.
In World War II Moon served as a captain
in the Volunteer Defence Corps. Posted to the
6th Victorian Battalion (1942 and 1944-45),
he was seconded to the South-West Group in
1943-44 for staff duties.
A racehorse owner, ‘Mick’ Moon was a life
member and committee member of Moonee
Valley Racing Club, and a life member of the
Victorian Amateur Turf and the Naval and
Military clubs. He was also a member of
the Victoria Racing, the Melbourne and the
Geelong clubs. His other interests included
quail and duck shooting, fishing, bridge
and reading.
Possessed of great loyalty and integrity,
Moon had a direct peppery approach that
disguised his fondness for people, particularly
the young. He had a retentive memory and a
gallant, zestful approach to life. Survived by
his wife and their son and daughter, he died at
his Barwon Heads home on 28 February 1986
and was buried with Anglican rites at Mount
Duneed cemetery. His portrait by W. B.
McInnes [q.v.10] is held by the Australian
War Memorial, Canberra.
C. E. W. Bean, The A.I.F. in France, 1917-18
(1939, 1942); L. Wigmore, They Dared Mightily
(1963); B2455, item MOON R V, B884, item
V352179 (NAA); private information.
J. r. SaLMon
MOORE, BRUCE RICHARD (1913-1985),
local historian, was born on 26 July 1913 at
Cotter Junction, near the newly established
federal capital, Canberra, younger son of
New South Wales-born parents Arthur James
Moore, grazier, and his wife Dinah Harriet,
née Gifford. His birthplace, Green Hills,
was the home of his paternal grandparents.
Educated at Queanbeyan Intermediate High
School, Bruce led an eager group of boys selling
newspapers at the opening of Parliament
House in 1927. In 1931-33 he played rugby
league football with the Queanbeyan Blues
and, in 1934, with the St George club, Sydney;
he was captain-coach of Quirindi (1935) and
Holbrook (1936) clubs. A founder in 1937 of
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Moore
Eastern Suburbs (‘Easts’) Rugby Union Club
in Canberra, he was often captain of the team.
He was a good tackler and a strong defender;
in 1938 the Federal Capital Territory Rugby
Union presented him with an honour badge.
An active administrator and publicist, he was
vice-president (1941-42) of Australian Capital
Territory Rugby Union.
On 4 June 1938 at St John the Baptist
Church of England, Reid, Moore married
Doreen Emily Rowley, a clerk. In 1945-46
he was honorary secretary-treasurer of the
Twilight Cottage Homes committee; the president
praised him for his ‘unremitting work’
and ‘unabated enthusiasm’. A house-painter at
the time of his marriage, he later worked for
Canberra Electricity Supply, Department of
the Interior. He was first a linesman and, after
qualifying at night school, a draughtsman,
which was a reserved occupation during
World War II. An excellent bushman and
horseman, he helped survey the route through
the Brindabella mountains for high-tension
electrical lines to Canberra, and he assisted
in connecting electricity to rural properties.
He retired in 1963.
In 1958 Moore had moved to the Williamsdale
property, Burraburroo, inherited from
his father. There he formed B. R. Moore &
Sons, a rural contracting and share-farming
business; he also established a service
station, and was captain of the Williamsdale
volunteer fire brigade. Returning to Canberra
in 1973, he became a councillor that year of
the Canberra & District Historical Society,
vice-president (1983-84) and an honorary life
member (1984). In the 1970s he represented
the society on the ACT historic sites and buildings
committee. He was the first chairman
(1979) of the ACT Heritage Committee.
Quietly confident and persistent, Moore
was one of a close group of local historians,
including Errol Lea-Scarlett, Bert Sheedy and
Lyall Gillespie. In 1969 and 1981, before interest
in local family history became widespread,
he organised large Moore family reunions. He
published Burra: County of Murray and The
Warm Corner (the name of his bounty immigrant
great-grandparents’ property). Lanyon
Saga followed in 1982 and The Moore Estate in
1984. Cotter Country, completed by his son,
was published in 1999. The Commonwealth
government’s resumption of Moore land for
the federal capital was an important theme
in these works. Survived by his wife and their
three sons and two daughters, he died on
16 July 1985 in Canberra and was buried in
the Tharwa Road lawn cemetery.
Canberra Times, 10 Nov 1973, p 1, 27 Jul 1985,
p 35; Twilight Cottage Homes Committee, Annual
Report, 1946; family information.
JiLL waterhouSe
170
A. D. B.
MOORE, KENNETH WOODHEAD (1917-
1990), grazier and businessman, was born on
13 April 1917 at Taringa, Brisbane, second
of three children of Queensland-born parents
George Henry Eric Moore, cattle-buyer, and
his wife Mary Ann, née Woodhead. Ken was
educated at Brisbane Boys’ College and played
rugby union football with the GPS (Great
Public Schools) club in the 1930s. Enlisting
in the Australian Imperial Force on 1 May
1940, he served in the Middle East with the
2/2nd Anti-Tank Regiment and on Bougainville
with the 15th Battalion. He was promoted
to lieutenant (1942) and was mentioned in
despatches. His AIF appointment ended
in October 1945. On 27 April that year at
St Paul’s Presbyterian Church, Brisbane, he
had married Betty Annette McGuigan, a nurse.
In 1948 Moore joined the Queensland Meat
Export Co. Ltd as a cattle-buyer, and in 1953
became manager of the company’s Ross River
meatworks at Townsville. He was appointed
assistant general manager of the North
Australian Pastoral Co. Pty Ltd, based in
Brisbane, in 1956. Taking over from Douglas
Fraser [q.v.14] as general manager after a few
months, he formed strong managerial partnerships
with the successive chairmen, Fraser
(1936-67), and E. M. Crouch (1967-90), who
had been a friend since their football playing
days. During Moore’s twenty-six-year term as
general manager, the company owned Alexandria
station in the Northern Territory and
several cattle properties in western Queensland,
including Marion Downs, Monkira,
Coorabulka, Glenormiston, and Islay Plains.
His knowledge of the meat export industry
was invaluable to the company. Under his
direction NAP pioneered the trucking of
cattle from properties to railheads and
undertook a tuberculosis and brucellosis
eradication program from 1971, soon after
the Australian co-ordinated campaign came
into effect. His ability to co-operate and liaise
with public servants helped enormously when
the company was negotiating with the Federal
and Queensland governments to have
leases extended.
Five ft 9 ins (175 cm) tall and known as
‘KW’, Moore could be firm, even ruthless,
in his decision making. But he was also
remembered for his jovial attitude towards
life and his ability to get along with others.
Staff on the stations appreciated his support
and encouragement. He was not afraid of new
ideas—with one exception: he was never completely
convinced that a change of breed from
the Shorthorn was in the company’s interest
and Brahmans were introduced into the herd
only after he retired as general manager in
1982. From 1968 he also ran his own property
at McKinlay. In 1974 he took up a small
parcel of shares in NAP; in 1980-90 he was a
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1981–1990
director and, after 1982, he was retained as
a consultant.
Despite having a total laryngectomy, the
result of cancer, in 1983, Moore maintained
an interest in the company and its people.
Survived by his wife and their two sons and
three daughters, he died on 21 September
1990 in his home at Fig Tree Pocket, Brisbane,
and was cremated.
M. Kowald and W. R. Johnston, You Can’t Make
it Rain (1992) and for bib; Qld Country Life, 11 Oct
1990, p 13; private information.
MarGaret kowaLD
MOORE, LYLE HOWARD MARSHALL
(1899-1982), real estate agent and president
of the Liberal Party of Australia, was born
on 8 September 1899 in Hobart, eldest of
three children of William Howard Moore, fruit
merchant, and his wife Adela Louise Mary,
née Bayliss. After attending Sydney Grammar
School, Lyle worked for a wool store. In
1927 he established a business in Sydney with
his brother Colin—Moore Bros Pty Ltd, Real
Estate Agency—and later became chairman of
H. W. Horning & Co. Pty Ltd.
An active member of the Real Estate Institute
of New South Wales from 1935, Moore
was elected president (1945-50). He was also
president (1947-56) of the Associated Real
Estate Institutes and Agents Associations
of Australia. In 1947 he was elected to the
council of the Auctioneers, Stock and Station
Agents, Real Estate Agents (and Business
Agents), chairing it from 1964 to 1979. A life
member of both the State and federal real
estate institutes, he served on the New South
Wales Valuation Board of Review.
Tall, solidly built, bespectacled and balding,
Moore attracted broader public notice in the
postwar years by attacking Federal and State
Australian Labor Party governments for maintaining
wartime controls that discriminated
against property owners by pegging rents and
restricting profits on sales. He established a
close relationship with the press in the late
1940s, writing a regular real-estate column in
the Sydney Morning Herald.
Moore was active in local government,
serving as an alderman (1932-35) at Hunters
Hill and as an alderman (1936-48) and mayor
(1941) at Woollahra. In addition, he developed
interests in insurance and in the pastoral
industry. He was a director of Prince Henry
Hospital and the Benevolent Society of New
South Wales, a member of the appeals committee
of the State division of the Australian
Red Cross Society and president (1954-56)
of the Old Sydneians’ Union. In 1954 he was
appointed CBE.
171
Moore
In 1945 Moore had joined the new Liberal
Party of Australia, later becoming vicepresident
of the Wentworth federal electorate
conference. Succeeding (Sir) William
Spooner [q.v.16], he was elected president
of the State division in 1950; he held this post
until 1956. He clashed with the State parliamentary
leader, Murray Robson [q.v.16], over
Robson’s defiance of the party organisation in
relation to triangular contests with the State
Country Party. Like Spooner, Moore sought
an amalgamation with the Country Party and
reacted to that party’s rejection with a call
for the Liberal Party to contest any rural seat
it wished. His view prevailed in the Liberal
Party’s State council in 1956.
Moore was an interventionist State
president, seeming to ignore the convention
whereby the president, as ‘chairman of the
board’, allowed the general secretary, in this
case (Sir) John Carrick, to manage the division’s
affairs and interceded only to provide
support, offer advice and ease tensions.
Lacking the social standing, service record,
political skills and gravitas of other early
State presidents, Moore never commanded
the respect within the State Liberal Party that
he did in the real estate industry.
Nonetheless Moore succeeded (Sir) William
Anderson [q.v.13] as federal president in 1956.
His desire for the Liberal Party to become ‘a
truly national Party’ led to quarrels with the
New South Wales division as Moore sought
to enhance the role of the federal bodies
in a party where the divisions valued their
semi-autonomous and self-financing status.
As federal president until November 1960,
Moore was ever ready to praise (Sir) Robert
Menzies [q.v.15]. After the near electoral
defeat of 1961, however, and while still a member
of the federal executive, he complained
of the prime minister’s ‘arrogance’ and of the
expectation that the executive existed merely
‘to pay tribute’.
Moore’s adherence to Liberal principles
was probably influenced by his business background.
In 1952 he explained those principles
in terms of opposition to ‘class hatred as the
ugly and destructive weapon of Communist
and Socialist wreckers’. Liberals, he said,
‘are interested in one great class only, the
customer’. In 1960, when some party officials
wanted to stress the Liberals’ dedication ‘to
political liberty and the freedom and dignity
of man’, Moore defended the record of the
Menzies government by pointing out that the
‘customer’ now enjoyed higher material living
standards and economic progress.
Moore had married Phyllis Evans Goulding
on 16 September 1922 at the Congregational
Church, Hunters Hill; she died in 1952.
On 17 March 1954 at All Saints’ Church,
Woollahra, he married with Anglican rites
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Moore
Patricia Lilian Rickards, his secretary. Survived
by his wife and the daughter and three
sons of his first marriage, he died on 31 May
1982 at Killara and was cremated.
K. West, Power in the Liberal Party (1965);
I. Hancock, National and Permanent? (2000) and The
Liberals (2007); Real Estate Jnl (Sydney), Mar-Apr
1974, p 10; SMH, 1 June 1982, p 11; Liberal Party
of Aust (Federal) records (NLA); Liberal Party of
Aust (NSW) records (SLNSW); private information.
i. r. hancock
MOOREHEAD, ALAN McCRAE (1910-
1983), journalist, war correspondent and
historian, was born on 22 July 1910 at
Canterbury, Melbourne, youngest of three
children of Victorian-born parents Richard
James Moorehead, journalist, and his wife
Louisa, née Edgerton. Educated at Scotch
College (1916-26), which he remembered with
a ‘sense of loathing’, and the University of
Melbourne (BA, 1933), where history and
English were his enthusiasms, Alan joined
the staff of the Melbourne Herald in 1933.
Reporting taught him to write rapidly and
arrestingly, on demand. Shortish, dark and
handsome, he was anxious to escape what
he believed to be Australia’s derivative and
petit-bourgeois culture, and to make his mark
in England; having saved £500, he sailed in
1936. Fortune and friendship favoured him.
In 1937, working as a stringer for Lord
Beaverbrook’s Daily Express in Gibraltar, he
reported the Spanish Civil War and Mediterranean
tensions. He was transferred to staff
and sent in 1938 to Paris and then in 1939 to
Rome, where he married English-born Martha
Lucy Milner, women’s fashion editor at the
Express. Lucy was to become his best critic,
and a proficient editor, secretary and business
manager. Their partnership produced three
children and twenty-two books, and survived
his serial infidelities.
Leaving Rome for Athens before Italy
entered World War II, Moorehead befriended
the Oxford-educated Englishman, Alex Clifford
of the rival Daily Mail. Clifford became his
mentor. They conspired to be sent to Cairo as
accredited war correspondents covering the
new Mediterranean front. This, his deepest
friendship, was later celebrated in a memoir
A Late Education (1970). His editor saw no
signs of brilliance in Moorehead’s work until
the war in North Africa galvanised his prose
into a dramatic and poetic style combining
a sharp, bird’s eye view of campaigns and
battles with empathetic and detailed observation
of fighting men and their commanders.
He was twice mentioned in despatches for
his courage under enemy fire and was soon
widely acknowledged as the pre-eminent
British war correspondent. Some Australian
172
A. D. B.
colleagues, envious of his success, felt that he
had abandoned his Australian identity, along
with his accent. For almost three years he
followed the fortunes of the British Army in
North Africa, working under enormous pressure
to refashion his dispatches and diaries
into volumes covering the war’s three phases:
Mediterranean Front (1941), A Year of Battle
(1943) and The End in Africa (1943). As The
African Trilogy (1944), they were hailed as a
classic of war writing.
In 1944-45 Moorehead followed the British
Army’s assault on Italy and Germany from
the Allied landings to the heart of darkness
at Belsen. Whereas the gentlemen’s desert
war had excited him, the war in Europe
disgusted him. Eclipse (1945) was a moving
account of the destruction of the fabric and
spirit of European civilisation. In 1946 he was
appointed OBE. By war’s end he was physically
exhausted and convinced that journalism
was stymying his creativity. He completed
Montgomery (1946), his only serious attempt
at biography, during a sentimental journey
to Australia to see family and friends. The
trip confirmed what he already knew; he had
become a European. He resolved to leave journalism
and to succeed as a freelance creative
writer. Resisting Beaverbrook’s flattery, he
resigned from the Express. From 1948, when
he leased the Villa Diana, outside Florence,
the Mooreheads lived in Italy and London,
educated their children in England and
Europe and returned to Australia only fleetingly.
In 1960 he built a house with a garden of
Australian eucalypts at Porto Ercole, a village
on the Tuscan coast.
Taking a decade to find his new writing
métier, Moorehead meantime contributed
regularly to magazines, notably, from 1948,
to the New Yorker. The Villa Diana (1951) was
a collection of perceptive essays on postwar
Italy. The Traitors (1952), a study of the atomic
spies, argued that personal conscience could
not excuse the betrayal of national secrets.
His Australian travel book, Rum Jungle (1953),
written after a 1952 visit funded by Sir Keith
Murdoch [q.v.10], received mixed reviews
in Australia.
Moorehead first made his name as a
historian with a study of the 1915 Mediterranean
campaign to force the Dardanelles
and take the Gallipoli peninsula. This was an
unlikely subject for him. Although two uncles
had served at Gallipoli, the dreary solemnity
of Anzac Day had been ‘a torture’ to him as a
schoolboy. Yet he was stirred by the belated
death of his war-injured uncle in 1929 and by
a 1932 book about World War I cemeteries
and the ‘bitter, hopeless grief’ behind Australia’s
Anzac and Armistice days. Gallipoli,
drafted in nine months on the Greek island
of Spetses, was published on 25 April 1956.
Reviewers praised the balance and clarity of
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1981–1990
his exposition, and the elegiac beauty of his
writing. The book won the £1000 Sunday
Times literary prize and gold medal as Book
of the Year and the Duff Cooper Memorial
prize. Only the second general history of the
campaign by a non-combatant, Gallipoli has
rarely been out of print and has been credited
with sparking the revival of World War I
studies. Moorehead considered Gallipoli his
best book, the one that had reconnected him
to his Australian roots.
Life commissioned his next work to coincide
with the fiftieth anniversary of the Russian
Revolution. Conceived as part of the American
right-wing’s Cold War armory against
communism, The Russian Revolution (1958)
was expected to transform the voluminous
researches of a Georgetown academic into
a readable single volume, discrediting Lenin
and the Bolsheviks as German-financed hijackers
of Russian reform. He found the task a
nightmare. This was the last book commission
that he accepted.
Moorehead now had the finance to complete
his most ambitious project, a history
of the European penetration of Africa and
the clash between Christendom and Islam. In
1956 he had conducted fieldwork for a series
of New Yorker articles on the fate of southern
Africa’s wildlife at the hands of tourists hunting
big game. He brought these together as
the episodic and passionate No Room in the
Ark (1957), which charmed reviewers and sold
30 000 copies in Britain within six months.
Now he followed the River Nile from Lake
Victoria, comparing the explorers’ accounts
with his own observations, the thread upon
which he strung the stories of Victorian
derring-do and of religious warfare. Praised by
the likes of J. H. Plumb, Anthony Powell and
Harold Nicolson, The White Nile (1960) was
a sensation, selling 60 000 hardback copies
in its first year. A prequel, The Blue Nile
(1962), taking the story back to Napoleon’s
invasion of Egypt, was almost as successful.
Moorehead’s virtual invention of the modern
travel-adventure history book now placed him
in the front rank of popular writers.
Australian exploration provided Moorehead’s
next subject. At (Sir) Sidney Nolan’s
suggestion he chose the Burke and Wills
[qq.v.3,6] expedition of 1861 as his topic. He
visited Australia in 1962 to begin his research.
By now his techniques were well honed: visit
the site, devour the printed sources, write a
draft (four hours a day, seven days a week until
complete) and submit it to expert scrutiny. He
travelled much of the route, worked furiously
at the State Library of Victoria, and presented
his typescript for scholars to assess. Cooper’s
Creek (1963), a tale of Victorian hubris,
united British imperial and colonial themes.
It was published simultaneously in England,
Australia and the United States of America;
173
Moorehead
advance orders made it a bestseller before
it reached the bookshops. Cooper’s Creek
won the Royal Society of Literature Prize
for 1963, and sold 45 000 copies in its first
edition. Some academic historians praised the
book highly, but others thought it was insufficiently
scholarly to warrant review. Geoffrey
Serle considered Moorehead’s histories ‘not
scholarly but reputable’.
By 1964 Moorehead felt himself one of a
group of expatriates who had begun to resolve
in their writing and painting their experience
of Australian isolation and nostalgia
for England. He had become a historian of
British imperial expansion. Travelling with
Nolan to Antarctica and through the central
Pacific, he gathered material and impressions
for The Fatal Impact (1966). This study of the
baleful influence of the European invasion
of the Pacific Islands on indigenous peoples
and the fauna of Australasia and Antarctica
pioneered notions of cultural and environmental
destruction. The reception in Australia
and New Zealand was less enthusiastic than
in Britain and America. Responding to a negative
review, Moorehead defended the place of
books written for the general reader rather
than the scholar and reiterated his central
argument that ‘the original inhabitants of the
Pacific had a perfectly valid existence before
the white man did them great damage’.
After writing seven bestsellers in succession,
Moorehead experienced frustration with
failed or stalled ventures: a rejected libretto
and several stillborn film and writing projects.
Refreshed by a visit to Australia with his family
in 1965, he welcomed an invitation in 1966
to join the history department at Monash
University during his anticipated 1967 visit.
However, a debilitating stroke in December
1966 left him unable to utter or write a complete
sentence, even after intense rehabilitation.
His wife edited his last two books: Darwin
and the Beagle (1969), from his script for a
documentary, and A Late Education (1970).
He was appointed CBE (1968) and AO (1978).
In 1979 Moorehead survived a car accident
that killed his wife. Survived by his daughter
and two sons, he died on 29 September 1983
at his home in Camden, London, and was
buried in Hampstead cemetery. His gravestone
reads ‘Alan Moorehead writer’. Many
journalists, The Times wrote, think that they
are more fitted for literature than newspaper
work, but ‘in both these crafts, he was preeminent’,
his best books elevating a ‘strain
of haunting lyrical beauty’ almost to a new
style. Australian obituaries were perfunctory.
Some Australian colleagues never forgave
Moorehead’s expatriation and success, but his
Australian family and friends knew him as loyal
and generous. A good journalist, he became
a great war correspondent and an outstanding
narrative historian, perhaps Australia’s
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Moorehead
finest. Certainly no Australian writer before
him had commanded so large an international
audience. The many translations and reprints
of his books testify to his enduring popularity.
G. Davison et al (eds), The Oxford Companion
to Australian History (1998); T. Pocock, Alan
Moorehead (1990); A. Moyal, Alan Moorehead
(2005); C. James, Cultural Amnesia (2007);
Melbourne University Mag, July 1932, p 55; New
York Times Book Review, 16 Sept 1956, p 32;
Australian Book Review, Mar 1966, p 86, May 1966,
p 148; Times (London), 30 Sept 1983, p 14; New
York Times, 1 Oct 1983, p 33; Quadrant, June 1995,
p 23; H. de Berg, interview with A. Moorehead
(ts, 1964, NLA); A. Moorehead papers (NLA);
J. Hetherington papers (SLV). John Lack
MOREY, EDWARD HERBERT (1902-
1982), police officer, horseman and writer,
was born probably on 2 March 1902 (although
his birth date was registered as 5 March) at
Mannum, South Australia. He was the fourth
of nine children of Sidney Edgar Morey,
house-painter, and his wife Ellen, née Sobey.
Educated at Mannum and Flinders Street
Public schools, Ted left when he was about
13 to work in the pastoral industry. He drove
teams of bullocks, camels and donkeys, and
horses for (Sir) Sidney Kidman [q.v.9]; he
also caught and broke in horses for the South
Australian Police. An excellent rider and a
horse lover, he was one of four Australian
riders in ‘Snowy’ Thompson’s troupe at the
1924 Great International Rodeo at Wembley
Stadium, London. On his return to Australia
he joined the South Australian Mounted
Police. He left after a dispute with another
constable and in 1927 he became a member
of the Northern Territory Mounted Police.
First stationed at Emungalen, near
Katherine, Morey worked at the remote
settlements of Borroloola (1929-31) and
Timber Creek (1932). In 1932 he spent four
months looking for the Aboriginal leader
Nemarluk [q.v.15] along the Victoria River;
he suffered long periods of hunger because
he started the patrol with only one month’s
supply of non-perishable rations. Next year
he led the search for the alleged murderers
of five Japanese trepang fishermen. With
three other constables, Jack Mahony, Victor
Hall and Albert Stewart McColl, he travelled
to Blue Mud Bay, eastern Arnhem Land, in
pursuit of the offenders. McColl, left in charge
of a group of Aboriginal women on Woodah
Island, was speared to death by Dhakiyarr
Wirrpanda (Tuckiar) [q.v.Supp.]. The Arnhem
Land patrol having failed, Morey moved on
to Lake Nash and, later, Newcastle Waters.
On 20 April 1935 he married with Methodist
forms Kathleen Audrey Reilly in the shire hall,
Camooweal, Queensland.
174
A. D. B.
Despite objections by his senior officers,
Morey began full-time duty in the Citizen
Military Forces in April 1942 as a lieutenant,
Australian Intelligence Corps. In November
he transferred to the Australian Imperial
Force. He carried out intelligence work in
the Northern Territory and Queensland and
broke in 1100 horses while posted (August-
September 1944) to the 2nd Pack Transport
Company. His service (1944-45) on the staffs
of the Darwin area camp and the Northern
Territory details depot included a period
as acting town mayor, Darwin. Before his
demobilisation in September 1945, he prepared
a detailed plan for the development
of the Territory’s Indigenous population,
encompassing the location of training settlements
and instruction in a wide range of skills.
Returning to his beloved ‘bush’, Morey
retired from the Northern Territory police
force in 1948. Manager of the Darwin Club
in 1949, he also shot buffalo and crocodiles
on Nourlangie Creek and Wildman River and
conducted tourist safaris. From 1950 to 1956
he managed Beswick cattle station; in 1953
it became the Beswick Aboriginal Reserve
where Aborigines gained pastoral training.
Between 1948 and 1960 Morey wrote ‘Two
Man’, an unpublished murder mystery set in
Central Australia, and articles for the North
Australian Monthly and the Northern Territory
Newsletter. Injured by a kick from a horse in
1957 when manager of Coolibah station, he
sought medical treatment in Adelaide, where
he became stableman to the South Australian
Police ‘greys’. Also a horse-breaker for the
trainer Bart Cummings, he worked with the
champion thoroughbreds, Galilee and Light
Fingers. At 77 his doctor urged him to take life
more easily and he worked as a part-time bank
guard at Glenelg for the remainder of his life.
Six feet (183 cm) tall, square-shouldered,
bronzed and handsome, Morey was quiet and
good-natured with a ready smile. He was lithe
and agile, with an easy rolling gait, and had
great stamina. In 1962 a fellow policeman Vic
Hall described him as ‘rock steady’. Survived
by his wife and their son and two daughters,
he died on 24 April 1982 at Woodville and
was cremated with Churches of Christ forms.
V. C. Hall, Dreamtime Justice (1962); S. Downer,
Patrol Indefinite (1963); D. Carment et al (eds),
Northern Territory Dictionary of Biography, vol 1
(1990); Northern Standard (Darwin), 29 Aug 1933,
p 3; Herald (Melbourne), 21 Dec 1933, p 21;
Northern Territory Newsletter, May 1978, p 18;
Advertiser (Adelaide), 28 April 1982, p 11; E. Morey
personal file (NTA). BiLL wiLSon
MORGAN, ROY EDWARD (1908-1985),
pollster, market researcher and city councillor,
was born on 30 April 1908 at Malvern,
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1981–1990
Melbourne, younger of two surviving children
of New Zealand-born Herbert Edward Morgan,
warehouseman, and his Victorian-born wife
Mary Eliza, née Williams. Educated at Brighton
Grammar School (1917-24) and Melbourne
Church of England Grammar School (1925),
Roy topped his exams with the Commonwealth
Institute of Accountants in 1928. He then
commenced a bachelor of commerce degree
at the University of Melbourne, but did not
complete it. Meanwhile he worked with auditors,
an accountant, and a bankruptcy trustee,
and from July 1931 as a public accountant with
J. B. Were [q.v.2] & Son.
Admitted as an associate member of the
Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia
in 1934, Morgan started an accountancy
business from his home at Brighton
and reviewed balance sheets for the Stock
Exchange Official Record. He also summarised
the accounts of public companies for the
Argus until 1936, when he became a finance
writer for the Herald. Already known to Sir
Keith Murdoch [q.v.10], Morgan impressed
his new boss by convincing many companies
to publish their reports in the afternoon
Herald, rather than the following morning’s
Argus. On 3 March 1939 at the Melbourne
Grammar School chapel, Morgan married
Marie Emma Marples Plant.
On joining the Herald Morgan had aspired
to a job in management, but in April 1940
Murdoch arranged for him to travel to
Princeton, United States of America, where
he worked with the pollster George Gallup.
He spent time at the advertising agency Young
& Rubicam, studying techniques of market
research, and at the American Institute of
Public Opinion, home of the Gallup Poll.
Returning to Australia in October 1940,
Morgan became managing director of
Australian Public Opinion Polls (The Gallup
Method), reporting to the general manager
of the Herald group, William Dunstan [q.v.8].
The position had earlier been offered to Sylvia
Ashby [q.v.13], but she declined. APOP was
owned by newspapers in each of the capital
cities, but controlled by the Herald & Weekly
Times Ltd; in September 1941 it became the
first company to conduct opinion polls for
the Australian press, enjoying a monopoly of
nationwide polling for the next thirty years.
Morgan was required to conduct six surveys
a year, each covering eleven subjects, some
‘lighter’, others ‘heavier’. Respondents were
usually asked to agree or disagree with a
series of statements crafted by Morgan and
approved by Murdoch and other senior men
from the subscribing papers. Comments were
also recorded and ‘typical’ comments used to
colour each release.
Morgan took pride in his ability to write
questions and needed little guidance from Murdoch
about what was or was not acceptable; he
175
Morgan
shared most of Murdoch’s conservative social,
industrial and political views. He recruited the
interviewers but did no interviewing himself;
nevertheless, the Herald’s cartoonist ‘WEG’
(William Ellis Green) depicted him as a sharpnosed,
bespectacled, inquiring man, while in
1949 a journalist described him as ‘a squarelybuilt
youngish man with pleasant manners but
somewhat withdrawn, the ideal man to draw
out an interviewee’.
From 1943 the Morgan poll attempted to
estimate the level of support for the political
parties nationally. After an inauspicious
start—Morgan underestimated Labor’s
winning margin by 13 percentage points—
subsequent predictions proved more accurate.
Nonetheless, he was out by nine points for
the 1946 referendum on social services, and
erroneously forecast that both the 1951 referendum
on the dissolution of the Communist
Party of Australia and the 1973 referendum
on price controls would be carried. After the
1961 election, when he substantially underestimated
the Democratic Labor Party vote,
he introduced a ‘secret ballot’—a cardboard
box into which respondents would place a
faux ballot paper.
Less than transparent about how he
conducted his polls, Morgan knew that his
fortunes depended largely on his picking
election winners, to a lesser extent on his
estimate of vote distribution, and hardly at
all on how he did it. His accuracy depended,
in part, on how he distributed the undecided;
sometimes this was based on little more than
an educated guess. In addition to voting intention,
he asked questions about who should
lead the parties, but only about once a year.
He thought questions about the performance
of political leaders were ‘disrespectful’; not
until 1968 did he start asking respondents
whether they approved or disapproved of
the way the prime minister or leader of the
Opposition was ‘handling his job’.
Morgan was a frequent visitor to the USA.
He worked with Gallup in the run-up to the
presidential elections of 1948, 1952 and
1956, and was proud to be made an honorary
member of Princeton University’s class of
1948. He admired America greatly and named
his younger son, Gary Cordell Morgan, born
the day after the bombing of Pearl Harbor,
for Cordell Hull, the secretary of state. From
1963, anxious to please and to profit, he
fielded surveys for the United States Information
Agency in Australia. For APOP, his
questions on Australia’s involvement in the
Vietnam War were among his most controversial;
so keen was he to show Australian
opinion in a favourable light that he altered
one of the questions provided by Gallup and
misrepresented responses to others.
While Gallup avoided any appearance of
political favouritism, Morgan conducted a
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Morgan
poll for the Liberal Party in Tasmania in 1948
and later surveyed the audience for the ‘John
Henry Austral’ radio series, devised for the
1949 Federal Liberal campaign. His APOP
survey results sometimes found their way to
senior members of the Liberal government
days before they were published, and from
time to time he passed on unpublished data.
Convinced that Morgan’s polls were biased,
the Labor leader, Gough Whitlam, encouraged
Rupert Murdoch to set up Australian
Nationwide Opinion Polls in 1971, to conduct
polls for the Australian.
Morgan had entered the market research
field in 1946, creating Opinion Research,
named after Gallup’s Opinion Research
Center. By 1954 it constituted about half of
his business. His biggest clients were overseas
corporations operating in Australia; ‘Australian
manufacturers’, he complained in 1955,
‘make little use of our services’. In addition,
the decision not to use focus groups—they
were ‘subjective and not scientific’—or other
qualitative techniques cut him off from advertising
agencies. He did, however, work for
the Sydney Sun on newspaper readers and
conducted some of the earliest studies on
television audiences for the Herald group’s
HSV-7 television station.
In 1958 he founded Roy Morgan Research
Centre Pty Ltd and in 1965, helped by his son
Gary, brought in computers and developed a
readership survey for newspaper and magazine
publishers. In a crucial development he
also established Consumer Opinion Trends,
an omnibus survey that catered for a variety of
clients, especially food companies interested
in grocery buyers; the survey boosted profits
and allowed the company to open an office
in Sydney.
Though Morgan was to stay involved in the
business until his death, in the late 1960s he
helped Gary buy him out. In 1973, when his
contract with APOP came to an end, the Herald
refused to renew it; his public admission that
he had ‘never read a book on statistics, nor
on sampling, nor on market research, nor on
public opinion polls’, his boast that in arriving
at his election forecasts he ignored his own
poll, and his advice that his audience of market
researchers do the same, helped seal his
fate. The newspaper continued to underwrite
Morgan’s readership surveys, but APOP hired
McNair Anderson [qq.v.15,13] & Associates
to conduct the poll. Morgan threatened litigation
on the grounds that he owned the ‘Gallup
Poll’ in Australia, but Gallup refused to be
drawn and the matter lapsed. An agreement
signed in 1973 by Sir Frank Packer [q.v.15]
saw Morgan start polling for the Bulletin.
Morgan was a founding member of the
Public Relations Institute of Australia (1949)
and of the Market Research Society of
Australia (1955), but he walked out of the
176
A. D. B.
latter when it refused to endorse his use of the
secret ballot. Beyond Australia he was a founding
member of the International Association
of Public Opinion Institutes, which brought
together the Gallup affiliates, and a member
of the sponsoring committee that organised
the American Association for Public Opinion
Research and the World Association for Public
Opinion Research.
In a parallel political career, Morgan was
elected to the City of Melbourne Council
in 1959, after standing as a ‘Progressive
Independent’ at a by-election. A member and
briefly chairman (1973-74) of the council’s
anti-Labor Civic Group, he also chaired the
town planning committee and was involved
in negotiations that led to the development
of the City Square. He lost his seat at the
1974 election.
Morgan was a tough employer and a tight
one. Reluctant to invest in training or technology,
he was unforgiving of senior staff
who ‘jumped ship’ and was prepared to sack
employees when he could no longer pay them
junior rates. Stubborn, suspicious and slow
to take advice, he would often round on colleagues
by declaring that the solution to a
problem was ‘easy’. Towards superiors his
demeanour was quite different, his determination
to be a favourite of Gallup’s sometimes
causing tension at international meetings.
Morgan’s recreations were gardening,
yachting and skiing; he was once lost on
Mount Hotham in a blizzard. His family
relations were fraught, particularly with his
elder son Geoffrey, who he had hoped would
succeed him; Geoffrey never worked in the
business and alienated his father further
by becoming an active member of the ALP.
Morgan was diagnosed in 1968 with lymph
sarcoma and given one year to live. Survived
by his wife and sons, he died on 31 October
1985 in East Melbourne and was cremated.
His estate was valued at $825 138, but his
largest legacy was the biggest market-research
company in Australia with an annual turnover
of $12 million. A portrait by Sir William
Dargie, painted in 1978, hangs in Gary’s home
in East Melbourne.
M. Goot and R. Tiffen, ‘Public Opinion and the
Politics of the Polls’, in P. King (ed), Australia’s
Vietnam (1983); M. Goot, ‘Fudging the Figures’,
in B. Costar et al (eds), The Great Labor Schism
(2005); M. Goot, ‘“A Worse Importation than
Chewing Gum?”’, Hist Jnl of Film, Radio and
Television, vol 30, no 3, 2010, p 269; Sunday
Telegraph (Sydney), 5 Nov 1972, p 80; private
information and personal knowledge.
Murray Goot
MORLEY, IAN WEBSTER (1904-1989),
mining engineer, was born on 20 March
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1981–1990
1904 at Kew, Melbourne, only child of
William Morley, an English-born Methodist
minister, and his second wife Grace Webster,
née Henderson, from New Zealand. Ian was
educated at Trinity and Wesley colleges and at
the University of Melbourne (B.Met.E., 1928;
BME, 1929), where he studied metallurgical
and mining engineering. He was an assistant
surveyor (1927-28) with Broken Hill South
Ltd and a field-assistant (1929-30) on the
Imperial Geophysical Experimental Survey.
In the Mandated Territory of New Guinea
in 1931-34, he wrote with Harold Taylour
an extensive report on the development of
gold-mining at Morobe (published in 1933 in
the Proceedings of the Australasian Institute of
Mining and Metallurgy). In 1934-35, as acting
superintendent at Mount Coolon Gold Mines
NL, in central Queensland, he was faced with
a dispute over wages and conditions that
resulted in a strike by truckers, whose actions
anticipated a six-month mine shut-down owing
to drought.
General manager of Georgetown Gold
Mines NL, North Queensland (1935-36),
and of Mount Kasi Mines Ltd, Fiji (1936),
Morley was made in 1937 mine foreman at
Wiluna Gold Mines Ltd, Western Australia. On
26 June that year he married with Methodist
forms Evelyn Mary Marshall, a schoolteacher,
at her parents’ Kalgoorlie home. After serving
as inspector of mines at Kalgoorlie in 1938-
39, he was appointed assistant State mining
engineer in Queensland in 1939 and State
mining engineer and chief inspector of mines
in December 1940. He promoted Queensland
mining during its expansion from 1950, leading
policy formulation for emerging oil and
natural gas developments and for bauxite,
uranium, mineral sands and large open-cut
coalmines. Following an overseas study trip
to North America in 1966, he recommended
computerisation of drilling data, a grid system
for exploration tenures, petroleum legislation
reform and the establishment of a State
energy board.
In 1945 Morley had chaired the first conference
of chief inspectors of mines; he later
helped to produce a uniform code of safe
mining practices. With Julius Kruttschnitt,
Malcolm Newman [qq.v.9,15] and others, in
1949 he advised the University of Queensland
on establishing a department of mining
engineering. In 1967-71 he was a member
of the International Labour Office’s panel of
consultants on safety in mines. Active in the
Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy,
he had helped to found the Morobe
branch in 1932, served (1949-52, 1969-74) on
the national council, and become an honorary
member (fellow) in 1982.
Widowed in 1948, on 3 November 1950
at Scots Presbyterian Church, Clayfield,
Brisbane, Morley had married Janet Emily
177
Morphett
Innes (d.1975), a company manageress.
After retiring from the posts of State mining
engineer and chief inspector of mines in
1969 he established a successful mining and
petroleum consultancy. That year he was
awarded the Imperial Service Order. He wrote
Black Sands: A History of the Mineral Sand
Mining Industry in Eastern Australia (1981).
Tall, straight, silver-haired and bespectacled,
he was renowned for his wise and firm
counsel, and for his spidery handwriting
on departmental correspondence. He died
on 11 September 1989 at Corinda and was
cremated; the son and daughter of his first
marriage survived him.
Qld Govt Mining Jnl, 15 Jan 1941, p 21, Mar
1969, p 79, June 1969, p 235; Oct 1989, p 436; Procs
(A’asian Inst of Mining and Metallurgy), Dec 1982,
p 9; AusIMM Bulletin, Mar 1990, p 39; Lectures on
North Queensland History, no 5, 1996, p 36; Morley
papers (Univ of Qld Lib); personal knowledge.
ruth S. kerr
MORPHETT, AUDREY CUMMINS
(1902-1983), community worker, was born
on 27 May 1902 at Mount Gambier, South
Australia, eldest of three children of George
Cummins Morphett, stock and station agent,
and his wife Violet Alice, née Anderson.
Growing up on farms—Koomangoonong near
Corowa, New South Wales, and Woods Point, at
Murray Bridge, South Australia—Audrey loved
horses, sometimes riding more than 60 miles
(97 km) a day and winning races at country
shows and carnivals. Completing her education
in 1918-20 at Church of England Girls’
Grammar School, Geelong, she developed a
lifelong commitment to the Anglican faith. In
1923 the family moved to Cummins, the house
built on 134 acres (54 ha) at Morphetville,
Adelaide, for Sir John Morphett [q.v.2], her
great-grandfather. She helped (1933-55) to
prepare her father’s thirty-six meticulously
researched books and pamphlets on local
history and wrote an unpublished history of
whaling in South Australia.
Morphett occupied herself with voluntary
work for the Australian Red Cross Society,
the Victoria League for Commonwealth
Friendship in South Australia, the Pioneers’
Association of South Australia and her
parish, St Peter’s, Glenelg. She escaped
many Adelaide winters by holidaying abroad
or in northern Australia. Delight in voyaging
prompted her in 1927 to join the Ladies’
Harbour Lights Guild, an arm of the Missions
to Seamen. She became the guild’s president
and a great fund-raiser, conducting jumble
sales, badge days and an annual afternoon
‘gift tea’ at the South Australian Hotel. By the
1950s the guild was making enough from the
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Morphett
teas to present several hundred pounds a year
to the Missions to Seamen. Serving on the
latter’s governing body, she chaired (1953-61)
its finance committee and organised dances,
balls, benefit nights at the State Theatre and
visits to hospitalised seafarers.
Her most significant work, however, was for
the Girl Guides Association of South Australia
and the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty
to Animals in South Australia. Joining the
Guides in 1924, Morphett became captain of
the Woodlands Company in 1925 and, after
training in England, was appointed a district
commissioner (1927), commissioner for tests
and chairman of the training council (1936),
deputy State chief commissioner (1939),
commissioner for the Northern Territory
(1948) and South Australian chief commissioner
(1950-52). She invited many groups
to conduct their camps in the grounds of
Cummins, planned and ran State and national
conferences and secured the lease in 1935
of a former school at Crafers as a camp and
training centre, which was renamed Paxlease
House. The Guides purchased the site in 1945
and, to protect it from urban encroachment,
Morphett persuaded her mother to buy and
give her five adjoining blocks. She donated
one of these to the Guides in 1946, and later
sold them three more.
Morphett founded lone-guide and ranger
companies, including sea rangers, and
travelled, promoting guiding in Ceylon (Sri
Lanka), New Zealand, India, Kenya, Croker
Island and the New Hebrides. In 1940 she had
established a thrift campaign, which in three
years raised over £37 000 for ‘war charities’
by collecting recyclable materials, and in 1951
she created the rag-salvage scheme. She
was presented with guiding’s beaver badge
in 1950. Elected (1955) a life member, she
chaired (1959-60) the Guides’ jubilee celebrations
and remained a member of State council
until her death, serving as its vice-president
(1960-62, 1969-71).
From 1933 Morphett was a member of
the RSPCA’s women’s committee (re-formed
as the women’s auxiliary in 1962). A good
speaker, she broadcast on radio to promote
fund-raising projects and to attract new
members. In South Australia’s centenary
year (1936) she organised an exhibition
illustrating the contribution horses had made
to the State’s development. She supported
the society’s junior branch, developed new
fields of activity and chaired (1965-75) and
co-chaired (1978-83) the auxiliary. A member
of the society’s general committee from 1947,
she was a vice-president in 1978-83. A fellow
member reminisced: ‘Miss Morphett worked
you like a horse, but she never expected you
to do more than she did herself’.
In 1938, with World War II looming,
Morphett took courses that qualified her to
178
A. D. B.
instruct civilians in air-raid precautions, in
first aid for air-raid casualties, and in dealing
with poison-gas attacks. She also became
assistant-commandant of the State’s Voluntary
Aid Detachments. When she sought to enlist
in the Australian Women’s Army Service in
1941 she was rejected because of her age.
Appointed senior inspector of women workers
in the munitions complex at Salisbury, she
trained in explosives manufacture in Melbourne
and then supervised the work of, and
safety procedures for, four hundred women
making cordite bomb caps and detonators.
She resigned late in 1943.
After the war Morphett resumed her former
community activities, extending the work of
the Victoria League’s new settlers committee
and serving on the Charles Sturt [q.v.2]
Memorial Museum Trust, formed to restore
his house, the Grange. She enjoyed entertaining
friends and visitors at the Queen Adelaide
Club, as well as at Cummins, and welcomed
the lifting of restrictions on recreational
travel. Following the death of her mother
in 1967 she received, for life, a third of the
income from her father’s estate. The trustees
obliged her to quit Cummins, and gave her
the use of a modest dwelling in Unley Park.
Credited by a fellow worker with ‘an
amazing memory, keen powers of observation,
originality, the ability to pick the right person
for a job, and a personality which was an
inspiration to others in all her undertakings’,
Morphett was awarded Queen Elizabeth II’s
coronation medal in 1953 and was appointed
OBE in 1960. Never married, she died on
8 October 1983 at Dulwich and was buried in
Centennial Park cemetery.
P. Adam Smith, Australian Women at War (1984);
Greater Than Their Knowing (1986); W. B. Budd,
Hear the Other Side (1988); Advertiser (Adelaide),
11 June 1960, p 1; News (Adelaide), 11 Oct 1983,
p 29; Missions to Seamen Society (Adelaide)
Archives (SLSA); Girl Guides Association SA
Archives; ‘Lipstick, Bullets and Bombs: Women
at Work in World War Two’, National Centre for
History Education website, (http://hyperhistory.
org/index.php?option=displaypage&Itemid=572&
op=page, accessed 27 Oct 2009, copy held on ADB
file); private information and personal knowledge.
P. a. howeLL
MORRIS, BEDE (1927-1988), immunologist,
was born on 10 June 1927 at Hornsby,
Sydney, younger son of New South Walesborn
parents Grainger Morris (d.1930),
motor mechanic, and his wife Evelyn Jean,
née Chapple. Bede loved animals and raced
pigeons at the local pigeon-racing club. He
attended Emu (Plains) Public, Penrith Intermediate
and Parramatta High schools and
at 15 won a scholarship to university. Too
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1981–1990
young to enrol, he worked as a clerk with the
Metropolitan Water, Sewerage and Drainage
Board; he also bred poultry.
On 7 July 1945 Morris enlisted in the
Australian Imperial Force and from October
until January 1946 trained at Canungra,
Queensland. In February he completed an
instructors’ course with No.4 Recruit Training
Battalion at Singleton, New South Wales.
When discharged from the army on 16 December
he was an acting sergeant with No.2
Recruit Training Battalion. Although he had
been selected for officer training at the Royal
Military College, Duntroon, Morris chose to
study veterinary science under the Commonwealth
Reconstruction Training Scheme.
He graduated from the University of Sydney
(B.V.Sc., 1952) with first-class honours, the
university medal and the S. T. D. Symons prize
for clinical subjects. On 7 November 1953 at
St Anne’s Church of England, Strathfield, he
married Margaret Hope Gibson, a secretary.
Described by the dean of veterinary
science, H. R. Carne [q.v.17], as a ‘brilliant
young veterinary graduate who could be
perhaps somewhat unorthodox at times’,
Morris opted for a research career. At the
Kanematsu Memorial Institute of Pathology
at Sydney Hospital he investigated the
return of fluid from injured lungs to the blood
stream via the lymphatic vessels. He wrote
up his research as a thesis but university
rules precluded his enrolment for a Ph.D.
degree. Winning a scholarship, in 1956 he
entered Magdalen College, Oxford (D.Phil.,
1958), and studied fat transport in lymphatics
under Sir Howard (Baron) Florey [q.v.14]
at the Sir William Dunn school of pathology.
Working long hours, he gained a reputation as
a vigorous and innovative researcher. He was
also noted for using edible species, such as
pigs and geese, in experiments immediately
before Christmas.
Returning to Australia, Morris became
a senior fellow (1958) in experimental
pathol ogy at the John Curtin [q.v.13] School
of Medical Research, Australian National
University, Canberra. He was promoted to
professorial fellow (1963) and in 1970 he was
appointed the first professor of immunology
in Australia. Adopting the merino sheep
as his experimental animal of choice, he
studied the role played by lymphocytes in
the development of immunity in reproduction
and foetal development, and contributed
to the under standing of lipid metabolism,
endocrinology and organ transplantation. He
later used cattle, many lent from his property,
Lockhart, near Canberra.
In his unremitting search for new knowledge,
Morris was unequivocally dismissive of
managerialism. He worked outside existing
constraints, conceptualising research possibilities
by experimentally testing hypotheses.
179
Morris
Enthusiastic and dexterous, he devised novel
surgical approaches to implement his ideas.
He often observed that Daguerre would not
have received research funding if he had
nominated the discovery of photography as
his research milestone.
Morris was a foundation councillor (1960)
of the Australian Physiological (and Pharmacological)
Society. In 1969 he was elected a
fellow of the Australian Academy of Science
(vice-president, 1979-80; treasurer, 1981-85).
A member of the Australian Wool Board, he
was the chairman of the Reserve Bank’s
Rural Credits Development Fund and a boardmember
of the International Laboratory for
Research on Animal Diseases, Kenya. Never
reticent in speaking out on issues affecting
primary industries, early in the 1980s he
successfully opposed proposals to import
foot and mouth virus into the Australian
Animal (National) Health Laboratory. On
Lockhart he bred Charolais cattle using artificial
insemination and was ‘chuffed’ when
termed a ‘rancher’ in International Who’s Who
(1984-85).
An ardent Francophile, Morris contributed
to Franco-Australian scientific co-operation
and enjoyed French literature, cars and wine.
He wrote a book on French photography,
Images: Illusion and Reality (1986), and was
appointed to the Ordre National du Mérite
and, in 1988, to the Légion d’Honneur.
Full of fun and laughter, Morris was
a sportsman, fisherman, gardener and
oenophile. He was over 6 ft (183 cm) tall, with
a flat Australian accent, and was a peerless
raconteur. Survived by his wife and their five
children, he died in a motor-vehicle accident
on 2 July 1988 near Paris, while on study
leave. His body was returned to Canberra
and cremated. In 1989 the University of Sydney’s
clinical immunology refresher course
for veterinarians, which he helped to initiate
in 1978, was named in his honour.
Clinical Immunology: The Bede Morris Memorial
Refresher Course for Veterinarians, 1989, p i; Procs
of the Austn Physiological and Pharmacological Soc,
vol 20, no 1, 1989, p v; Hist Records of Austn Science,
vol 8, no 1, 1989, p 15; Canberra Times, 6 July
1988, p 23; ANU Reporter, 22 July 1988, p 7; private
information and personal knowledge.
Peter MccuLLaGh
MORRIS, Sir KEITH DOUGLAS (1908-
1981), builder and businessman, was born
on 13 December 1908 at West Maitland,
New South Wales, fifth of seven children of
Isaac Thomas William Morris, bricklayer,
and his wife Lillian Mary Ann, née Browne,
both born in New South Wales. Keith was
educated at West Maitland Commercial High
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Morris
School and in about 1930 accompanied his
family to Queensland, where he completed
a bricklaying apprenticeship. He was an
amateur wrestling champion. On 8 September
1934 at St Stephen’s Cathedral, Brisbane, he
married with Catholic rites Elizabeth Clarice
England, a clerk. That year he established a
house-building business in Brisbane and, after
being joined by his father and three brothers
(all builders), won larger contracts, including
Catholic churches and schools. He was
president (1934) of the Brisbane Builders’
Association.
In 1939-45 the firm took advantage of wartime
building and civil engineering projects.
It grew rapidly in the postwar construction
boom. The business was reorganised in 1950
as K. D. Morris & Sons Pty Ltd (builders) and
Keith Morris Pty Ltd (trading); both became
subsidiaries of Keith Morris Constructions
Ltd in 1955. Among the significant projects
undertaken during the 1950s were hospitals,
railway workshops, a bulk sugar terminal and
commercial high-rise buildings. In 1958 the
company opened a branch office in Sydney.
An excellent networker, Morris diversified
his business interests. From 1955 he was
a director (chairman 1963-70) of Appleton
Industries Ltd, the manufacturer of Naco
products. He was founding chairman (1958-
81) of Besser Vibrapac Masonry (Queensland)
Ltd, known from 1968 as Besser (Q’ld) Ltd.
The 1960s were a period of ‘spectacular
growth’ for Keith Morris Constructions.
Contracts included the Bribie Island Bridge,
the first stage of the Sydney to Newcastle
expressway, Commonwealth government
offices in Canberra, and the 28-storey State
Government Insurance Office in Brisbane.
Morris was interested in developing innovative
building techniques. In 1958 he invented
and patented a plastic support for steel rods
used in reinforced concrete; it won a plastics
industry award in 1959 and became an
international standard. A foundation fellow
(1951) of the Australian Institute of Builders
(Australian Institute of Building from 1967),
he was a president of its Queensland chapter
(1958-60) and national president (1968-70).
He encouraged training in the construction
industry, and in 1957 established the Keith
Morris bursary scheme for apprentices. President
(1962-64) of the Queensland Master
Builders’ Association, he helped to weld it into
a powerful employers’ union; he was also the
inaugural chairman (1972-74) of the Builders’
Registration Board of Queensland. He was
chairman of the Plastics Institute of Australia,
a councillor of the Australian Institute of
Urban Studies (Queensland division), and a
fellow of the Chartered Institute of Building
(Great Britain), of the Institute of Directors
in Australia, and of the Australian Institute of
Management. In 1972 the AIB honoured him
180
A. D. B.
with its medal and its past-president’s medal.
That year he was appointed CBE.
A credit squeeze forced K. D. Morris Constructions
into receivership in October 1974.
Despite the bankruptcy, Morris retained a
personal fortune, community respect, and
his company directorships, including General
Publishers Ltd (chairman 1973-79),
United Packages Ltd (1973-81) and R.T.Z.
Pillar Pacific Pty Ltd (Pillar Industries Pty
Ltd) (1973-81). He was knighted in 1979.
Among the numerous community organisations
and charities that he supported were
the South Queensland Prisoners’ Aid Society,
Boys Town at Beaudesert, the Queensland
Cancer Fund and the Spina Bifida Association
of Queensland. He was a member of the
Queensland Turf and Brisbane Amateur Turf
clubs. In his spare time he enjoyed golf, reading,
motoring and gardening. Survived by his
wife and their three sons, Sir Keith died on
8 March 1981 in Brisbane and was buried in
Mount Gravatt cemetery.
Notable Queenslanders 1975 (1976); The
Australian Institute of Building, Queensland Chapter
(1977); P. J. Tyler, To Provide a Joint Conscience
(2001); Qld Master Builder, Jan 1980, p 7, Feb
1980, p 43, Mar 1981, p 7; Sunday Mail (Brisbane),
20 Apr 1975, p 5; Courier-Mail (Brisbane), 9 Mar
1981, p 2. heLen Bennett
MORRISON, JOHN WALSH (1904-1988),
Catholic priest, was born on 7 June 1904
at Queanbeyan, New South Wales, second
of ten children of New South Wales-born
parents John Morrison, grazier, and his wife
Elizabeth Mary, née Clowes. After attending
Tuggranong (Tuggeranong) Provisional and
Queanbeyan Superior Public schools, John
stayed home on the family farm for one
year, at his father’s insistence, digging out
rabbit warrens. He then undertook ecclesiastical
training at St Columba’s Seminary,
Springwood, and St Patrick’s College, Manly.
Ordained priest on 28 December 1930 in
Sts Peter and Paul’s Cathedral, Goulburn,
‘Father John’ served the diocese of Goulburn
at Temora (1931), Young (1932-40),
Moruya (1940-42) and Boorowa (1942-79).
His preaching was simple and direct, spoken
in a distinctive, loud, shrill and raucous voice;
his sermons were interminable, delivered in
staccato phrases, and read year after year
from recycled notes. He once announced in
rough verse: ‘Next Saturdee, there will be, a
working bee, at the cemeteree, the rabbits,
are eating out your ancestors’. Engaged in
rural matters, he drove a 1936 Ford utility,
with dogs occupying priority seating.
At Young Morrison played in Group 9 and
Maher Cup rugby league football games.
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1981–1990
He was a referee in 1938-68; he also organised
and coached junior teams. In 1946 he led a
financial appeal to build St Michael’s Agricultural
College at Inveralochy, near Goulburn.
For four years he visited thousands of
homes, extracting donations from reluctant
contributors. Developing a strong interest in
sheepdog breeding, Morrison was a leading
participant and judge at national sheepdog
trials. At Boorowa he was a shire councillor
(1965-74), leaving the position when he forgot
to renominate. His concerns—‘roads and
bridges’—stemmed from his regular circuit
of six rural churches. He also served on the
hospital board, bushfire brigade, the rodeo
and swimming baths committees, and the
senior citizens and car clubs.
Morrison was tall, erect, physically taut
and strong and, in old age, weather-beaten
but agile. He usually wore a clerical collar
over a woollen vest and dressed in heavy
work overalls and boots, with a clerical biretta
perched on his head. When a reporter asked
why he wore a biretta, he responded with ‘You
have to give the Lord’s church some dignity!’
He was a teetotaller, non-smoker and nonswearer
and was never afraid of hard physical
work. Volatile, he could be authoritarian and
irascible in personal dealings, yet compassionate
to anyone in difficulty.
Retiring in 1979, Morrison lived in a
shed on his family property, The Poplars,
Queanbeyan, and used a plank across two
wool bales as his altar for Mass. He helped
in parishes in the new Canberra suburbs; in
1986 he made a gift of two bells for the tower
of St Christopher’s Cathedral, Forrest, as a
memorial to his parents. While playing in a
parish cricket match in 1987 he fell and broke
his hip. He died on 26 June 1988 at Young
and was buried in the Queanbeyan Riverside
cemetery alongside his parents.
B. Maher, Planting the Celtic Cross (1997);
Canberra Times, 3 Jan 1981, p 2; Boorowa News,
30 June 1988, p 1; private information.
Brian Maher
MORRISON, THOMAS KENNETH (1911-
1983), naval officer, was born on 31 October
1911 at Windsor, Melbourne, second child
of Tasmanian-born Leonard Neil Morrison,
schoolteacher, and his Victorian-born wife
Ethel May, née Bennet. Entering the Royal
Australian Naval College, Jervis Bay, Federal
Capital Territory, in 1925, as a cadet midshipman,
Morrison excelled at sport, representing
the college in cricket, rugby, hockey, tennis
and rowing. He graduated in 1928 and served
as a midshipman for one year in HMAS Australia
before travelling to Britain for seagoing
training in HMS Ramillies and professional
181
Morrison
courses ashore. There he became one of only
two Australians to represent the Royal Navy
in cricket.
At the end of 1932 Morrison returned to
Australia to join HMAS Canberra but in May
1933 he transferred to HMAS Australia,
where he served for three years. Promoted
to lieutenant in February 1933, he specialised
in torpedoes before returning to Britain in
1936 to attend the long course in torpedoes
at HMS Vernon. On 25 June 1938 he married
Dorothy Cornish Hole at St Faith’s Church
of England, Lee on the Solent, Southampton.
He then served in the cruiser, HMS Apollo,
which was recommissioned in September as
HMAS Hobart.
From August 1940 Hobart formed part of
the Red Sea Force with which Morrison was
to see action in the Mediterranean and Red
seas and the Gulf of Aden. His initiative in
destroying all material of value to the enemy
during the evacuation of British forces from
Berbera, British Somaliland (Somalia), led to
his being appointed OBE in April 1941. In the
first half of that year, Morrison filled the post
of squadron torpedo officer. He was promoted
to lieutenant commander on 1 December.
After the outbreak of war with Japan, he was
present at the battles of the Coral Sea (May
1942) and Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands
(November 1942).
On 27 April 1943 Morrison became officerin-charge
of the Fairmile Motor Launch
School, HMAS Rushcutter, Sydney; this was
his only substantial wartime service ashore.
He rejoined Australia in January 1944,
resuming the post of squadron torpedo officer.
Australia participated in offensive operations
against Japanese-held islands in the South-
West Pacific, and took part in the Allied
landings in the Philippines. During these
operations the cruiser was heavily damaged
by kamikaze attacks. Morrison was mentioned
in despatches for ‘skill, determination and
courage’ at Leyte Gulf (October 1944), and
awarded the Distinguished Service Cross
for ‘gallantry, skill and devotion to duty’ at
Lingayen Gulf (January 1945).
At the close of World War II, Morrison
attended a staff course in Britain. Returning
to Australia, he served as director of training
and staff requirements in Navy Office,
Melbourne (1946-48), and at the Royal
Australian Naval College, Westernport, Victoria
(1948-49). He had been promoted to
commander on 1 December 1946. In his first
seagoing command, Morrison, in May 1950,
became the inaugural commanding officer of
the recently commissioned destroyer, HMAS
Tobruk. He assumed temporary command of
HMAS Bataan in August 1951 for one month,
before returning to Navy Office as director of
manning (1951-52). On promotion to captain
in December 1952, he was appointed deputy
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Morrison
chief of naval personnel, and in the following
year became honorary aide-de-camp to the
governor-general (1953-56).
From 1954 to 1961 Morrison served in
a succession of senior appointments, all of
which groomed him for flag rank. Command
of HMAS Quadrant as captain of the 1st
Frigate Squadron (1954-55) was followed by
a diplomatic posting to Washington, DC, as
naval attaché (1955-57). He then proceeded
to Britain for the senior officers’ technical
course (1957) and to attend (1958) the
Imperial Defence College. Returning to
Australia, Morrison assumed command (1958-
59) of the RAN flagship, HMAS Melbourne; his
term included one deployment to the British
Commonwealth Far East Strategic Reserve.
He was then appointed in command (1960-62)
of HMAS Albatross, the Naval Air Station,
Nowra, New South Wales.
In the 1960s the navy was becoming more
engaged in South-East Asia, especially in
assisting Malaysia and providing support to
the United States Seventh Fleet during the
Vietnam War. On 7 January 1962 Morrison
was promoted to rear admiral and appointed
deputy chief of naval staff at Navy Office,
Canberra. He became flag officer commanding
HM Australian Fleet in January 1965 and a
year later flag officer in charge, East Australia
Area (1966-68). Having been seconded as
Australian commissioner-general for Expo 70
in Osaka, Japan, in January 1968, Morrison
joined the Prime Minister’s Department in
March, although he did not officially retire
from the navy until 30 October. He had been
appointed CBE in 1962 and CB in 1967.
Morrison was a keen golfer and gardener.
Predeceased (1976) by his wife but survived
by a son and three daughters, he died at
Darlinghurst, Sydney, on 20 April 1983
and, following a service at HMAS Watson,
was cremated.
F. B. Eldridge, A History of the Royal Australian
Naval College (1949); G. H. Gill, Royal Australian
Navy 1939-1942 (1985); J. J. Atkinson, By Skill
& Valour (1986); A6769, item MORRISON T K
(NAA). Brett MitcheLL
MORTON, TEX (1916-1983), countryand-western
singer, vaudeville performer
and actor, was born on 30 August 1916 at
Nelson, New Zealand, eldest of four children
of Bernard William Lane, postal clerk, and his
wife Mildred, née Eastgate, and was named
Robert William. Bobby attended Haven
Road and Nelson Boys’ schools and Nelson
College. By the age of 14 he had begun his
singing career as a busker. Within two years
he played in a travelling band, ‘The Gaieties’,
and recorded hillbilly songs on aluminium
182
A. D. B.
discs; they are some of the earliest songs of
this genre to be recorded outside the United
States of America.
Lane arrived in Australia in the early 1930s
and began performing and working under
the name Tex Morton as a tent hand with
travelling shows in Queensland. In 1936 he
won a talent quest as a singer of country-andwestern
music on radio 2KY in Sydney; he
secured a contract with the Columbia Regal
Zonophone label. Recording a series of songs
with American settings—‘Texas in the Spring’,
‘Going Back to Texas’—he performed in the
nasal style of the American hillbilly. His
music proved popular on both sides of the
Tasman Sea, and he came to be known as the
‘Yodelling Boundary Rider’. Between 1936
and 1943 (when he broke with Columbia)
he recorded dozens of songs, many of which
outsold in Australia and New Zealand those
of established American mainstream popular
singers. He successfully toured (1937-41)
Australia with a large combined circus, rodeo
and singing show. Later in World War II he
entertained troops. He also performed with
Jim Davidson’s [q.v.17] Australian Broadcasting
Commission Dance Band and featured in
‘Out of the Bag!’ and ‘Tex Morton’s Afterdinner
Show’ on ABC radio.
While songs with American contexts and
themes were still in Morton’s repertoire,
beginning with ‘Wrap Me Up with My Stockwhip
and Blanket’, he began to apply the
country-and-western style to local stories. He
also abandoned his nasal singing in favour of
a more melodic and mellow sound. Initially
the themes in such songs as ‘Black Sheep’
and ‘Rover No More’ centred on bush life but
later he also eulogised national heroes such as
Ned Kelly [q.v.5] and the racehorse Gunsynd
(‘The Goondiwindi Grey’). In ‘Sergeant
Small’ (1938), a song that was banned for
many years because the police officer, who
was its subject, objected to this portrayal of
him, Morton valourised itinerant workers and
mocked figures of authority, locating himself
within the nationalist bush legend tradition.
After World War II Morton resumed touring,
joining forces with Ashton’s [q.v.7] Circus.
In New Zealand in 1949 he recorded further
singles. That year he moved to the USA and
then Canada, where, performing under such
names as ‘The Great Dr Robert Morton’, he
toured as a stage hypnotist, memory expert,
whip cracker and sharpshooter. He also
recorded for the Okeh label in Nashville,
USA. In 1959 he returned to Australia with
a ‘Grand Ole Opry’ company. When it failed
he went back on the touring circuit. But as
circus companies like Wirth’s [q.v.12] also
discovered, television had made inroads into
the entertainment market and the touring
industry was no longer profitable. During
the 1960s and 1970s he continued to record;
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1981–1990
‘The Goondiwindi Grey’ and his versions of
‘Click Go the Shears’ and ‘I Love to Have
a Beer With Duncan’ were big sellers. In
1976 he was the first person named on the
Australasian Country Music Roll of Renown.
Developing an increasing interest in television
and film, Morton hosted a New Zealand
television show, ‘The Country Touch’, in the
late 1960s and acted in supporting roles in
episodes of the Australian television dramas
‘Case for the Defence’ and ‘Waterloo Station’
in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Sometimes
using the name Robert Tex Morton,
he appeared in three Australian films—‘Stir’
(1980), ‘We of the Never Never’ (1982) and
‘Goodbye Paradise’ (1983).
A man of extraordinary and wide-ranging
talents, Morton was described by a fellow
actor, Ray Barrett, as a hard worker and a
superb professional. Morton was careless
and extravagant with money and tended to
exaggerate and mythologise his achievements.
On 24 November 1937 at St Philip’s Church
of England, Sydney, he had married Marjorie
Brisbane, a salesgirl; they had twin sons. After
a long separation they divorced in 1979. He
later lived with Kathleen Bryan. His major
hobby was amateur radio. Survived by Bryan
and one son, he died of cancer on 23 July 1983
at St Leonards, Sydney, and was cremated. In
establishing Australian country-and-western
music as a derived but unique genre, he paved
the way for those who followed, from Slim
Dusty to James Blundell.
E. Watson, Country Music in Australia (1975);
Dictionary of New Zealand Biography (2000), vol 5;
Austn Women’s Weekly, 18 Mar 1959, p 18; Age
(Melbourne), 26 July 1983, p 11; http://www.nzedge.
com/heroes/morton.html, accessed 25 May 2007
(copy on ADB file). richarD waterhouSe
MOSES, Sir CHARLES JOSEPH ALFRED
(1900-1988), broadcaster, Australian Broadcasting
Commission general manager and
secretary-general of the Asian broadcasting
Union, was born on 21 January 1900 at
Woodlands Farm, Westhoughton, Lancashire,
England, one of five children of Joseph
Moses, farmer, and his wife Elizabeth, née
Henderson. In 1902 the family moved to
Shropshire. Charles entered Oswestry Grammar
School (1912) and the Royal Military
College, Sandhurst (1917). He joined the 2nd
Border Regiment just before the Armistice
and saw service in Germany in the army of
occupation. The regiment was then sent to
western Ireland as part of the British attempt
to curb the increasing political violence in
rural areas. On 3 June 1922 at the Catholic
Church, Aughrim Street, Dublin, Moses
married Kathleen (Kitty) O’Sullivan, and that
183
Moses
year migrated to Australia to join his family,
who had left England in 1919. He invested his
army pay-out in the family farm near Bendigo,
Victoria, losing his money when the fruitgrowing
venture failed.
In Melbourne Moses tried his hand at
selling real estate and as a physical training
instructor; he was a car salesman for six years,
until the Depression struck. The rapidly
expanding radio industry seemed an attractive
proposition, as he had a well-modulated, soft,
southern English accent, which avoided classbased
extremes. His was the kind of voice
that Australian radio stations thought ideal at
the time. He also mixed well socially. Some
months after an audition with the Australian
Broadcasting Co. he was suddenly asked to
describe an ice hockey game. Claiming that he
knew the game, he found a manual and studied
the rules for a few hours. The broadcast went
so well that a week later (in August 1930) he
was asked to join the regular staff. Not for the
last time Moses had displayed an instinct for
pragmatic, quick-thinking opportunism.
By July 1932, when the Australian Broadcasting
Commission began operations, Moses
had a growing reputation as an announcer and
news and sports commentator. His knowledge
of sport was prodigious and gave authority
to his broadcasts. He represented Victoria
in rugby union football, was a champion
discus-thrower and in 1925 held the Victorian
amateur heavyweight boxing championship;
he had played soccer, cricket and hockey.
Over 6 ft (183 cm) tall and weighing 15 stone
(95 kg), he was an imposing figure. He
became the ABC’s star commentator during
the ‘synthetic’ descriptions of the 1934
cricket tour of England, when brief ball-by-ball
cables were transformed in the studio into
running commentary, apparently ‘live’ from
the ground.
Moses’s rise in the ABC was meteoric. Now
based in Sydney, he became sporting editor
(1933), federal controller of talks (1934),
liaison officer (1935) and, in November
1935, general manager. By setting a uniform
standard across all States, by co-ordinating
output through the creation of federal
depart ments of talks, drama and music, run
by specialists, and by fostering Australian
talent, he worked with his chairman W. J.
Cleary [q.v.8] towards establishing a genuinely
national enterprise.
Aided and encouraged by (Sir) Bernard
Heinze and W. G. James [qq.v.17,14], Moses
soon moved to establish State orchestras of
professional musicians, augmented by gifted
amateurs. The ABC’s first concert season
was in 1936. Despite resistance from the
monopolistic theatrical entrepreneurs J. &
N. Tait [q.v.12], the ABC brought international
performers to Australia in 1937. At ease in
the company of famous artists, Moses gave
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Moses
memorable parties in their honour. An extrovert
with erudite repartee, he was described
by his director of publicity, Charles Buttrose,
as a showman at heart. In 1945 he negotiated
with the New South Wales government and
the Sydney City Council to form a full-time,
full-sized orchestra in Sydney. Within a few
years the ABC had five permanent State
orchestras and could offer Australia-wide
tours to prominent overseas conductors and
musicians.
Access to news, however, was a problem
that could not be solved for many years. Twice
Moses defied the press, who controlled the
supply of news to the ABC and the length and
times of bulletins, by deciding unilaterally to
broadcast news before the times allowed—on
his first day as general manager and on the
outbreak of World War II in September 1939.
Although he tried on both occasions to obtain
public and government approval, he failed.
Moses was appointed as a lieutenant in the
Australian Imperial Force on 17 May 1940.
Promoted to captain on 1 July, he embarked
for Singapore in February 1941 as a company
commander in the 2/20th Battalion.
He was promoted to major on 24 August
and seconded to the staff of Major General
H. G. Bennett [q.v.13], the commander of
the 8th Division. His obsession with physical
fitness, his extraordinary mobility for a
big man and his razor-sharp reflexes enabled
him to survive two Japanese ambushes after
the invasion in December. On 15 February
1942, as the Allies capitulated to the Japanese
forces, he persuaded Bennett that escape was
possible. They commandeered a sampan in
Singapore, and sailed to Sumatra, Netherlands
East Indies. From there Bennett was flown
directly to Australia while Moses was flown
to Batavia (Jakarta), where he was injured
when knocked down by a taxi, before contracting
scrub typhus. Dangerously ill, he was
evacuated to Perth. After the war he defended
Bennett against accusations that the general
had deserted his men.
In September 1942 Moses was appointed
as a temporary lieutenant colonel and
placed in command of Moresby Base Sub-
Area. Between November and April 1943 he
temporarily commanded the 2/7th Cavalry
Regiment, which fought at Sanananda, Papua;
he was mentioned in despatches. Requested
by Prime Minister John Curtin [q.v.13] to
return to head the ABC, he relinquished his
command on 12 April and transferred to the
Reserve of Officers with the rank of lieutenant
colonel. Curtin wanted the ABC to develop a
national consciousness and culture, and its
own news service. Moses immediately moved
to introduce new programs of ‘first-class quality
entertainment’, aired from 25 July 1943,
to meet the wartime needs of factory workers
and servicemen and women. The accent was
184
A. D. B.
on gaiety and variety. His return had come as a
complete surprise to Cleary, who believed that
Moses must have used his political contacts
to facilitate his discharge from the army and
to gain greater powers as general manager.
Moses denied this but there is evidence to
suggest that Syd Deamer [q.v.13], the ABC’s
controller of public relations and Moses’s
close friend and drinking companion, had
made secret representations to Curtin, without
Cleary’s knowledge. The relationship
between Moses and his chairman became
increasingly tense and Cleary resigned in
March 1945.
Moses attended the Empire Broadcasting
Conference in London in February 1945. The
British Broadcasting Corporation then invited
him to observe its reporting of the war in
Europe. As a temporary member of the BBC’s
war reporting unit, he saw from close range
Field Marshal (Viscount) Montgomery’s
attack on Wesel on the Rhine and joined the
commandos crossing the river. He and two
companions narrowly escaped injury when
German self-propelled guns shelled a factory
building in which they were hiding.
After the war Moses quickly found himself
adept at publicising new activities that
drew increasing audiences to the ABC. The
newly established rural department, with its
‘Country Hour’, kept regional families in touch
with marketing trends, farming methods and
the latest weather information. Also attracting
a large country audience was the news service
begun in 1947, which was required under the
Australian Broadcasting Act (1946) to gather
its own news in Australia, independently of
the press. Although initially opposing the service,
Moses soon recognised its importance
in offering an apparently impartial choice of
news, compared to the newspapers, which
were widely seen as reflecting the views of
proprietors. It also focused on events taking
place in the Federal and State parliaments.
In the late 1950s Moses’s postwar honeymoon
with the press and public opinion began
to pall. His claim to have the confidence of
both sides of politics was negated in October
1957 when the deputy-leader of the Federal
Opposition, Arthur Calwell [q.v.13], verbally
attacked him in the House. Calwell described
Moses as ‘sickening’ and ‘slimy’ because he
had deliberately withheld until parliament was
in recess the announcement that an Englishman,
Peter Homfray, an unsuccessful Liberal
Party of Australia candidate for the Tasmanian
parliament, had been appointed to the position
of director of Radio Australia. Alleging
that Moses was preventing Australians from
securing promotions within the ABC, Calwell
listed other recent senior appointments of
Englishmen and declared that, ‘I would facilitate
his departure to the B.B.C., where he
properly belongs’.
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1981–1990
After the introduction of television in
1961, Robert Raymond and Michael Charlton
approached Moses for support to produce a
new type of program, based on the BBC’s
‘Panorama’, which would deal with contentious
social and political issues. The staff in
the programs and talks departments at first
strongly opposed the idea, believing that the
vetting of content would involve too much
work. Moses overruled them and the program,
named ‘Four Corners’, went ahead, with the
co-producers reporting to him directly.
Moses often acted in secret, and on his
own initiative, to thwart decisions of his chairman,
the commission and the government on
matters that he thought were important in
terms of principle. When Prime Minister Sir
Robert Menzies [q.v.15] banned the showing
in 1963 on ABC television of a BBC interview
with Georges Bidault—a former prime minister
of France and opponent of President Charles
de Gaulle—then living in exile, Moses was
determined to make the public aware of the
government’s action. As the ban did not apply
to commercial stations, he rang Sir Frank
Packer [q.v.15], chairman of TCN-9, Sydney,
and offered him the film on the proviso that
he did not disclose its source. To the government’s
acute embarrassment, TCN-9 showed
the interview. He had also acted decisively
in 1959 when the comedian Spike Milligan
asked him to support an appeal to preserve
the cottage of the poet Henry Kendall [q.v.5]
at West Gosford. This unprecedented involvement
of the ABC helped to save the house.
Moses’s last years with the ABC were
clouded with controversy. In 1958 there was
considerable staff bitterness over his crossexamination
of senior officers during the sixmonth
hearing of a pay claim, held before the
assistant public service arbitrator. Moses later
regretted his actions but the anger that his
pitiless questioning had generated remained
a sensitive issue for him: at the 1983 launch
of Ken Inglis’s book This is the ABC, Moses
angrily confronted its author, threatening
defamation over the representation of the
case. Two years previously he had demanded
a published apology from Clement Semmler,
a former ABC deputy general manager, for
falsely connecting Moses’s World War I
regiment to the notorious British Black and
Tans, based in Ireland, in his book The ABC
- Aunt Sally and Sacred Cow (1981).
In 1962 Moses used his extensive Department
of External Affairs and diplomatic
contacts to secure an invitation to the fourth
Asian broadcasting conference in Kuala
Lumpur, despite Japanese suspicions of Australian
motives. Although attending only as an
observer, he used all his charm and persuasive
skills to play an active role in creating the
Asian Broadcasting Union; at subsequent
meetings in Tokyo and Seoul he helped to
185
Moses
draw up statutes and to define the ABU area.
He directed his energy towards establishing
firmer ties with Asian broadcasters in order
to counter what he saw as an increasing Japanese
influence among them. Invited at its first
general assembly in Sydney in November 1964
to become secretary-general of the union, he
stipulated that the secretariat be located in
Sydney and that Betty Cook, the executive
liaison officer and his long-time personal
assistant, should remain with him. In January
1965 he retired from the ABC. At the heart of
ABU activities for the next twelve years, he
rapidly gave the ABU a high profile in world
broadcasting. He published Diverse Unity: The
Asian-Pacific Broadcasting Union, 1957-1977
in 1978.
Active in many sporting, cultural and
charitable organisations, Moses was a vicepresident
from 1969 of the Royal Agricultural
Society of New South Wales. In 1954 he
was a foundation member of the Australian
Elizabethan Theatre Trust and of the five-man
Sydney Opera House committee, appointed
by the New South Wales government after he
and the conductor (Sir) Eugene Goossens had
urged Premier J. J. Cahill [qq.v.14,13] to take
steps to build an opera house. He later helped
to plan the international design competition
and was a foundation member (1961) of the
Sydney Opera House Trust.
Introduced to axemen at Pemberton, Western
Australia, while on holiday in 1944, Moses
had enthusiastically taken up woodchopping
as his main hobby. He became chairman of the
RAS woodchopping committee; keeping in his
office a collection of fine axes, he regularly
invited visitors to allow him to shave their
arms or legs to demonstrate how sharp they
were. His friendship with the ‘roughneck’ RAS
champion Tom Kirk appealed greatly to the
press—as did his feat of walking fifty miles
(80 km) on his fiftieth birthday.
A fiercely competitive man with extraordinary
energy and single-mindedness, Moses
was thought by some of his colleagues to be
a born leader with an innate generosity of
spirit; others recognised that he demanded
total control. He was known to employ subterfuge
and trickery if the end seemed to
justify the means. Appointed CBE in 1954,
he was knighted in 1961. Survived by his wife
and their son, but predeceased by a daughter,
Sir Charles died on 9 February 1988 at
Turramurra and was cremated. In March 1989
the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, conducted
by Stuart Challender, gave a concert in his
honour in the Sydney Town Hall.
An ABC building at Gore Hill, Sydney,
had been renamed for Moses shortly before
he died; a park at Welby, near Mittagong,
commemorates his long service (president
1981-88) on the Remembrance Driveway committee.
In 2006 the first Sir Charles Moses
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Moses
trophy for musical excellence was awarded
to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s
‘Young Performer of the Year’. The ABC holds
a portrait of him by Clifton Pugh [q.v.].
K. S. Inglis, This is the ABC (1983); C. Buttrose,
Words & Music (1984); N. Petersen, News Not Views
(1993); N. Petersen, ‘A Biography of Sir Charles
Moses’, Global Media Jnl, vol 3, no 1, 2009 (copy
on ADB file); PD (HR), 24 Oct 1957, p 1726; 24
Hours, Mar 1989, p 24; H. de Berg, interview with
C. Moses (ts, 1967, NLA); Moses’s oral history (ts,
1971, ABC document archives, Sydney); B883, item
NX12404 (NAA); Moses papers (SLNSW); private
information and personal knowledge.
neviLLe PeterSen*
MOSHER, KENNETH GEORGE (1913-
1990), geologist, public servant and military
officer, was born on 30 October 1913 at
Mascot, Sydney, eldest of three children of
Sydney-born parents Charles Mosher, sheetmetal
worker, and his wife Alice Louise, née
McLean. Ken was educated at Daceyville
Public School, Sydney Boys’ High School
and the University of Sydney (B.Sc., 1935).
On graduation he was employed by the geological
survey branch, Department of Mines,
New South Wales, as field assistant to E. J.
Kenny, (Sir) Harold Raggatt [q.v.16], Charles
Mulholland and Jack Rayner [qq.v.]. He was
also secretary of the fuel research committee.
On 6 April 1940 he married Imelda Agnes
Henderson, an office clerk, at St Thomas’s
Church of England, North Sydney.
An enthusiastic member of the Sydney
University Regiment, Citizen Military Forces,
from 1931, Mosher was commissioned as a
lieutenant in 1939. On 1 July 1940 he was
appointed to the Australian Imperial Force and
arrived in Singapore with the 2/18th Battalion
in February 1941; he was promoted to captain
a year later. After the Allied forces capitulated,
he was imprisoned in Singapore then
in Borneo at Sandakan and Kuching. He was
demobilised in Australia in December 1945.
Resuming with the CMF, he commanded the
SUR in 1957-61 and was appointed OBE in
1959 for his services. In October 1963 he
retired as a colonel.
After World War II Mosher had returned to
the geological survey branch until, frustrated
with the chances of promotion, in 1949 he
moved to the Department of Mines, South
Australia, as senior geologist for coal and
uranium. In 1950 he became geologist for
the Commonwealth-New South Wales Joint
Coal Board. A systematic person, he set
up an impressive coal exploration program
that included testing methods and recording
information for the industry. The design (with
B. Vitnell and M. G. Lees) of the triple-tube
core barrel, which preserved even fragile coal
186
A. D. B.
samples in a ‘split’ inner tube, ensured almost
100 per cent core recovery during drilling
and improved the accuracy of assessments
of coal reserves, particularly for the development
of open-cut mining. Mosher encouraged
the creation of coalfield site power stations.
Coal authorities in other States adopted his
methods. When Japanese coal buyers first
visited Australia in the late 1950s he overcame
his misgivings that stemmed from the war to
ensure that the Australian coal industry was
well served, but he avoided any private contact
with them. In 1962 Mosher moved into
private industry as consultant coal geologist
for Rio Tinto Mining Co. (Conzinc Riotinto)
of Australia Ltd. He formed his own company,
Mosher & Associates, in 1975.
A member of the Australasian Institute of
Mining and Metallurgy from 1949, Mosher
chaired (1969-70) the Sydney branch and
was elected an honorary fellow in 1986. He
was a foundation member of the Geological
Society of Australia and in 1967-78 its honorary
administrative officer. Involved in the
Boy Scouts’ Association for sixty years, after
holding many senior positions he became an
honorary commissioner.
Like most prisoners of war, Mosher had
received little or no counselling on his release
and suffered from periods of depression.
Although he had an impish sense of humour
his daughter saw him as ‘a street angel and
house devil’. The calmness of his wife was
invaluable. He was appointed AM in 1984.
Survived by his wife and their daughter and
son, he died on 18 February 1990 at Collaroy
and was cremated.
A. B. Lilley, Sydney University Regiment (1974);
AusIMM Bulletin, Dec 1987, p 10, Apr 1990,
p 54; Advances in the Study of the Sydney Basin,
Proceedings of the Symposium, 1999, p 39; B2458,
item 278999 (NAA); private information and
personal knowledge. D. F. BranaGan
MUIR, Sir DAVID JOHN (1916-1986),
public servant, was born on 20 June 1916
in Brisbane, son of Brisbane-born parents
John Arthur Muir, boilermaker, and his wife
Grace Elizabeth, née McIntyre. David was
educated at Kangaroo Point State and State
Commercial High schools; at high school he
learned shorthand and typing. He joined the
Lands Department in the Queensland Public
Service in 1932, during the Depression.
After transferring to the Premier and Chief
Secretary’s Department as a records and
correspondence clerk, Muir was appointed
secretary to Premier Forgan Smith [q.v.11] in
1939. When Forgan Smith left the government
in 1942, to become chairman of the Central
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Sugar Cane Prices Board, Muir went with
him as investigations officer and secretary
to the chairman. In 1942-43 Muir also acted
as secretary to royal commissions into the
sugar and cotton industries. On 6 June 1942
at St Mary’s Church of England, Kangaroo
Point, he married Joan Haworth, a typist. He
served (1940-43) on the Anglican Diocesan
Council, Brisbane.
In 1945 Muir returned to the Premier’s
Department as official secretary to the acting
premier, later premier, Ned Hanlon [q.v.14]. In
1948, after a time as assistant-secretary, Muir
was appointed under-secretary of the Premier
and Chief Secretary’s Department. Aged 32,
the youngest person to lead the department,
he was an associate of the Institute of Accountants
and a fellow of the Chartered Institute
of Secretaries. He was clerk of the Executive
Council concurrently. The department
suffered from lingering postwar shortages
and an increase in violent industrial disputes
amplified the pressure on the under-secretary.
Appointed Queensland agent-general in
London in 1951, Muir arrived in time to work
on the conclusion of the Commonwealth Sugar
Agreement. His earlier career had equipped
him well to undertake this work, which was
crucial to Queensland’s economic future. He
also represented Australia (1951-63, chairman
1958) on the International Sugar Council.
Muir brought enthusiasm, administrative
skills and close contact with the premier and
his department to the position of agent-general.
His reports indicate that he reorganised the
office, delegating more administrative work
to the official secretary, and thus allowing the
agent-general to concen trate on policy and representational
work. He also focused on increasing
the ways Queens land was promoted, both
through the displays at Queensland House and
by reaching out to a wide range of businesses
including banks, shipping companies and
airlines. His duties initially included purchasing
goods on behalf of Queensland departments,
re-establishing Queensland exports to
Britain despite continuing post war shipping
shortages, and encouraging British migration
to Queensland. Later the emphasis shifted to
fostering tourism and seeking invest ment in
Queensland resources and industries. Muir
was also involved in organising Queensland
representation at the coronation of Queen
Elizabeth II and in preparing for her 1954 visit
to the State. Keen to publicise Queensland, he
travelled extensively throughout Britain and
occasionally in Europe. Muir was appointed
CMG in 1959 and knighted in 1961. For four
months in 1964 he served as president of the
Chartered Institute of Secretaries in England.
Muir returned to Queensland as director
of the new Department of (Commercial and)
Industrial Development and chairman of the
Queensland Industries Assistance Board,
187
Muir
positions he held from 1964 to 1977. He
actively pursued investment in Queensland’s
minerals and secondary industry, present ing
many talks to potential investors. To attract
investment specifically in manufacturing,
industrial estates were developed with
cheap land for sale or rental and a variety
of incentives was provided to encourage the
establishment of new industries.
In 1977 Muir was appointed chairman of
the Queensland Public Service Board. This
position carried with it substantial authority
over the public service, the largest workforce
in the State. After looking carefully at the
operations of the board, he instituted a review
of the structure and work practices, aimed
at improving efficiency and the services
offered to divisional clients. He brought his
personal philosophy on employment to the
reorganisation. A believer in promotion on
merit, he sought to foster training at all levels.
He supported exchanges with other departments,
other governments and the private
sector. While he thought some matters should
remain centralised under board control, he did
encourage increased delegation of authority to
departmental secretaries. He emphasised the
importance of communication and held regular
meetings with divisional heads, departmental
secretaries and relevant union leaders. These
were themes in his 1980 lecture, Reflections on
the Administrative Machinery of Government.
Muir was appointed parliamentary commissioner
for administrative investigations
(ombudsman) in 1979, the second person
to hold the post. This office was independent
of ministerial direction; Muir reported
directly to parliament. He had moved from
heading public agencies to investigating their
decisions; he saw his role as protecting ‘the
interests of the ordinary citizen in the field
of public administration’.
Slight, dark haired and of average height,
Muir appeared in earlier photographs to be an
eager young man; in later life he became white
haired and distinguished looking. Interested
in gardening and golf, he was a member of
Royal Queensland Golf Club. His enthusiasm
for the visual arts and film was central to the
way he promoted Queensland while agentgeneral
but perhaps his greatest passion was
for the arts, particularly theatre and opera.
Foundation chairman of the Queensland
Theatre Company in 1969-77, he was president
of the Brisbane Light Opera Company
and a patron of the Caloundra Chorale and of
the Little Theatre Group.
Muir combined his experience in public
administration with his love of the arts when
he was appointed the first chairman of the
Queensland Cultural Centre Trust in 1976,
after being involved with the earliest development
of the project. The trust’s duties
included facilitating activities in the arts,
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Muir
science, culture and performing arts throughout
Queensland and the development of the
Performing Arts Centre and the buildings
that would comprise the South Bank cultural
precinct. In 1986 Muir was the first recipient
of the Queensland arts medal.
Sir David died of cancer on 23 March
1986 at Kangaroo Point, Brisbane, and was
cremated. His wife and their daughter and
son survived him. At a memorial concert
Verdi’s Requiem was sung to commemorate
his contribution to the arts in Queensland.
In Muir’s fifty-four years of work, his understanding
of the role of a public servant, his
often innovative approach, his international
experience and his willingness to embrace
change contributed to the transformation of
the Queensland public service and economy.
J. Scott et al, The Engine Room of Government
(2001); Royal Hist Soc of Qld Jnl, vol 8, no 2, 1966-
67, p 246; Courier-Mail (Brisbane), 1 June 1942,
p 6, 27 July 1945, p 5, 10 June 1977, p 8, 24 Mar
1986, p 3; F. Fisher, taped interview with D. Muir
(1983, Univ Qld). Bronwyn StevenS
MULDOON, THOMAS WILLIAM EARLE
(1917-1986), Catholic bishop, was born on
27 September 1917 at Lismore, New South
Wales, sixth of ten children of Bernard
Muldoon, an Irish-born sawmiller, and his
wife Jane, née Bollard, born in New South
Wales. His education was at St Carthage’s
primary and Marist Brothers’ St Joseph’s
High schools, Lismore, and (in 1934-35 on
an ecclesiastical bursary) at Marist Fathers’
St John’s College, Woodlawn, where he was
head prefect and an active sportsman and
horseman. According to the school rector,
Thomas ‘showed great loyalty to authority and
gave fine example of leadership’.
Having begun studies for the priesthood
at St Columba’s College, Springwood, in
March 1936, Muldoon entered the Pontifical
Urban College of Propaganda Fide, Rome, in
October 1937. This experience acculturated
him to Romanità, which is an enduring
aspect of the Australian Catholic hierarchy.
He was ordained on 22 December 1941 and,
having achieved consistently high marks, he
remained in Rome to complete a doctorate in
theology (1943).
On his return to Australia Muldoon was
appointed assistant-priest at Grafton, New
South Wales, but in March 1945 was seconded
to St Patrick’s College, Manly. In 1954, when
the Holy See raised the status of that college
to a pontifical faculty of theology, Muldoon
was appointed dean, holding the post until his
appointment as a bishop in 1960. His teaching
was orthodox and variously described, like his
188
A. D. B.
personality, as colourful or intimidating. He
published his lectures on dogmatic theology
(given in Latin) as Theologiae Dogmaticae
Praelectiones (five volumes, 1958-65). They
were respectfully reviewed in the Australian
Catholic press, though one former student
noted that they were concerned with none
of the issues that preoccupied European
theology prior to the Second Vatican Council.
Dr Kevin Walsh wrote in his history of
St Patrick’s, ‘it is hardly extreme to describe
them as anti-historical in character’; another
former theologian referred to the ‘gum-nut
twang’ of the Latin.
Muldoon was consecrated on 8 May 1960 by
Pope John XXIII in St Peter’s Basilica, Rome,
and returned as auxiliary bishop to Cardinal
(Sir) Norman Gilroy [q.v.14] in Sydney and
parish priest of Mosman. He held a number
of significant roles in Gilroy’s administration,
with particular responsibility for Catholic
radio and television (consolidating his earlier
close involvement with the management of
radio-station 2SM) and, less comfortably, for
relations with other churches.
A broad-shouldered man with wavy black
hair, Muldoon was a chameleon character,
charming when it suited his purposes. Gilroy
did not find his bluff personality congenial and
Muldoon’s correspondence with his superior
(almost always written floridly by hand) reads
like a courtier flattering his prince. With his
fellow priests on social occasions he could
affect a hearty bonhomie (though his private
comments on some of them were often
corrosive and graceless) and could also charm
those with power when he wanted particular
favours. By contrast, he could be abrasive
and belligerent in public and in the media
(as suggested by his nickname, ‘The Bull’).
In 1981, concerned about the attitude of the
Wran Labor government to hospitals conducted
by Christian organisations, Muldoon
unremittingly attacked the government’s plan
to convert the Mater Misericordiae Hospital
at Crows Nest to a geriatric facility. He disparaged
the minister for health (Kevin Stewart,
an exemplary Catholic) as a ‘weak-kneed
Catholic’ and threatened to use the parishes
in selected electorates ‘to see that the Government
is thrown out on its neck’. Unlike most
Sydney priests, he was considered ‘A Lib’.
At the Second Vatican Council (1962-65),
where Muldoon was a frequent contributor to
the debates, some of his remarks about other
denominations caused annoyance among the
council participants, earning him rebukes
when he referred, for example, to ‘tearful
and tedious laments’ of some bishops who
acknowledged deplorable Catholic behaviour
during the Reformation. A further instance of
what Walsh characterised as his ‘combative
attitudes . . . towards “opponents”’ became
a scandalous issue in late 1966. In a private
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1981–1990
letter that, with his encouragement, became
public he attacked Mother Margaret Gorman,
a visiting American Sacré Coeur nun and
psychologist, for views she had expressed
on modern theology (an anathema to him)
in an interview on Australian Broadcasting
Commission television. The issue led to
correspondence and articles in the Sydney
press culminating in a packed public meeting
in the Anzac House auditorium on 18 December.
The bishop surprised the meeting by
arriving, ashen-faced and trembling, to deliver
what the Sydney Morning Herald called ‘a
qualified apology’—‘if you think I have gravely
offended against charity’—for calling Gorman
‘a female deceiver who is so puffed up with
her own arrogance and pride’.
Muldoon was especially affronted that such
a challenge to his patriarchal orthodoxy should
come from a woman (writing to her before that
meeting, ‘Stick to your last and leave other
matters to people better qualified and, above
all, to those to whom the authentic teaching
mission has been given in the Church’).
Even so, for some years, at irregular intervals,
letters would arrive from him to the national
headquarters of the Sacré Coeur Order in
Sydney containing a cheque ‘for your needs’.
In 1982 Muldoon retired as bishop and the
next year as parish priest of Mosman. He was
significant in the Sydney of his time because
he so robustly typified the characteristics of
a church that, though he did not realise it,
was passing; the Australian society that could
tolerate such churchmanship was passing,
too. It was an era of double standards: few
referred in public to his debilitating alcoholism
or alleged homosexual proclivities. A connoisseur
of the mediaeval church, Muldoon
shared its prelates’ sense that they were
aristocrats, telling a fellow priest that he was
born a few centuries too late: ‘I should have
been a mediaeval Prince’. Thomas Keneally
(Muldoon’s former seminary student) used
him as the model for the character of Dr
Costello in the novel, Three Cheers for the Paraclete
(1968), in which one of his priestly colleagues
said of him, ‘His faults all stem from
a certain pomposity of temperament’. Though
he had suffered a number of heart attacks
previously, he died of cancer on 13 January
1986 at North Sydney. After a requiem Mass
in St Mary’s Cathedral, Muldoon was buried
in the Catholic section of the cemetery at
East Lismore, from where he once wrote to
Gilroy while convalescing, ‘I would dearly love
to go surfing’.
K. J. Walsh, Yesterday’s Seminary (1998); SMH,
4 Dec 1963, p 3, 19 Dec 1966, p 4, 28 July 1981,
p 1, 5 Aug 1981, p 11, 14 Jan 1986, p 4; Sun
(Sydney), 29 July 1981, p 7; ‘Background Briefing’
(http://www.abc.net.au/rn/backgroundbriefing/
stories/2010/2834210.htm), accessed 21 March
2011, copy held on ADB file; J. J. Murphy, The
189
Mulholland
Australian Hierarchy and Vatican II (PhD thesis,
Griffith Univ, 2001); Religious correspondence
1966-67, box 1286 (St Mary’s Cathedral archives,
Sydney); private information. John carMoDy
MULHOLLAND, CHARLES ST JOHN
(1903-1984), geologist and public servant,
was born on 12 July 1903 at Bathurst, New
South Wales, elder child of English-born
Charles Albert Mulholland, metallurgist, and
his New South Wales-born wife Margaretta
Elizabeth, née de Clouet. He was educated
at St Stanislaus’ College, Bathurst, where he
was known as ‘Tim’, and at the University of
Sydney (B.Sc., 1924).
In 1925 Mulholland joined the geological
survey branch of the Department of Mines,
New South Wales, then directed by Ernest
Clayton Andrews [q.v.7]. His first work was
on surveys of the Hunter Valley coalfields.
The following year under E. J. Kenny he
began to search for underground water in
the Coonabarabran-Binnaway-Gunnedah
region. In 1929-32 he assisted Kenny in
a wide-ranging study of the geologically
little-known West Darling region. During the
Depression Mulholland helped prospectors
around Bathurst and Hill End and recorded
mineral deposits throughout the State. He
married Mary Alexa Cruickshank, a clerk, on
2 June 1934 at St Michael’s Catholic Church,
Lane Cove.
The success of Mulholland’s earlier work
in proving the availability of potable and stock
water supplies led to requests for surveys of
other parts of western New South Wales. He
undertook (1935-38) a similar assignment for
the East Darling region. In 1942 he ascertained
the availability of groundwater in the Botany
Basin, in case of disruption by war of Sydney’s
water supply. In 1937 he had reported on
the geology of the Snowy Mountains and
examined dam and tunnel sites at Jindabyne
in 1941, work which foreshadowed the Snowy
Mountains scheme developments. He also
documented proposed dam sites at Glenbawn,
Cranky Rock and Kiama. In the 1940s Mulholland,
aided by E. O. Rayner, surveyed the gold
and copper deposits in the central part of
the Cobar mineral belt. He recognised the
significance of a set of cross-cutting veins that
controlled gold mineralisation.
In 1947 Mulholland succeeded Leo J. Jones
as State government geologist. He oversaw an
increase in the staff of the Geological Survey,
which enabled a spate of major projects,
including work for the Snowy Mountains
scheme, production of a new geological map
of the State and detailed mapping of the western
coalfields for open-cut mines. In 1953,
with Rayner, he carried out a survey of the
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Mulholland
potential uranium sources in the Broken Hill
region, in association with an experimental
airborne (helicopter) radiometric survey
by the Commonwealth Bureau of Mineral
Resources. He was appointed assistant undersecretary
for mines in New South Wales in
1954 and, succeeding Kenny, served (1957-
63) as under-secretary.
Mulholland was essentially a practical geologist,
not particularly interested in theory, often
referring to technical papers that were full of
formulae as ‘ukulele music’. A member (albeit
not very active) of the Royal Society of New
South Wales, he published little apart from
official reports. Tall, gangly, originally with
russet hair and moustache, and somewhat
self-deprecatory, he looked a typical country
‘Aussie’, but he possessed a shrewdness and
capability that gained his colleagues’ respect.
Away from work he was ‘a completely relaxed
and funny man’, sometimes indulging in
Charlie Chaplin impersonations. Predeceased
by his wife (1972) but survived by their son
and daughter, he died on 26 February 1984
at Longueville and was buried in the Catholic
section of Northern Suburbs cemetery.
Annual Report of the Department of Mines, New
South Wales, 1925-63; Mineral, Sept 1963, p 13;
private information and personal knowledge.
D. F. BranaGan
MUNSTER, GEORGE JOHN (1925-1984),
journalist, was born on 3 October 1925 in
Vienna, elder child of Ernst Münster, a Czechborn
Jewish industrialist, and his wife Ada, née
Neurath, an Austrian Catholic, and was named
Georg Hans. Georg was educated in Vienna
until 1937, and then in Brno, Czechoslovakia,
following the Anschluss, before sailing from
London with his family in February 1939,
for Sydney. A pupil at Sydney Boys’ High
School, Munster topped the 1943 Leaving
certificate in French and English, a language
he had started to teach himself aboard the
ship, and came third in Latin. Interviewed
about his success, he was quoted as deploring
‘the Australian prejudice vs foreigners’, and
liking dancing and pretty girls, swimming (he
was a school lifesaver) and books; he read
French and German and hoped to become a
good citizen. In later years he taught himself
Italian, Spanish and Russian.
Securing an exhibition to the University
of Sydney (BA, 1948), Munster obtained
first-class honours in English under A. J. A.
Waldock [q.v.16] and second-class honours
in philosophy under John Anderson [q.v.7],
a figure he ‘usually delighted in mocking’;
seen by John Docker as a link to the Anderson
tradition, Munster was no Andersonian. Peter
Coleman remembered him as ‘thin, stooped,
190
A. D. B.
chain-smoking, grinning, glancing, guffawing’.
Cultivating ‘an air of mystery’, Munster was a
man of ‘restless scholarship’ who ‘scoffed at
the philistinism of the university’. His friends
thought him ‘a genius’. Attending ‘whatever
meetings of protest were called’, he observed
the obscenity trial of Lawson Glassop [q.v.14]
and visited Rosaleen Norton’s [q.v.15] coven.
He wrote for Honi Soit, contributed to the
arts journal Arna and co-edited two issues of
Hermes. With Eugene Kamenka, Adrian Roden
and Neville Wran, Munster was one of a team
of ‘awesomely articulate youngsters’ on the
radio program Youth Speaks.
In Munster’s first job, in 1948, with the
university’s guidance officer’s department,
he gave introductory English lessons to exservicemen.
He also taught at Knox Grammar
School and had a stint at the Bathurst immigration
reception and training centre. Naturalised
in August 1949, he travelled to Britain and
Europe. He did relief teaching in Britain; went
to Vienna, where his parents were domiciled
as they tried to reclaim property taken by
the Nazis; lived in Spain, mainly in Majorca;
taught for the British Council in Iraq, chiefly
in Basra; and in 1955 returned to Australia,
via India. Living in a lighthouse at Barrenjoey,
north of Sydney, he tried to write a novel but
his literary output was confined largely to
book reviews.
In 1958 Munster and Tom Fitzgerald, the
finance editor of the Sydney Morning Herald,
founded the fortnightly Nation, ‘an independent
journal of opinion’. Fitzgerald owned it.
On 16 December 1960 at the registrar
general’s office, Sydney, Munster married
Marie Meziere de Lepervanche, the secretary
at the journal’s office.
Munster wrote for Nation under his own
name and those of ‘D. Jenkyn’ and ‘Lurksman’
among others; some pieces were unsigned.
He was an acute observer, a deft analyst and a
fine writer, who ranged widely. Munster wrote
‘trail-blazing essays on tax avoidance’, Ken
Inglis observed; he was ‘a one-man corporate
affairs commission’, as Humphrey McQueen
put it, before any such body existed. He also
wrote about the media, public figures, art and
literature; to challenge the censorship laws
he arranged for Nation to publish a chapter
from Vladimir Nabokov’s Lolita. In the words
of his friend Richard Hall, Munster believed
‘that good journalism made its contribution to
debate and ideas as much as any other areas
of intellectual endeavour’.
In 1964 Munster returned part time to the
university and completed an MA (preliminary)
on ‘problems in anthropological peasant
studies’ in 1967 with the equivalent of firstclass
honours. In 1968 Munster embarked
on a master’s degree; his research, which
did not involve field-work, focused on the
non-Christian peoples of Northern Luzon in
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1981–1990
the Philippines. But he became embroiled
in a dispute with his supervisor, Bill Geddes
[q.v.17], over whether universities should do
‘applied’ work, as Geddes had controversially
done, or stick to ‘pure’ research. In 1974
Munster began working under Les Hiatt on
A. R. Radcliffe-Brown’s [q.v.11] analysis of
Aboriginal kinship. He also tutored, though
he refused payment. In 1979, unhappy
with Geddes’s continuing dominance in the
anthropology department, he quit.
When Nation merged in 1972 with the
Review (a Melbourne weekly published by
Gordon Barton and edited by Richard Walsh)
to form Nation Review, Munster became the
Sydney editor with responsibility for the
centre-page spreads. These, it was hoped,
would maintain Nation’s in-depth analytical
feature journalism, a tradition that Munster’s
work had done much to establish and sustain.
After the sale of Nation Review to Geoff Gold
in 1978, Munster became a senior editor at
Angus & Robertson [qq.v.7,11] Ltd, where
Walsh was the publisher and Barton the proprietor.
In 1981, when Barton sold the company
to Rupert Murdoch, Munster went freelance.
In 1980 Munster and Walsh compiled
and self-published Documents on Australian
Defence and Foreign Policy 1968-1975. The
book, which set out to show ‘whether officialdom
makes politicians wiser or obstructs their
intention’, brought to public notice official
documents. The book included ‘two protracted
episodes when misleading analysis was associated
with misdirected action’—one concerned
with United States and Australian involvement
in the Vietnam War, the other with Australia’s
attitude to Indonesia’s invasion of East
Timor. On Saturday 8 November the Sydney
Morning Herald and the Age published what
they intended to be the first of three instalments.
But the Commonwealth government
obtained from the High Court of Australia an
injunction suppressing publication, enforced
at 12.45 a.m.; in later editions the page was
left blank. Excerpts planned for the following
week never appeared. The government was
concerned with reaction in Washington and
Jakarta, and argued that publication breached
confidentiality, copyright and the Crimes Act.
Some copies of the book had been sold, the
rest were now withdrawn. Two years later,
an updated version—a mixture of paraphrase
and quotation—was published under Angus
& Robertson’s Walsh & Munster imprint as
Secrets of State: A Detailed Assessment of the
Book They Banned.
Munster’s most important book, on Rupert
Murdoch, was published posthumously. A
Paper Prince (1985) offered a compelling
account of Murdoch’s rise from a local businessman
to a global behemoth. The political
scientist Henry Mayer described it as ‘well
crafted, informative and highly intelligent’.
191
Murch
In the 1970s Munster had worked on
a six-part radio series, ‘Tombstones of the
Revolution’, a study of reactions to the
deaths of revolutionaries, for the Australian
Broadcasting Commission, and a television
documentary on V. Gordon Childe [q.v.7]
and his changing engagement with Marxism.
These projects took him to Europe and the
Soviet Union. Shortly before his death he
signed a contract for a book on the private
lives of famous Australians, based on their
letters. He was also researching Sir Robert
Menzies’ [q.v.15] stand on appeasement,
planning a book and radio series on Gallipoli,
hoping to write the gypsies (Roma) back into
the Holocaust, and trying to interest the
Australian Film Commission in a documentary
on New Caledonia.
Survived by his wife and their daughter,
Munster died of ischaemic heart disease
on 14 August 1984 at St Leonards and was
cremated. Friends and admirers established
the George Munster award for independent
journalism to ‘uphold the traditions of
independence, meticulous accuracy, integrity
and lucidity’ exemplified in Munster’s own
journalism.
J. Docker, Australian Cultural Elites (1974);
G. Dutton, The Innovators (1986); K. S. Inglis
(ed), Nation: The Life of an Independent Journal of
Opinion, 1958-1972 (1989); R. Walsh, Ferretabilia
(1993); P. Coleman, Memoirs of a Slow Learner
(1994); H. McQueen, Gallipoli to Petrov (1994);
Austn Corporate Hist Bulletin, vol 2, no 1, 1986,
p 16; SMH, 16 Aug 1984, p 9; Munster papers
(SLNSW); private information. Murray Goot
MURCH, ARTHUR JAMES (1902-1989),
painter, sculptor and teacher, was born on
8 July 1902 at Croydon, Sydney, second of
three children of English-born parents James
Murch, journeyman carpenter, and his wife
Caroline Elizabeth, née Holman. Murch’s life
reflected many influences from his Methodist
upbringing: teetotalism; devotion to family;
frugality; a lack of interest in materialism; a
love of learning; a strong work ethic; and the
ability to build anything from nothing, even his
own false teeth. Arthur left Sydney Technical
High School, Ultimo, at 15 and became an
apprentice at John Heine & Son Ltd, Leichhardt,
manufacturers of sheet-metal-working
machinery. He was struck in the eye by a steel
chip, which later affected his ability to paint
outdoors. His drawing skills were noticed
and from 1920 he studied part time at the
Royal Art Society of New South Wales. In ‘The
Foundry’ (exhibited in 1945) he re-created a
fiery scene from his engineering years.
Murch was introduced to the impressionistic
artists by Antonio Dattilo-Rubbo [q.v.11
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Murch
Rubbo] and in 1924 he joined sculpture
classes at East Sydney Technical College
under Rayner Hoff [q.v.9]. He built a studio
in his parents’ backyard and devoted himself
full time to art. In 1925 he won the New South
Wales Society of Artists’ travelling scholarship;
he studied art briefly in Paris at the
Académie Julian and in London at the Chelsea
Polytechnic, and in depth in Italy, where he
fell in love with the Renaissance masters and
their classical sources.
On his return to Sydney in 1927 Murch
became assistant to George Lambert [q.v.9].
Harold Cazneaux’s [q.v.7] photograph of them
working on a sculpture of an unknown soldier
for St Mary’s Cathedral captured their close
working relationship. ‘Pocket Hercules’ was
Lambert’s apt description of Murch, a diminutive
man with a powerful physique. After
Lambert’s death in 1930 Murch threw himself
into Depression Sydney’s Bohemian art world.
But it was from a cottage at coastal Thirroul
that the first paintings emerged in the Murch
style, in which he fused classical and Renaissance
subjects, themes and techniques with
Australian people, light and landscape.
In 1933 Professor H. Whitridge Davies
[q.v.13] invited Murch to accompany a
scientific expedition to Central Australia
as a freelance artist. His six-week stay at
Hermannsburg mission and a camel trek to
Mount Liebig resulted in forty-five works
exhibited at Macquarie Galleries. Next year
he returned to Hermannsburg.
Back in England in 1936, Murch finished
painting the shimmering nude ‘Leda’ (1935-
39) by candlelight, because his poverty was
such that his electricity had been cut off.
He created decorations for the Australian
wool pavilion at the 1938 Empire Exhibition
in Glasgow, Scotland, with the help of (Sir)
William Dobell, Donald Friend [qq.v.14,17],
Jean Appleton and other Australians. In Sydney
again—a return that ‘required considerable
adjustment’—he married Gloria (Ria) Mavis
Counsell, a copywriter, on 12 September 1940
at Rose Bay Methodist Church. Ria was often
the breadwinner; they moved to Sydney’s
northern beaches, where living was cheaper
and Murch could paint his glorious ‘summery
nudes’ and angophoras. He often used his
wife and son as models. After Japan entered
World War II he was ‘manpowered’ and in
July 1942 he was appointed an official war
artist; his appointment ended in May 1943
due to illness.
Murch won the 1949 Archibald [q.v.3] prize
with his portrait of Bonar Dunlop. Murch’s
training in engineering and sculpture were
particularly evident in his portraits, and his
skin tones were unequalled in Australian art.
His versatility was evident from his large
equestrian sculptures, from murals such as
the commissioned ‘The Arts of Peace’ (1951),
192
A. D. B.
depicting a Molonga corroboree, and from
drawings of his daughter. He inspired the
children and adults whom he taught at Avalon,
East Sydney Technical College and Hermannsburg.
As his palette muddied, so did his fine
mind. Survived by his wife and their son and
daughter, he died on 23 September 1989 at
Terrey Hills and was cremated. His work is
held by the National Gallery of Australia,
Canberra, and by most State galleries.
R. Murch, Arthur Murch: An Artist’s Life 1902-
1989 (1997); Wartime (Australian War Memorial),
no 33, 2006, p 18; Murch papers (Art Gallery of
NSW). Jan roBertS
MURDOCH, Sir ALISTER MURRAY
(1912-1984), air force officer, was born
on 9 December 1912 at Elsternwick, Melbourne,
fourth child of Victorian-born parents
Thomas Murdoch, civil engineer, and his wife
Kathleen, née Tiernan. Alister was educated
(1921-28) at Caulfield Grammar School
where, in his final year, he was selected to
undergo officer training at the Royal Military
College, Duntroon, Federal Capital Territory,
for subsequent appointment to the Royal Australian
Air Force. At the RMC he established
himself as a leading scholar and sportsman.
In 1930 Murdoch was posted to No.1 Flying
Training School, Point Cook, Victoria. He
received his wings in December 1931 and was
commissioned as a pilot officer on 1 January
1932. A series of specialist courses, starting
with an introduction to seaplanes, led to an
unusual assignment when, in January 1936, as
a member of an RAAF Antarctic flight detachment,
Murdoch, flying a Gipsy Moth seaplane,
searched Antarctica for the missing American
explorer Lincoln Ellsworth and his pilot.
Murdoch was promoted (1933) to flying
officer and in 1935 completed a flying instructor’s
course. He rose to flight lieutenant in
1936 and the following year undertook the
long navigation course at the Royal Air Force
base, Manston, England, after which he was
attached to the RAF’s No.114 Squadron. On
28 December 1937 at the parish church,
Paglesham, Essex, he married Florence
Eilene Miller.
Returning to Australia in 1938, he was posted
to the operations and intelligence branch,
RAAF Headquarters, Melbourne. Promoted to
squadron leader in 1939, he commanded No.1
Air Observers School, Cootamundra, New
South Wales, from April 1940. He was made
wing commander in September, and in August
1941 he took over the RAF’s No.221 Squadron
based in Iceland. In May 1942 he was named
staff officer with No.235 Wing in the Middle
East but was posted in July to London, where
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1981–1990
he was attached to United Kingdom combined
operations for the raid on Dieppe, France, in
August 1942.
Back in Australia in October, Murdoch was
engaged in instructional duties at the Joint
Overseas Operational Training School, Port
Stephens, New South Wales. Promoted to
group captain in December, he became senior
air staff officer, Eastern Area Headquarters,
Sydney (1943-44) and at North Western Area
Headquarters, Darwin (1944-45). In April
1945 he was appointed senior air staff officer,
1st Tactical Air Force, New Guinea, where
he participated in Operation OBOE designed
to retake the Netherlands East Indies (Indonesia)
and Borneo. He was almost entirely
responsible for the air planning of the Labuan
campaign in June and was a key organiser of
the Balikpapan (Borneo) operation in July.
An excellent strategist, he was mentioned in
despatches in May and was appointed CBE
in 1946.
In September 1945 Murdoch had returned
to Air Force Headquarters, Melbourne, as
director of postings and he became director
of personnel services in October 1946.
He attended a staff course at the Imperial
Defence College, London, in October 1947
before rejoining Air Force Headquarters as
director of air staff plans (1949-52). Promoted
to air commodore and appointed commandant,
RAAF College, Point Cook, in 1952, next year
he became air officer commanding, Training
Command Headquarters, Melbourne.
The RAAF’s anticipation of ‘new look’
equipment, especially in fighters and transports,
was spurred initially by the findings
of an investigating team led by Murdoch,
which, in 1954, concluded that the Lockheed
company’s developing F-104 Starfighter and
its new C-130 Hercules transport were most
suited to the RAAF’s needs. Ultimately, the
Hercules, the Orion maritime aircraft and the
De Havilland Vampire were acquired.
Seconded to the Department of Defence as
deputy secretary (military) in January 1956,
Murdoch became air vice marshal in 1957
and was appointed deputy-chief of the air
staff in February 1958. He went to London
the following year to head the Australian
Joint Services Staff. Appointed CB in 1960,
Murdoch returned to Australia in 1962 to
lead Operational Command. Promoted to air
marshal and made chief of the air staff in June
1965, he was knighted a year later.
Murdoch led the RAAF at the time of its
biggest peacetime expansion, when it moved
from subsonic to supersonic aircraft. He saw
the Mirage fighter come into service and
witnessed radical changes in approaches to
maintenance and cleanliness which were
essential for effective supersonic operations.
In order to increase surveillance of the Indian
and Pacific oceans, Murdoch transferred the
193
Murdock
Orion’s base from Townsville, Queensland, to
Edinburgh, South Australia. He also oversaw
the introduction of the F111, which was to
become the RAAF’s principal strike craft.
Interested in upgrading training facilities, he
established a new school for radio mechanics
at Laverton, Victoria, to bring the service into
the electronic era.
A calm leader, Murdoch avoided involvement
in political issues and did not scheme
in any way. Having developed a good working
relationship with the Americans, he achieved
the unusual distinction of getting along with
most people while making tough strategic
and administrative decisions. He worked
effectively with his ministers, the government
providing the RAAF with sufficient resources
to make it the highly efficient force that it was
at the time of the Vietnam War. During his
term as chief of the air staff, however, there
was some criticism of the RAAF’s perceived
failure to fully assist the army. Despite the fact
that Iroquois helicopters had been acquired
primarily to support the army, he refused the
chief of the general staff’s request to send
two of them to Vietnam to provide support
because he doubted it would be a valuable
experience. To be fair, the army did little
to encourage what was supposed to be a
co-operative function.
A keen golfer and racegoer, the pipesmoking
Murdoch retired from the RAAF
on 31 December 1969. He joined a committee,
headed by Justice Peter Coldham, to
consider the pay scales of all three services
and in 1981 he became chairman of Meggitt
Ltd. Survived by his wife and their daughter,
Murdoch died on 24 October 1984 at Mona
Vale, Sydney, and was cremated. Described by
Sir Frederick Scherger [q.v.] as ‘the last of the
professionals’, Murdoch was a quiet, private
man who wanted no parade or ceremony to
mark his passing.
A. Stephens, Going Solo (1995) and The Royal
Australian Air Force: A History (2006); D. Horner,
Strategic Command (2005); Labora, Apr 1987, p 8;
RAAF service record (Office of Air Force History,
Canberra). D. S. thoMSon
MURDOCK, GEORGE HENRY (1920-
1987), stockman and actor, was born on
12 September 1920 at Barambah (later
Cherbourg) Aboriginal Settlement, Murgon,
Queensland, eldest of three children of Arthur
Murdock, stockman, and his wife Daisy,
née Collins. Daisy was exempted from the
provisions of the Aboriginals Preservation
and Protection Act in 1941, at which time
Henry was also exempted. Exemptions gave
Aboriginal people a measure of control over
their own lives, however exemptions could
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be revoked. In 1942 Henry came to the
attention of Cornelius O’Leary [q.v.15], the
deputy-director of native affairs, for refusing
to stay in employment and was removed to
Palm Island, known as a ‘punishment place’.
From that time until 1960 he was under the
Act, which meant that restrictions were placed
on where he could live and work and how he
spent his money.
Best known for his parts in the films The
Overlanders (1946), Bitter Springs (1950),
Kangaroo (1952), The Shiralee (1957) and
Dust in the Sun (1958), Murdock (often spelt
Murdoch) also appeared in Eureka Stockade
(1949) and The Phantom Stockman (1953).
His part-time movie career echoed his fulltime
working life in the pastoral industry.
He played the part of a stockman in The
Overlanders, a drama about a wartime cattle
drive from northern Australia, starring Chips
Rafferty [q.v.14 John Goffage]. Later Murdock
was cast as a mediator between European
settlers and Aboriginal landowners in Bitter
Springs. The British makers of the film, Ealing
Studios, wanted to pay him the same wage
as European actors but were prevented from
doing so by the Department of Native Affairs,
provoking allegations of slave-like conditions
for Aborigines in Australia.
In between roles Murdock returned to
central Queensland, where he worked as a
stockman. On 18 September 1948 at Woorabinda
Aboriginal Settlement he married
with Anglican rites Connie Jack, a domestic
servant. In 1950 he declined an invitation to
act in a London play and another film offer,
stating that he ‘had recently been given the
opportunity of settling down’ and was reluctant
to go away. He later accepted the film
offer, which was for Kangaroo, but the ‘grossly
inadequate wage’ he and other Aboriginal
actors received provoked another round of
controversy: the Actors’ and Announcers’
Equity Association of Australia threatened to
prevent its members from acting in Australian
films until Aboriginal actors were paid the
same wages as non-Aboriginal actors.
Rafferty, who appeared alongside Murdock
in several films, held him in high regard.
Speaking at a rally in support of Aboriginal
rights in 1947, Rafferty described the
pioneering Aboriginal actor as ‘thoroughly
well educated’. Murdock carried a volume of
Shakespeare with him ‘because he liked that
author’, Rafferty claimed. In 1959 Rafferty
wrote to the Queensland authorities, stating:
‘I would like to go on record with your office as
saying that Henry has been a tower of strength
to the company. He more than did his job
with us and was cordially liked by everybody
he met’.
Described as ‘tall and good looking’,
Murdock spoke with a cultured voice, the
result, he said, of speech training. Although
194
A. D. B.
he played only minor roles, he had a quiet,
confident presence that suggested he was
‘a natural’ in front of the camera. Survived
by his wife and four of their five daughters,
Murdock died of coronary artery disease on
24 April 1987 at Rockhampton and was buried
in Woorabinda cemetery.
A. Pike and R. Cooper (eds), Australian Film,
1900-1977 (1980); Canberra Times, 13 Jan 1947,
p 3; Mail (Adelaide), 21 May 1949, p 11; Argus
(Melbourne), 15 Apr 1950, p 6; Centralian Advocate
(Alice Springs), 4 July 1952, p 1; Department of
Communities, personal file, SRS 4429/1/Box 365,
8H/60 (QSA). anDrew waLker
Jonathan richarDS
MURPHY, DENIS JOSEPH PATRICK
(1936-1984), historian, Labor Party president
and politician, was born on 6 August
1936 at Nambour, Queensland, youngest of
eight children of Queensland-born parents
Martin Murphy, railway-bridge carpenter,
and his wife Lilian May, née Campbell. Denis
completed his schooling as a boarder at
St Joseph’s College, Nudgee, Brisbane, where
he excelled academically and athletically. In
1955 he enrolled at Queensland Teachers’
Training College; next year he began teaching
at Nundah State School and also undertook
national service in the Royal Australian Air
Force. He studied part time at the University
of Queensland (Dip.Phys.Ed., 1960; BA,
1964; Ph.D., 1972). On 17 December 1959 at
St Agatha’s Catholic Church, Clayfield, he married
Gwendoline May Butcher, also a teacher.
In 1960-61 Murphy taught physical education
and coached the senior cricket team
at a private secondary school in Britain. Back
in Brisbane, in 1961-65 he taught physical
education, mathematics and English at Redcliffe
State High School. He played A-grade
cricket for Toombul District Cricket Club. In
1964 he joined the Australian Labor Party and
in 1965-67 was president of the Young Labor
Association of Queensland. After completing
a master’s qualifying thesis on Queensland’s
state enterprises, he was appointed (1966) a
tutor in history at the University of Queensland.
He was promoted to senior tutor (1969),
lecturer (1971), senior lecturer (1975) and
reader (1979).
Murphy’s teaching responsibilities lay
largely in Australian history and industrial
relations; he also lectured regularly for the
Australian Trade Union Training Authority.
A prolific author, he produced eleven
books (some as editor), fifteen articles or
book chapters, and thirteen entries for the
Australian Dictionary of Biography. In 1974-84
he was chairman of the ADB’s Queensland
working party. His political biography of
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1981–1990
T. J. Ryan [q.v.11] won the Foundation for
Australian Literary Studies award for 1975.
Although, according to a former student,
Peter Charlton, ‘it was impossible to detect
his political preferences from his lectures’, he
had become increasingly active in the ALP,
joining the Queensland Central Executive in
1968. Campaign manager (1969) for the Labor
candidate in the Federal seat of Petrie, he
unsuccessfully contested the seat himself at
the 1972 and 1974 elections.
At the State election of 1974, Queensland
Labor was reduced to eleven members in
the Legislative Assembly. On returning from
study leave in 1976 at Duke University, United
States of America, Murphy was drawn to those
seeking party reform but, determined not
to give the union-dominated organisational
leader ship any excuse to suspend or expel him,
displayed characteristic tactical caution. On
30 July 1978, at an unofficial meeting attended
by three hundred ALP branch members, he
delivered a moderately worded but withering
critique of the electoral incompetence of the
QCE leadership. A large majority resolved
to call on the federal executive ‘to take such
action as will bring about a major restructuring
of the Queensland branch’. Murphy
was acknowledged as the leader of the reform
group. The party had descended into turmoil
and on 1 March 1980 the federal executive
dissolved and reorganised the Queensland
branch. The ‘Old Guard’ (as the former executive
became known), led by Clem Jones and
Harry Hauenschild, refused to relinquish the
party’s assets and initiated legal action.
Elected State president in 1981, Murphy
was determined to avoid a repetition of the
1957 Labor Party split. After the Supreme
Court of Queensland dismissed the Old
Guard’s appeal in July 1981, with his allies
Peter Beattie and Manfred Cross, he set about
stabilising the party’s finances and rebuilding
its electoral stocks. Gaining a private pilot’s
licence, he flew around the State visiting ALP
branches. He began research for a biography
of Andrew Fisher [q.v.8] and served (1982-
83) as the university’s president of the staff
association and a member of its senate.
At the State election on 22 October 1983
Murphy won the marginal Liberal seat of
Stafford. He was to attend parliament only
twice because, a few weeks before polling
day, he was diagnosed with cancer. Survived
by his wife and their son and daughter, he
died on 21 June 1984 in Brisbane and was
buried in Mooloolah cemetery. W. G. (Bill)
Hayden lamented the loss of ‘potentially one
of the greatest Labor leaders of this country’.
The University of Queensland commemorated
him with a student prize and a memorial
scholarship, and in 2006 the ALP created
annual Denis Murphy awards for outstanding
branch members.
195
Murphy
PD (Qld), 22 Aug 1984, p 7; B. Costar, ‘Denis
Murphy’, Austn Jnl of Politics and Hist, vol 34, 1988,
p 93; K. Saunders, ‘Denis Murphy at the University
of Queensland’, Jnl of the Royal Hist Soc of Qld,
vol 19, no 9, 2006, p 14; Courier-Mail (Brisbane),
3 July 1981, p 1, 22 June 1984, p 4; Australian,
8 June 1984, p 9; Sun (Brisbane), 1 Mar 1990,
p 12; Murphy papers (Univ of Qld Lib); personal
knowledge. B. J. coStar
kay SaunDerS
MURPHY, JAMES PATRICK (1914-1988)
and WILLIAM (1919-1988), mineral sands
mining entrepreneurs, were born on 25 January
1914 and 16 June 1919 respectively, first
and fourth of eight children of Irish-born
William Murphy, police constable, and his
Queensland-born wife Agnes Mary, née
Scanlan. Both boys were born in Brisbane,
Jim at Red Hill and Bill at Teneriffe. They and
their brother Thomas Joseph (1915-1999),
born on 10 June 1915, also at Red Hill, were
educated from 1926 at St Mary’s Christian
Brothers’ College, Ipswich.
Bill attended Queensland Teachers’
Training College and in 1936 was appointed
a teacher in the Department of Public
Instruction. Jim, an electrical contractor
at Coolangatta, married Kathleen Murphy,
a clerk, on 19 November 1938 at Our Lady
of Victories Catholic Church, Bowen Hills,
Brisbane. In 1939-40, while installing equipment
for a mineral sands mining company at
Cudgen, northern New South Wales, he recognised
the potential of the deposits, took up his
own leases, and went into the mining business
in partnership with his wife. The firm, known
as Tweed Rutile Syndicate, produced its first
mixed rutile-zircon concentrate in 1943. In
1949 Tom joined the company, which was
re-formed in December 1951 as NSW Rutile
Mining Co. Pty Ltd.
On 4 July 1949 at the general registry
office, Brisbane, Bill had married Monica,
née O’Brien, formerly Hammond, a widow and
a flat-proprietress. Having taught at several
Brisbane and country schools, he resigned
in 1952 to work with his two brothers in the
mineral sands business. He was divorced in
1960 and on 7 May that year at St Columba’s
Catholic Church, Wilston, Brisbane, he
married Patricia Waugh, a clerk-typist.
Early in the 1960s the Murphys expanded
their business to include new leases elsewhere
in northern New South Wales and in
Queensland on Curtis, Fraser and Moreton
islands. Central to their strategy was the
acquisition of reserves of ilmenite, an impure
but much more abundant form of titanium
dioxide than rutile. Murphyores Inc. Pty Ltd
was formed in March 1963 to advance the
family’s Queensland interests. It sponsored
work by the division of mineral chemistry,
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Murphy
Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial
Research Organization, aimed at developing a
process to upgrade ilmenite to the equivalent
of natural rutile.
A new company, Murphyores Holdings Ltd,
was formed in December 1967 to acquire
the two existing companies. Jim Murphy was
appointed chairman and Bill managing director;
Tom became a board-member. A public
share offer was made in March 1968, but the
brothers retained a majority of the shares. In
1970, after the sale of most of the company’s
New South Wales assets, mining and milling
operations ceased at Cudgen. That year Jim
resigned because of ill health; Bill succeeded
him as chairman and continued as managing
director. Also in 1970, the company entered
into agreements with Mitsubishi Chemical
Industries Ltd in Japan for the commercialisation
of the patented Murso process for
upgrading ilmenite, and with a joint-venture
partner, Dillingham Constructions Pty Ltd, for
the mining of the Fraser Island leases. Mining
began in 1975 but terminated abruptly when
the Commonwealth government revoked
export approvals for minerals extracted from
the island after the end of 1976. This effectively
rendered valueless Murphyores’ major
asset. The legality of the government’s action
was unsuccessfully challenged in the High
Court of Australia. The company eventually
accepted a meagre $1 million in compensation
in 1984.
Undefeated, early in the 1980s Bill Murphy
transformed Murphyores into a land development
company. Tom retired as a director in
1982. In November 1984, after Pivot Investments
Pty Ltd acquired a controlling interest,
Bill was replaced as managing director, but he
remained chairman until 1986, then continued
as a board-member of Pivot Group Ltd until
his death. Establishing the mining exploration
companies Augold NL and Zapopan NL,
he was founding president of the Minerals
and Energy Club of Australia. He died of
haemochromatosis on 22 November 1988 at
Clayfield, Brisbane, and was buried in Nudgee
cemetery. His wife and their son survived him.
Jim Murphy was for many years principal
shareholder of Murphyores. Divorced in
1975, on 18 November 1976 at St Paul’s
Presbyterian Church, Brisbane, he married
Alice Frances Small, née Meadows (d.1986),
a divorcee and an investor. He died on 9 July
1988 in South Brisbane, and was buried in
Allambe Garden of Memories cemetery,
Nerang. The two sons and two daughters of
his first marriage survived him. Tom Murphy
died on 12 July 1999 at Scarborough, Queensland,
and was cremated. His wife Dorothy
Katherine Crosser Craig, whom he had
married on 23 August 1947 at Holy Rosary
Catholic Church, Windsor, Brisbane, and their
son and two daughters survived him.
196
A. D. B.
W. Morley, Black Sands (1981); Murphyores
Holdings Ltd, Annual Report, 1968-85; Sunday
Mail (Brisbane), 9 Feb 1986, p 34; Courier-Mail
(Brisbane), 25 Nov 1988, p 5. Brett J. StuBBS
MURPHY, LIONEL KEITH (1922-1986),
barrister, judge and politician, was born
on 30 August 1922 at Kensington, Sydney,
sixth of seven children of Irish-born William
Murphy, hotelkeeper at the Four-in-Hand,
Paddington, and his wife Lily, née Murphy,
born in Tasmania. Named ‘Lionel’ at birth,
he added his second-eldest brother’s name
to his own after Keith died in 1939. Because
his parents were estranged from the Catholic
Church, Lionel attended Kensington Public
School and, after repeating his final year
(dux, 1935), the selective Sydney Boys’ High
School. Supported by his parents, who had
prospered through property investment and
opened a general store at Lindfield, Lionel
entered the University of Sydney (B.Sc., 1945,
LL B Hons, 1949), initially studying organic
chemistry. After completing two years of his
law degree he passed the Barristers’ Admission
Board examination and was admitted on
2 May 1947 to the New South Wales Bar. He
had joined the Australian Labor Party in 1946.
First occupying a small room in University
Chambers, Phillip Street, in 1957 Murphy
moved to the fourth floor of Wentworth
Chambers. With an avid interest in books,
ideas and current affairs, he had an extensive
library and was a leader among the rising
labour lawyers who shared his premises. His
interests extended beyond the law and Labor
politics to include science. Hard working,
gregarious and sociable, he was unconcerned
about his dress and appearance; he had a
distinctive profile and a large nose that was
broken in a 1950 car accident in England and
left largely untreated.
During the 1950s Murphy established
himself as a leading industrial lawyer, successfully
representing left-wing unionists
who were challenging the dominance of the
industrial groups in the trade unions and
their influence in the ALP. His first major
win, in 1953, reinstated the reformers and
ex-communists Jack Dwyer and Ray Gietzelt to
the New South Wales branch of the Federated
Miscellaneous Workers’ Union of Australia.
Murphy was briefed by Morgan Ryan, a solicitor
with strong union links. With Murphy’s
encouragement Gietzelt became New South
Wales president of the FMWU and general
secretary (1955-84) of the national union, a
position from which he supported Murphy’s
political career. Murphy’s first appearance
before the High Court of Australia was in
1953 as a junior barrister in an unsuccessful
taxation case before Justice (Sir) Frank Kitto.
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1981–1990
On 10 July 1954 at St John’s Church of
England, Darlinghurst, he married a Russian
migrant Nina Morrow, née Vishegorodsky
(known as Svidersky), a comptometrist; they
divorced in 1967. Until his marriage he had
been living with his widowed mother in her
Lindfield home. On 19 November 1969 at
the registrar’s office, Hong Kong, he married
Ingrid Gee—who had changed her name from
Grzonkowski—a model and a television quizshow
compère, who had been born in Germanoccupied
Poland.
Murphy had built a prominent legal career,
combining successful advocacy with political
strategy. He took silk in 1960. Having failed
to gain Labor preselection for the Federal
seat of Phillip in 1956, he continued to forge
political connections. In 1961 he was elected
to the Senate, his term beginning in July 1962.
In Opposition Murphy was a reforming
senator. With James Odgers [q.v.], clerk of
the Senate, and the Democratic Labor Party
senators, who held the balance of power,
Murphy worked to introduce in 1970 the
chamber’s comprehensive committee system.
According to the parliamentarian Gordon
Bryant, Murphy was the ‘catalyst who made
this revolution happen’. Using the Senate to
establish his leadership credentials, Murphy
was elected leader of the Opposition in the
chamber in 1967. He foresaw that the Upper
House could become an important democratic
forum, particularly one that he and the ALP in
Opposition could exploit in publicising Labor
policies and embarrassing the government. It
was necessary, however, to convince the ALP
to abandon its long-standing policy of abolishing
the Senate, and to allay fears that a more
robust second chamber might also restrict
future Labor governments—which it did by
refusing to pass supply in 1975. In the leading
group of lawyer-politicians that rejuvenated
the ALP during the 1960s, Murphy helped to
change the party’s emphasis from old-style
economic and socialist intervention to human
rights and social justice.
Appointed the leader of the government
in the Senate in the Whitlam government,
Murphy was also attorney-general, minister
for customs and excise, and minister in the
Senate representing the prime minister and
the minister for science (1972-75). He was
a controversial figure, viewed either as a
reforming attorney-general or as the driven,
somewhat erratic minister, charged by the
Whitlam government with the forging of
legislative reform. Critics painted him as
a dangerous radical, impatient with longestablished
legal and social arrangements.
Some saw him as a man prone to extremes,
particularly when in 1973 he personally led
a police raid on the Melbourne headquarters
of the Australian Security Intelligence
Organization.
197
Murphy
Murphy’s greatest political achievements
were as attorney-general, although even that
assessment is contentious. He initiated the
Death Penalty Abolition Act 1973 and the
Law Reform Commission Act 1973 that
established the Australian Law Reform Commission;
he appointed Michael Kirby as its
inaugural chairman. The Australian Legal Aid
Office was created that year. Murphy’s Trade
Practices Act 1974 established the Australian
Trade Practices Commission to better
regulate commerce. Controversial matters
such as the revamping of family law were
vigorously debated and revised by a hostile
Senate. The Family Law Act 1975 simplified
divorce proceedings to sanction the ‘no-fault’
irretrievable breakdown of marriage, established
by twelve months separation. In 1973
Murphy had secularised marriage through
the authorisation of civil celebrants. According
to a Senate colleague, James McClelland,
Murphy was a ‘passionate and indefatigable
promoter of his reforms’.
A champion of human rights, Murphy had
led the ALP in adopting a bill of rights as
Labor policy, despite the wariness of many
that it might be used to curtail government
and unions, and to protect private property
interests. Because of the difficulty in securing
constitutional change, Murphy proposed
in 1973 a human rights bill with a racial
discrimination bill. His case focused on the
shortcomings in parliamentary and common
law protections, and the vulnerability of individuals
to government actions. This was hotly
disputed, including by Sir Robert Menzies
[q.v.15], who championed the adequacy of parliamentary
responsible government and the
common law, and warned against politicising
the courts by their having to interpret rights
issues. After the 1974 double dissolution and
election that failed to give Labor control of the
Senate, the bill lapsed. Eventually passed in
1975, the Racial Discrimination Act became
an important instrument of rights protection.
On 10 February 1975 Murphy was appointed
a justice of the High Court (filling the vacancy
occasioned by the death of Sir Douglas Menzies
[q.v.15]). Although not the first appointment
of a lawyer-politician, Murphy’s was controversial.
The chief justice, Sir Garfield Barwick—
himself a former attorney-general—informed
Prime Minister Gough Whitlam that Murphy
was ‘neither competent nor suitable for the
position’. Whitlam, however, wanted a judge
sympathetic to Labor. Murphy viewed the
position as a means to continue developing
and reforming the law, at the highest level, on
the issues and principles that had concerned
him as a barrister and in politics.
From 1975 to 1985 Murphy took part in
632 decisions, dissenting in 137, and writing
opinions or short statements in 404 cases.
His distinctive judicial method, in a relatively
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Murphy
conservative court, was of overt legal realism.
Dismissive of the rules of precedent and the
more arcane, forensic techniques of appellate
reasoning, he preferred the bold law-making
approach of American judges, such as William
O. Douglas: broad statements of underlying
principles, liberal assumptions of constitutional
implications, and an appeal to democratic
ideals and the nature of the society that operated
the Constitution. Murphy’s judgments
were brief and to the point and drew upon
a wider spectrum of non-legal sources than
judges were accustomed to use. Adventurous
and innovative, he pleased those who shared
his views, while others saw him as the epitome
of a lawless judge. He went wigless, except on
the most ceremonial of occasions.
Murphy used idiosyncratic reasoning to support
his strongly held views, which had little
basis in law or historical practice. In McKinley’s
case (1975) Murphy alone dissented from the
court’s ruling that section 24 of the Constitution
did not require House of Representatives
electorates to have equal numbers of people
or electors. Against historical fact and judicial
precedent, he asserted in Bistricic’s case
(1976) that Australia had been an independent
sovereign state since 1 January 1901. In the
DOGS (‘Defence of Government Schools’)
case (1981), which sought to challenge the
constitutional validity of state aid for church
schools, Murphy decided that the freedom of
religion clause in the Australian Constitution
entailed Thomas Jefferson’s conception of a
‘wall of separation’ between church and state
that precluded Catholic schools from receiving
state aid. In other areas, such as implied
constitutional rights and when interpreting
economic clauses, Murphy’s judgments were
more prescient.
In his final years on the High Court Murphy
fought serious allegations of impropriety.
On 2 February 1984 the Melbourne Age
published, under the headline ‘Secret tapes
of judge’, transcripts of tape recordings of
telephone conversations, illegally recorded
in 1979-81 by the New South Wales police.
Although not authenticated, they were allegedly
between Murphy and Morgan Ryan,
who in 1982 faced charges of forgery and
conspiracy. A Senate select committee, established
in March 1984, cleared Murphy of any
misconduct relating to the tapes. However,
the chief stipendiary magistrate of New South
Wales, Clarrie Briese, gave evidence that at
a dinner party in 1982 Murphy had used a
conversation to pressure him into influencing
the examining magistrate; in hearings before
a second Senate committee commenced to
investigate Murphy, Judge Paul Flannery of
the New South Wales District Court, who
presided over Ryan’s trial, reported that at a
dinner party two days before the trial Murphy
had made reference to a recent High Court
198
A. D. B.
ruling on conspiracy: Ryan’s counsel cited that
case in his opening argument.
Prosecuted on two charges of attempting
to pervert the course of justice, in July 1985
Murphy was acquitted of the ‘Flannery allegation’
and convicted of the ‘Briese allegation’.
When acquitted in a new trial in April 1986,
he announced his intention to return to the
bench, but first would take his two young
sons to the film Crocodile Dundee. Yet the
con troversy continued and the ALP attorneygeneral,
Lionel Bowen, appointed a parliamentary
commission of inquiry, consisting
of three retired judges, to review Murphy’s
conduct. It was cancelled after a report in July
that Murphy had inoperable cancer.
Exhausted and ill, Murphy nevertheless
returned to the High Court for one week
in August. During his protracted ordeal
he had asserted the principle of judicial
independence and had refused to resign. The
‘Murphy Affair’, built around flimsy evidence
and innuendo, became a witch-hunt, but it
highlighted Murphy’s injudicious social dealings.
For a man who had spent a professional
lifetime in what he described as the ‘neverending
task’ of translating the ‘contemporary
ideals of democracy and justice into practice’,
it was a tragic end.
Survived by his wife and their two sons, and
by the daughter of his first marriage, Murphy
died of colon cancer on 21 October 1986 at
his home in Canberra and was cremated. A
State memorial service was held at the Sydney
Town Hall. According to his close friend Neville
Wran, the former New South Wales premier,
Murphy had ‘an outstanding grip of the law’
and, as a young barrister, was a ‘persistent
advocate’ although not particularly eloquent
or skilful at the Bar. Justice Kirby observed
that Murphy’s ‘ultimate judicial legacy lies
in his contribution to breaking the spell of
unquestioning acceptance of old rules where
social circumstances and community attitudes
have changed so much as to make those rules
inappropriate or inapplicable’. The parliamentarian
Barry Jones described him as ‘a
passionate participant in the human adventure.
He was magnetic, fearless and even reckless’.
Having rejected a knighthood in 1976,
Murphy was pleased that the Lionel Murphy
Library in the Attorney-General’s Department,
Canberra, was named for him in 1983.
Next year a supernova remnant was named
the ‘Lionel-Murphy Nebula’. He placed an
enlarged photograph of it where other justices
hung the portrait of the Queen. The Lionel
Murphy Foundation, established in 1986,
provides postgraduate scholarships for study
that promotes peace, social justice or the rule
of law, and holds an annual memorial lecture.
A. R. Blackshield et al (eds), The Judgments of
Justice Lionel Murphy (1986); J. Scutt (ed), Lionel
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1981–1990
Murphy (1987); M. Coper and G. Williams (eds),
Justice Lionel Murphy (1997); J. Hocking, Lionel
Murphy (1997); T. Blackshield et al (eds), Oxford
Companion to the High Court of Australia (2001);
B. Galligan, ‘Lionel Murphy’, in B. Galligan and
W. Roberts (eds), Oxford Companion to Australian
Politics (2007); A. Millar and G. Browne (eds),
Biographical Dictionary of the Australian Senate,
vol 3 (2010); J. Stoljar, The Australian Book of Great
Trials (2011); PD (Senate), 22 Oct 1986, p 1691;
PD (HR), 22 Oct 1986, p 2489; Austn Law Jnl,
vol 60, no 12, 1986, p 694; Canberra Times, 22 Oct
1986, pp 1, 2; Times (London), 22 Oct 1986, p 22.
Brian GaLLiGan
MURRAY, EDITH CONSTANCE (1897-
1988), puppeteer and schoolteacher, was
born on 26 February 1897 at North Sydney,
elder child of Harry Le Tissier Blackwell,
tobacconist, and his wife Flora Emily, née
Fletcher. Edith’s father was born at Guernsey,
Channel Islands, and her mother in Victoria.
She was educated at Fort Street Girls’ High
School and the University of Sydney (B.Sc.,
1920; Dip.Ed., 1920; Cert.Soc.Stud., 1937).
On 1 July 1922 at Christ Church, Springwood,
she married with Anglican rites Rowland
Charles Murray, an accountant; they later
separated.
After working (1920-21) as a lecturer at
Teachers’ College, Sydney, Murray taught
(1927-35) at Belmore North Public School.
Her fascination with puppetry developed
when she used glove puppets as a teaching
aid with state wards at Bidura, Child Welfare
Depot, Glebe, where she was employed (1937-
38, 1940-44) as a governess.
Murray helped to establish the Puppetry
Guild of New South Wales in 1948 and was
its secretary for many years. The guild met
in centres organised by the Children’s Library
and Crafts Movement (later Creative Leisure
Movement), founded in Sydney in 1934 by
Mary Matheson and her sister, Elsie Rivett
[qq.v.11]. Murray introduced puppetry to the
movement’s centres and served (1966-82) as
a trustee.
On 28 May 1949 the movement opened
the Clovelly Puppet Theatre, which Murray
directed until 1982. Shows featuring glove
puppets and marionettes were given by children
and adults on Saturday afternoons in the
cooler months. The professional puppeteers
who gained experience there included
Norman Hetherington (‘Mr Squiggle’), John
Lewis (Jeral Puppets) and Richard Bradshaw.
Murray also supervised puppet theatres in
centres at Erskineville and Bradfield Park
Migrant Hostel. She featured in two short documentaries
made by Australian Instructional
Films at the Clovelly Puppet Theatre in 1951
and 1954 and in 1957 toured a marionette
show for the New South Wales division of
199
Murray
the Arts Council of Australia. Interested in
the use of puppetry with disadvantaged and
disabled children, in 1952-63 she was a visiting
lecturer in puppetry at the Occupational
Therapy Training Centre, Paddington. In the
1940s she had served on the committee of the
Folk Lore Association of New South Wales.
Murray attended a Union Internationale
de la Marionnette festival in Wales in 1963
and others in Czechoslovakia and Russia the
following year. At Glasgow, Scotland, she
taught handicapped children and operated
puppets in professional pantomimes. Returning
to Australia in 1965, she started an
Australian centre of UNIMA in 1970 and was
its first secretary.
In 1976 the PUK Puppet Theatre of Tokyo
sponsored a visit by Murray to Japan. Awarded
the BEM in 1979, next year she was made a
member of honour of UNIMA. She was an
accomplished puppet-maker with a creative
flair; her skills ranged from sewing, through
modelling to wood-carving. Intelligent and
energetic, generous but frugal, in 1954 she
had a small house built at Springwood, where
she lived until 1982. Predeceased (1950) by
her younger son and survived by her older
one, she died on 30 January 1988 at Waterfall
and was cremated.
N. Hetherington, Puppets of Australia (1975);
M. Vella and H. Rickards, Theatre of the Impossible
(1989); P. J. Wilson and G. Milne, The Space Between
(2004); Sunday Telegraph (Sydney), 20 June 1965,
p 28; R. Bradshaw, ‘Edith C. Murray’, Austn
Puppeteer, no 35, Mar 2008, p 4; A1361, item
34/1/12 part 1289 (NAA); Edith Murray (film, 1982,
NFSA); private information and personal knowledge.
richarD BraDShaw
MURRAY, EDWARD JAMES (1959-1981),
seasonal worker, rugby league footballer and
descendant of the Kamilaroi people, was born
on 6 December 1959 at Coonamble, New
South Wales, son of Arthur Edward Murray
and Leila Jane Button. For some of his short
life, Eddie lived with his parents and eleven
brothers and sisters on Tulladunna Reserve
near Wee Waa.
Leaving home in the mid-1970s to undertake
a basic welding course in Newcastle,
Murray later moved to Sydney to play rugby
league with the Redfern All Blacks A-grade
team. He also worked as a fruit-picker in the
Riverina area and as a cotton-chipper around
Wee Waa to be closer to his family.
Murray tragically died on 12 June 1981
under suspicious circumstances in a Wee Waa
police cell, where allegedly his body was found
hanging from a bar above the police cell door
just one hour after he was picked up outside
a public hotel. Although the initial coroner’s
report stated that Eddie died by hanging, it
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Murray
also said that it was unknown whether he was
hanged by his own hand or by the hand of
another ‘person or persons’.
Refusing to accept the many indeter minable
circumstances surrounding his death, his
parents Arthur and Leila Murray sought a full
inquiry into how Eddie’s life had ended. With
the support of Isabel Flick, a local Aboriginal
elder and activist, and her niece Karen, from
1984 the Murrays also worked closely with
Helen Boyle and the Sydney-based organisation,
the Committee to Defend Black Rights.
After six years of intense political lobbying
and a public outcry, the Federal government
agreed in 1987 to establish the royal commission
into Aboriginal deaths in custody.
Although the commission, which reported in
1991, failed to prove that Murray died because
of the actions of police, Justice J. H. Muirhead,
who presided over it, noted his concerns
regarding the reliability of police evidence
on a number of occasions. These concerns
were later reiterated by the lawyers Robert
Cavanagh and Gregory Woods and an academic
Roderic Pitty in their book Too Much Wrong
(c.1997). In the book they strongly argued
that the testimony given by police officers
had been unreliable on too many important
matters and that the medical evidence presented
to the royal commission had failed to
show how Murray could have taken his own
life or to explain why he had a motive to do so.
They also argued for an exhumation of Eddie’s
remains in a search for further evidence, which
subsequently took place in November 1997.
The New South Wales Police Integrity Commission
was then offered material uncovered
at the exhumation; however, it refused to
conduct a subsequent full investigation into
the circumstances of Eddie’s death.
Murray was described by his family and
friends as a happy-go-lucky lad and a fit young
man. His mother remembered him as a loving
son, who helped her to hang out the washing
on the day of his death. Although he was a
promising young footballer and a seasonal
worker, he is sadly remembered because his
death resulted in one of the landmark cases
before the royal commission into Aboriginal
deaths in custody.
Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in
Custody, Report of the Inquiry into the Death of
Edward James Murray (1989); R. Cavanagh et al,
Too Much Wrong (1997); R. Cavanagh and R. Pitty,
Too Much Wrong, 2nd edn (1999); S. Luckhurst,
Eddie’s Country (2006); Aboriginal Law Bulletin,
Aug 1983, p 4. FranceS PeterS-LittLe
SiMon LuckhurSt
MURRAY, HUGH MERVYN (1906-1982),
metallurgical engineer and mine manager, was
born on 6 September 1906 at Gormanston,
200
A. D. B.
Tasmania, eldest of five children of Victorianborn
Russell Mervyn Murray [q.v.10], civil engineer
and manager (1922-44) of the Mount Lyell
Mining & Railway Co. Ltd, and his Tasmanianborn
wife Vivienne, née Douglas. Hugh Murray
[q.v.2] was his great-great-grandfather. Reared
in a strict Presbyterian household, young Hugh
was educated at Scotch College, Melbourne,
and the University of Melbourne (B.Sc.,
1928; B.Met.Eng., 1931), where he resided
in Ormond [q.v.5] College. He started work
as a research metallurgist in Mount Lyell’s
flotation plant laboratory in 1930, later becoming
mill superintendent (1934), metal lurgical
superintendent (1944), assistant general
manager (1946) and general manager (1948).
On 14 March 1944 at St David’s Cathedral,
Hobart, he married with Anglican rites Nora
Nel Scott-Power, a stenographer.
Tall and handsome, Murray was quietly
spoken, both at work and at home, with a
gentle and respectful manner. As general
manager, he was a hard, but fair, negotiator,
and over four decades passed without strike
action at Mount Lyell. He built good relations
with the Queenstown community, which was
dependent on the company for its existence,
providing housing for employees and ensuring
their safety in the mine. He was also active
in sporting and community organisations. For
many seasons he captained the local cricket
team in the Country Week competition.
Murray had inherited a company with an
unhealthy reliance on the old West Lyell opencut
mine. Heavy expenditure on exploration in
the 1950s and 1960s revealed new reserves,
including the Crown Lyell orebody, which
resulted in revived underground mining. Strict
financial management was required to draw
a profit from the very low-grade ore: without
the Commonwealth government’s copper
bounty Mount Lyell would not have been
able to compete with higher-grade copper
mining operations such as those at Mount
Isa, Queensland. Under Murray’s direction,
savings were made by improved metallurgy
and by replacing in 1963 the inefficient Abt
railway—which had delivered ore to the port of
Regatta Point, near Strahan, since 1899—with
road haulage. The company’s investment in
1958-59 in Renison Associated Tin Mines
NL, Rosebery, generated increased profits. In
1963 Boral Ltd acquired a controlling interest
in Mount Lyell, and next year sold its share to
Consolidated Gold Fields (Australia) Pty Ltd.
Appointed in 1952 to the interim committee
of the Australian Atomic Energy Commission,
Murray was a commissioner in 1953-60 and
chairman of the AAEC’s advisory committee
on uranium mining until November 1971.
He was a councillor of the Australasian Institute
of Mining and Metallurgy and sometime
president of the Australian Mines and Metals
Association. Before retiring from Mount Lyell
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1981–1990
at the end of 1966, he reported that drilling
had more than trebled the company’s known
ore reserves. He moved to Taroona, Hobart,
after a civic farewell at Queenstown attended
by 250 people. In 1967 he was appointed CBE.
Holding the post in 1967-76 of full-time
careers counsellor at The Hutchins School,
Murray remained a keen sportsman, enjoying
boating, golf and target-shooting. He served
as chairman (1970-77) of the Urban Fire
Brigades Commission of Tasmania and as
a member (1971-77) of the Commonwealth
Advisory Committee (Commission) on
Advanced Education. Survived by his wife
and their son and two daughters, he died on
4 August 1982 in Hobart and was cremated.
G. Blainey, The Peaks of Lyell (1967); K. Pink
and P. Crawford, Renison (1996); C. Hardy, Atomic
Rise and Fall (1999); Advocate (Burnie), 16 Dec
1966, p 5, 26 Jan 1967, p 9; Examiner (Launceston),
26 Dec 1966, p 9; Mercury (Hobart), 6 Aug 1982,
p 9; Mt Lyell Mining & Railway Co. Ltd records
(AOT); private information. nic hayGarth
MURRAY, JOHN ERIC (‘GELIGNITE
JACK’) (1907-1983), motor garage proprietor
and car trials competitor, was born on
30 August 1907 in Port Melbourne, Victoria,
third of four children of Melbourne-born
parents Walter James Murray, orchardist, and
his wife Alice Maud, née Carse. Educated at
Albert Park State School, Jack left aged 14.
His first job was in a bicycle shop, followed
by farm work at Sea Lake and grape picking
at Mildura, where he was also a diver’s
attendant. The internal combustion engine
and speed fascinated him. By the late 1920s
he had begun competing in motor sports,
hill climbs, acceleration tests and endurance
trials. When he moved to Sydney in 1932 he
was employed as a test driver for Chrysler
cars. The company sent him to the United
States of America to inspect motor factories.
On his return to Sydney, Murray started a
motor garage at Bondi with his brother Ray.
Operated on eccentric business principles, it
was largely a taxi service and repair facility.
The premises were used to store a growing
collection of memorabilia. When travelling in
Europe in the late 1930s Murray witnessed
the Nazification of motor sport at a racetrack
near Berlin. He recalled, ‘Hitler . . . presented
the prize . . . a little guy who was all pomp
and whathaveyou, I had to put my hand up
in the air, too, otherwise I’d have got thrown
off the course’. After World War II Murray
immersed himself in open-wheeler racing.
In a Bugatti-Ford V8, he came fifth outright in
a Grand Prix event held at Bathurst in 1946.
Murray became a national figure in the
1954 Redex Round Australia Reliability trial,
in which he drove an ex-taxi painted in grey
201
Murray
primer and nicknamed the ‘Grey Ghost’, a
1948 Canadian-made Ford V8 chosen for its
generous ground clearance and robust shock
absorbers. He and Bill (‘No Relation’) Murray,
winner of the 1947 Australian Grand Prix,
won without losing a single penalty point.
At the concluding ceremony at the Sydney
Showground, attended by 20 000 spectators,
Murray embellished his reputation for
larrikinism by donning a gorilla mask.
The sobriquet, ‘Gelignite Jack’, reflected
Murray’s use of the explosive to clear debris
from outback roads and to mark his departure
from (and sometimes arrival in) country towns
during motor trials. A congenital prankster,
he contended that ‘Gelignite wouldn’t hurt
a flea out in the open. It’s just the same as a
cracker, only louder’; police officers around
Australia remained unimpressed.
Given that he enjoyed but one principal
sporting success, the outpouring of stories
about ‘Gelignite Jack’ is surprising. The
larger-than-life Murray encouraged and propagated
hyperbole. According to Evan Green,
a British Motor Corporation (Australia) Pty
Ltd employee, he was a ‘man with a touch of
Nuvolari, Ned Kelly [q.v.5] and Guy Fawkes’.
Professing to speak two languages—English
and profane—he claimed some sporting
achievements that are open to question. He
was a pioneer of waterskiing in Australia and
alleged that he had been the New South Wales
welterweight wrestling champion for ten
years. Of chunky build, he had an undoubted
commitment to physical fitness. In 1964
he won the inaugural BP Ocean Classic for
powerboats from Sydney to Newcastle and
back. He survived some serious boating accidents:
in 1955 he was burned; in 1956 he was
knocked unconscious; and in 1965 his boat hit
an unidentified fish or whale at high speed.
Though Murray’s career straddled an era of
growing professionalism and factory involvement
in motor sports, his attitude was never
one of ‘win at all costs’. He enjoyed social
interludes during which he could relax ‘telling
lies’ with fellow competitors. Because of his
public profile and his friendship with Evan
Green he was engaged as a driver in the 1968
London to Sydney Marathon and the 1970
World Cup Rally from London to Mexico City.
Before the former he annoyed the authorities
by waterskiing on the Thames River past the
Houses of Parliament. Despite his devil-maycare,
laconic attitude, few were as well versed
in the harsh motoring conditions of outback
Australia. He undertook several landmark
crossings to test automotive products and the
reliability of newly released motor vehicles.
Nonetheless, ‘Gel’ Murray was nowhere more
at home than at his garage in his role as a
self-proclaimed ‘Bondi Bodgie’.
A teetotaller and non-smoker, Murray
had married with Anglican rites Ena May
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Murray
Byrne, a cosmetics demonstrator, on 3 July
1942 at the Church of St Jude, Randwick. In
1980 advancing arteriosclerosis caused the
amputation of his right leg and the following
year his Bondi garage burned down; he
shrugged off both misfortunes. Survived by his
wife and their two sons, he died on 11 December
1983 at Darlinghurst and was cremated.
A special run of three hundred scale models
of the ‘Grey Ghost’ perpetuated the memory
of ‘Gelignite Jack’.
E. Green, Journeys with Gelignite Jack (1966);
Sun-Herald (Sydney), 25 July 1954, p 20, 28 May
1978, p 10; Wheels (Sydney), Sept 1955, p 24;
Racing Car News, July 1981, p 32, Feb 1984, p 59;
Motor (Sydney), Aug 1981, p 45; Chequered Flag,
Jan 1984, p 19; N. Bennetts, interview with J.
Murray (ts, 1976, NLA); private information.
anDrew Moore
MURRAY, JOHN STEWART (1922-1989),
Indigenous rights activist, was born on
26 October 1922 at Lake Boga, Victoria, son of
Baraparapa/Yorta Yorta/Wiradjuri man Sydney
John Murray, labourer, and his Wamba Wamba/
Dhudhuroa wife Hilda Zenobia, née Stewart,
both born in New South Wales. Stewart—as
he was known—had the tribal name of
Werremander (whistling spear), handed down
by his mother’s people; his cultural totem was
Burapac (the catfish); his tribal totem was
Wiran (black cockatoo with red feathers).
Educated at Lake Boga State School,
Murray travelled surrounding districts as
a teenager, rabbiting and fishing with his
grandfathers, William Murray at Speewa and
Barradapgournditch Rob Roy Stewart at Lake
Boga. While living on The Island, a settlement
on the Murrumbidgee River near Balranald,
New South Wales, he visited his father’s
relatives at Cummeragunja Aboriginal Station,
rode his racing bicycle along the roads of the
Riverina and hitched rides on goods trains.
Moving to Melbourne in 1939, he worked in
a bicycle factory at Brunswick.
Giving his occupation as stockman and
motor mechanic, Murray enlisted in the
Australian Force on 17 December 1941 in
Melbourne. He served with the 2/12th Battalion
in Papua (December 1942-March 1943
and August-December 1943), New Guinea
(December 1943-May 1944) and Borneo (July-
November 1945), suffering several bouts of
malaria. In November 1945 he was promoted
to lance corporal. Returning to Australia, he
was discharged from the AIF in March 1946.
Back at Lake Boga, Murray worked as a
painter. On 30 May 1947 at the Church of
Christ manse, Northcote, he married Nora
Nicholls, a niece of Pastor (Sir) Douglas
Nicholls [q.v.]. Harsh conditions and the need
for work led the couple to move to Melbourne
202
A. D. B.
in the mid-1950s, first to Camp Pell, a former
military base in Royal Park, and then to a
housing commission estate at Glenroy, where
they were the only Aboriginal family. Murray
lived the rest of his life in Glenroy and ownership
of the house remained with his family
when he died.
With Nicholls as his mentor, Murray became
active in promoting Indigenous rights. He
was a founding member of the Victorian
Aborigines Advancement League in 1957
and was appointed its liaison officer in 1970
and director in 1972. Elected in 1969 to the
new Aboriginal Affairs Advisory Council, he
promptly resigned in protest at the State government’s
impositions on its composition and
proceedings. An early supporter of the Federal
Council for the Advancement of Aborigines
and Torres Strait Islanders, in 1970 he became
convenor of the State Tribal Council and Victorian
representative on the National Tribal
Council. With others he founded the (Aboriginal)
Legal Service in Fitzroy in 1972 and in
1974-75 worked as a senior liaison officer with
the Victorian Ministry of Aboriginal Affairs.
A vigorous campaigner for land rights,
Murray was appointed to the first Victorian
Aboriginal Land Council in 1975. While administrator
(1979-85) of Dandenong and District
Aboriginal Cooperative Ltd he led claims for
former Aboriginal reserve land in Collingwood
and, more successfully, fought to retain the
Lake Tyers and Framlingham reserves. He
also worked for Aboriginal Hostels Ltd in
Victoria. In 1982 he became Victoria’s second
Aboriginal justice of the peace, and in
1984 was awarded the OAM. In that year he
established the Victorian Aboriginal Funeral
Service, reflecting his belief that to respect
the dead was to respect the living. Driving the
hearse himself, he ensured that Indigenous
people who died in Victoria were returned
home and given a decent burial.
Although sometimes uncomfortable with
‘pseudo-academic’ radicalism in the Aboriginal
movement, Murray was often in the news. In
1985 he took on the Victorian Returned Servicemen’s
League over the right of Indigenous
soldiers to march together on ANZAC Day,
rather than in their respective battalions. He
and others organised their own public remembrance
march at Fitzroy and Northcote. In
1988 he joined in petitioning the premier, John
Cain, for just compen sation and a treaty settlement;
and in 1989 he was actively involved in
a major dispute with Murray Downs Golf and
Country Club, Swan Hill, over the desecration
of Wamba Wamba burial sites.
Of medium height, John Stewart Murray kept
fit and feisty. He was a keen sportsman and in
1974 became secretary of the newly formed
Victorian All Stars Aboriginal Football Team.
In 1987 he was named the National Aborigines
and Islanders Day Observance Committee’s
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1981–1990
Victorian of the Year. Always a prolific letterwriter
and community activist, he spoke as
‘straight as a spear’ and never stopped being a
soldier and warrior for his country and people.
Survived by his wife and their three daughters
and five sons, he died of myocardial infarction
on 1 June 1989 at his Glenroy home and was
buried at Lake Boga cemetery in his beloved
Wamba Wamba country.
Sun-News Pictorial (Melbourne), 15 Aug 1984,
p 11; Age (Melbourne), 3 June 1989, p 18; Koorier
3, 3 Sept 1989, p 3; B883, item VX68550 (NAA).
Gary Murray
MURRAY-SMITH, STEPHEN (1922-1988),
editor, writer, educator and man of letters,
was born on 9 September 1922 at Toorak,
Melbourne, son of Scottish-born William David
Murray-Smith, indentor, and his Victorian-born
wife Alice Maud, née Margrett. Stephen’s
father joined his in-laws in a family business
supplying Australian horses—‘walers’—to the
Indian army. His parents could comfortably
send Stephen to board at Geelong Church of
England Grammar School from the age of 12;
but in 1938 the business ended abruptly when
the Indian army mechanised. Stephen stayed
at the school until 1940 thanks to a generous
grandfather and an indulgent headmaster, (Sir)
James Darling. Though admiring Darling’s liberalism,
Stephen would recall being unhappy
at school, ‘poor at games and finding escape
in books’. But he was a cadet lieutenant and
a house prefect, and played Henry V in his
own production of the play. A contemporary
remembers a burly figure striding around the
school like a Roman emperor who had mislaid
his toga. A housemaster, Stephen recalled,
discerned in him ‘an overdeveloped sense of
injustice, especially as it applied to myself’.
In 1941 Murray-Smith spent ‘a lacklustre
and lonely year’ at the University of Melbourne
and on 14 December enlisted in the Australian
Imperial Force. In July 1942 he embarked for
New Guinea, where he served in a commando
unit, the 2/5th Independent Company. His
kit included a whistle carried by his father as
an officer in World War I. ‘I shot at Japanese
without compunction’, he wrote later. A diary
recording vividly his service in New Guinea
remains unpublished, though many extracts
appear in a comrade’s history of the unit. Discharged
as a sergeant on 15 February 1945,
Murray-Smith returned to the university to
complete an honours degree in history. In
1945 he joined, in turn, three political parties.
His father nominated him for the Liberal Party
of Australia. A friend, Geoff Serle, persuaded
him to join the Australian Labor Party. They
had met in a tent near Port Moresby in 1943,
both, as Serle has written, ‘starving for like
minds’. A new friend, Jeanette Noye, proposed
203
Murray-Smith
him for the Communist Party of Australia,
which became his spiritual home.
Murray-Smith was president (1946) of the
Labour Club, at that time a united front of
the left. He and another ex-serviceman, Ian
Turner [q.v.16], would be remembered as the
two great men of Melbourne student politics
after the war. Turner combined activism with
academic distinction. Murray-Smith graduated
(BA, 1947) with lower second-class honours,
though in extracurricular Politics I, II and III,
as he put it wryly, he did quite well. In 1947
he remained on campus while studying education
(Dip.Ed., 1948). He could be a stern,
combative presence at meetings in the Public
Lecture Theatre. There were comrades who
felt him, as he knew, ‘overbearing, even a mild
bully, with backsliders’. Some people found
him pompous. Not so the admiring young
Phillip Adams. Ponderous, yes, but saved from
pomposity, Adams believed, by his sense of
humour and his wife.
In 1948 Murray-Smith and Turner both
married communist fellow-students who
were also daughters of Jews from Poland. On
6 February in a civil ceremony in Melbourne
Murray-Smith married Nita Bluthal. Nita’s
family had arrived in Australia in 1938. Neither
her parents nor Stephen’s approved of the
match. The newlyweds sailed for Europe to
escape family, to explore a wider world and
above all, to see the ‘new democracies’ of
eastern Europe. Both taught in tough London
schools before joining, in June 1949, a number
of Australian communists and fellow-travellers
in Prague. He worked for the communist international
news agency Telepress; she taught
in a British Council school at the embassy of
the United States of America. Murray-Smith
continued to write for Telepress after they
returned to Melbourne in April 1951.
After teaching briefly at Essendon High
School, in 1952-58 Murray-Smith worked as
organising secretary of the Australian Peace
Council, which was under communist control.
Now reconciled with both sets of parents,
the Murray-Smiths lived at first with hers at
North Carlton. On the head which had once
worn a pale blue cap now sat a yarmulke. In
1952 they moved to a war service home at
Mount Eliza, on land that was a gift from
his parents. Here they raised a family and
kept open house for comrades and friends.
The train from Frankston to the city became
a mobile study in which, among other activities,
Murray-Smith worked on Overland, the
quarterly magazine that was to become his
greatest public achievement.
The first issue, in August 1954, was subtitled
‘Incorporating The Realist Writer’, a slim
bulletin launched under communist auspices
in 1952, edited by Murray-Smith and having
among its contributors Eric Lambert [q.v.15],
David Martin and Frank Hardy. Each issue
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Murray-Smith
of Overland carried a message deriving from
Joseph Furphy [q.v.8]. ‘Temper democratic,
bias offensively Australian’, Furphy had said
of his novel Such Is Life. Shorn of the adverb
(‘we had passed the point where we needed
to be offensive to the British or anyone else’),
the motto proclaimed the editor’s postwar
discovery of Australian literature. Instead of
an editorial, which would have had to accommodate
board members whom Murray-Smith
later described as ‘Soviet ideologues’, as well
as those of more ecumenical bent, the editor
wrote a column, personal and ruminative,
headed ‘Swag’. He edited Overland for thirtyfour
years.
In 1957 Murray-Smith represented the
Peace Council on a journey to Berlin, Prague,
Moscow and Peking (Beijing). Troubled
already by Khruschev’s denunciation of Stalin
and the suppression of revolution in Hungary,
he returned newly aware of ‘repression, dishonesty
and sadism’ in the communist world.
When Turner was expelled from the party
for ‘revisionism’ in July 1958, Murray-Smith
immediately resigned. The two friends won a
struggle to keep Overland after capturing and
hiding the list of subscribers.
Out of the party and out of a job, Murray-
Smith found work in the Victorian Teachers’
Union from 1958 to 1961, then returned to
the University of Melbourne (‘in the low-status
area of education it is true’), first as a research
fellow, studying the history of technical education
in Australia, and from 1966 as lecturer,
rising to reader by the time he was retired (he
insisted on the passive) in 1987. The research
project yielded in 1966 a Ph.D. and in 1987 a
book with Tony Dare, The Tech: A Centenary
History of the Royal Melbourne Institute of
Technology. In 1973-82 he edited the annual
Melbourne Studies in Education. Nita taught
English and history at Toorak College, a girls’
school at Mount Eliza, to be remembered
gratefully by generations of pupils.
Meanwhile Stephen became an ‘emperor’,
and Nita an ‘empress’, so described by family
and friends who joined their annual exodus,
beginning in 1962, to Erith, a tiny island in
Bass Strait with no human inhabitants except
when the Murray-Smith party was there for
the summer. Late in life he listed his outside
interests as books, booze and Bass Strait.
Reflection on his own little empire prompted
a comparative study of other remote islands—
Cape Barren, Pitcairn, St Kilda, Tristan da
Cunha—in hope that ‘the history of these communities,
looked at together, could suggest
many questions and answers about human
social behaviour which might be applicable
on a wider scale’.
Overland became, in its editor’s view, ‘a
general outlet for creative and critical writing
about Australia’, by no means all of it in realist
mode. Peter Carey’s first story, about a
204
A. D. B.
young man who turned into a motor bike, had
been rejected by a number of editors before it
appeared in Overland; and Frank Moorhouse
would cherish Murray-Smith’s enthusiasm
for early pieces of short fiction. His imagined
typical reader was a matron at a hospital somewhere
near Port Hedland in Western Australia.
Disenchantment with communism did
not induce despair. Murray-Smith retained
a sanguine belief in ‘a humanist Australian
social democracy’ while eloquently indignant
about its shortcomings. In and out of Overland
he championed a long and idiosyncratic list
of causes, among them opposition to book
censorship, to capital punishment, to the
metrication of measurements and to the automation
of lighthouses. He was founding president
(1980-83) of the Australian Lighthouse
Association. After reproaching the Australian
Antarctic Division for being incompetent and
unscientific, he was sent to Antarctica in the
summer of 1985-86 as ‘a ministerial observer’
by the Commonwealth minister for science,
Barry Jones, a friend from days when they had
appeared together in Australian Broadcasting
Commission radio quiz programs. His mission,
described in the book Sitting on Penguins
(1988), helped to transform the character of
Australia’s presence in the region.
In 1981 Murray-Smith was appointed AM
and his literary biography Indirections was
published. He contributed twelve entries
over twenty years to the Australian Dictionary
of Biography. As an editor of books he was
especially pleased to have restored Marcus
Clarke’s [q.v.3] His Natural Life to its original
version for Penguin English Classics. ‘Old
age will bring new summonses’, he wrote in
1987. In that year he published Right Words,
a magisterial ‘Guide to English Usage in Australia’,
and a corrected edition of The Dictionary
of Australian Quotations, first published
in 1984. Both books displayed a voracious
curiosity, a sturdy common sense and a playful
wit; he observed that ‘hyphens are used for
many purposes, apart from the very useful
one of making people’s names sound grander’.
Survived by his wife and their son and
two daughters, Murray-Smith died of acute
myocardial infarction on 31 July 1988 in his
home at Mount Eliza and was cremated.
The family buried his ashes under a cairn
at Erith. He was large in body and spirit.
‘A Johnsonian figure’, said Barry Jones, ‘an
encyclopedist who enriched our lives’. The
poet Vincent Buckley spoke of his ‘generous
decency’. Overland ‘has been getting better
and better’, remarked one of the eight speakers
at a memorial gathering in the old Public
Lecture Theatre. On that occasion, reflected
Jim Davidson, Clem Christesen’s successor at
Meanjin, ‘Murray-Smith’s significance as an
Australian literary figure seemed to be fully
revealed for the first time’. A vast collection
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1981–1990
of his papers is held in the La Trobe Collection,
State Library of Victoria. Friends of the
Library administer an annual lecture in his
honour. Geoff Serle gave the first, in 1992,
entitled ‘Some Stirrers and Shakers of the
1950s and 1960s’, words which fit both the
lecturer and the subject.
H. Dow (ed), Memories of Melbourne University
(1983); A. Curthoys et al (eds), Australians from
1939 (1987); A. Pirie, Commando-Double Black
(1994); J. McLaren, Free Radicals (2003); Overland,
no 112, 1988, p 7; Corian, Dec 1990-Aug 1991,
p 145; Australian, 17-18 Sept 1988, ‘Weekend’,
p 2; H. de Berg, interview with S. Murray-Smith (ts,
1969, NLA); B883, item VX69849 (NAA); private
information and personal knowledge.
k. S. inGLiS
MUTTON, CHARLES (1890-1989),
ironworker, poultry farmer and politician,
was born on 14 September 1890 at North
Melbourne, eldest of five children of Victorianborn
parents Charles Mutton, tobacco-maker,
and his wife Mary Ann, née Moloney. Educated
at St Mary’s and St Francis’s schools,
Melbourne, Charlie began work at 13 at
the Excelsior Barbed Wire and Nail Works,
and supplemented the family income with
morning and evening paper rounds. Drawn
to unionism, he moved quickly from shop
steward for the ironfounders union to the
executive, and in 1908 joined the Coburg
branch of the Political Labour Council (after
1917 the Victorian branch of the Australian
Labor Party). He represented his union at
annual conferences from as early as 1911.
In that year he moved to John Payne & Sons
as an ironworker. On 21 August 1914 at the
manse of the Congregational Church, Fitzroy,
he married Annie Peachey.
Founding president of the Fawkner branch
of the ALP in 1917, in 1925-53 Mutton carried
the Labor flag into local politics as a shire
councillor for Broadmeadows (president
1934-35, 1947-48). Following the death of his
father in 1930 he took over the family poultry
farm. His firm base of local support enabled
him to make a good showing in the three
contests for the State seat of Bulla-Dalhousie
between 1935 and 1940. When, in 1940, the
local branches were seeking a candidate to
defy the central executive of the ALP, which
had overruled the local preselection rights,
Mutton was willing to be co-opted to stand
as ‘Independent Labor’. Elected that year, he
held the Legislative Assembly seat of Coburg
comfortably until he retired in 1967.
Mutton defiantly characterised himself as
Labor ‘to the back teeth’ and a ‘bread-anddripping’
man; he represented his relatively
deprived working-class electorate with dogged
commitment and a colourful turn of phrase.
205
Myer
Amiable and straightforward, he kept his door
open to his constituents seven days a week. He
never missed a sitting of parliament or of shire
council. His quarterly electorate meetings
were a serious and sincere gesture towards
participatory democracy. No issue was too
trivial for him to raise and pursue through
the tangle of bureaucracy. He won important
concessions in education and low-cost housing
but failed to secure the removal of Pentridge
gaol from his electorate, despite raising the
matter on no fewer than sixty-one occasions.
Small of stature and of temperate habits,
as a young man Mutton had been a champion
cyclist. His love of betting on horse races, the
proceeds of which secured his family home in
the mid-1920s, never left him. He maintained
the principled but often controversial stand
as an Independent until readmitted to the
ALP following the 1955 ‘split’, when it was
noted that on all but one occasion he had voted
with the party. Widowed in 1953, in 1954 he
married Claris May King. He died on 13 May
1989 at Parkville, survived by his wife and four
of the five children of his first marriage; he
was buried in Fawkner cemetery with Catholic
rites. A reserve and a road at Fawkner are
named in his honour. His son, John Patrick
Mutton (1915-2006), served on Broadmeadows
City Council in 1954-70 (mayor 1957-58
and 1966-67) and succeeded his father as an
Independent Labor MLA for Coburg (1967-79).
Sun News-Pictorial (Melbourne), 5 Apr 1967,
p 13; Melbourne Observer, 16 July 1972, p 18; G. R.
Birchall, Charlie Mutton (BA Hons thesis, La Trobe
Univ, 1974); C. A. Rasmussen, Charles Mutton
and the By-Election for the Victorian Legislative
Assembly Seat of Coburg, 14 July 1940 (MA
prelim thesis, Univ of Melbourne, 1975) and Labor
Politics in Coburg 1919-1940 (MA thesis, Univ of
Melbourne, 1978); private information.
caroLyn raSMuSSen
MYER, DaMe MARGERY MERLYN
BAILLIEU (1900-1982), philanthropist and
fund-raiser, was born on 8 January 1900 at
Queenscliff, Victoria, third of four children
of George Francis Baillieu, hotel proprietor,
and his wife Agnes, née Sheehan, both
born at Queenscliff. Merlyn’s father died in
1905 and six years later her mother took the
family to live in Melbourne. Merlyn enjoyed
her schooldays at Cromarty School for Girls,
Elsternwick. She met Sidney Myer [q.v.10] in
1916; her mother had approached him to help
her with her fund-raising activities and he soon
became a family friend. In 1918 she entered
the arts faculty at the University of Melbourne
but found that ‘falling in love with M was very
detrimental to my academic career’. On her
twentieth birthday she and Sidney, who was 38
and divorced, were married with Baptist forms
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Myer
at the Palace Hotel, San Francisco, United
States of America.
The couple spent most of the following
decade moving between homes in California
and Melbourne. Merlyn is credited with
persuading Sidney not to sell his Melbourne
store in order to start afresh in San Francisco.
In mid-1929 the Myers and their four young
children returned to Melbourne to live permanently
at their Toorak home, Cranlana. Sidney
died suddenly in 1934. Merlyn then forged a
new role for herself; once a ‘lady of leisure’,
she now engaged herself fully in philanthropic
work and in support for the Myer Emporium.
In 1936, following the instructions in
her late husband’s will, Myer and her fellow
trustees established the Sidney Myer
Charitable Trust (later Fund). A trustee of
the fund for forty-six years, she recommended
the financing of many arts and cultural projects,
including construction of the Sidney
Myer Music Bowl that was opened in 1959.
She served on the executive committee of
the music bowl trust for more than twenty
years and also became a director of the Myer
Foundation, established in 1959.
Known as Mrs Sidney Baillieu Myer, she
was a member (1934-76) of the Royal Melbourne
Hospital’s board of management. She
was a member of many committees, including
the nurses’ disciplinary sub-committee and
the patient welfare committee, admired for
both her business sense and her empathy
with patients and staff. Vice-president of the
RMH central council of auxiliaries, she helped
to raise funds, often through functions held
at Cranlana. During her lifetime she made
substantial donations to the hospital. In 1954
she was made an honorary life governor.
Myer was a member of the national council
of the Australian Red Cross Society in 1937-
47. An office-bearer of the Victorian division
from 1939, she served as vice-chairman (1940-
45). She played a key role in the successful
ARCS annual ‘Roll Call’ fund-raising appeals
and membership drives. In World War II she
worked with the American Red Cross Society,
making her home available to American
servicemen. She also promoted Junior Red
Cross. In 1948 she was appointed OBE for
her service to Red Cross. She was chairman
(1958) of the Cancer Campaign women’s
group, known as the Committee of One
Hundred. A dinner dance held at Cranlana
on 2 May that year to launch the campaign
raised £10 178. In a little over six months
the committee raised £102 831. Myer also
supported the work of the Victorian division
of the National Heart Foundation of Australia.
A life governor of the Victorian branch of
the Royal Life Saving Society, the Queen Victoria
Memorial Hospital, the Adult Deaf and
Dumb Society of Victoria, the Burwood Boys’
Home and the Southern Peninsula Hospital,
206
A. D. B.
Rosebud, Myer was patron of many organisations,
including the Hawthorn City Band,
Victorian Ladies’ Bowling Association, Australian
Women’s Liberal Club, International
Social Service and Australia-Britain Society.
She regularly attended services at St John’s
Anglican Church, Toorak; she gave to many
of its fund-raising appeals and to those of
St John’s at Sorrento, where she had a holiday
house. Her philanthropy was far-reaching
and she often made gifts, few of which were
publicised, on her birthday. In 1960 she was
promoted to DBE.
Myer maintained a close association with
the family retail business, attending anniversaries,
dinners, fashion parades and charity
events, as well as every new store opening. To
assist the social activities of Myer Emporium
employees, in 1938 she established the Mrs
Sidney Myer Silver Jubilee Trust Fund, which
operated until at least 1971. In February 1980
she gave a luncheon party in the Myer Mural
Hall for seven hundred people, representing
an estimated 24 500 years’ service with the
emporium. She liked to describe herself as
the ‘mother of the store’ and once remarked,
‘it’s this store that has kept me going; that
has become the love of my life’.
Charming, dignified, generous and always
stylishly dressed, Myer was one of Melbourne’s
‘grand ladies’. She travelled extensively
and made 144 trips overseas between
1919 and 1981. In 1942 she had bought a
property, Booroola, at Avenel, where she
raised sheep and cattle. A member of the Tail-
Waggers Club, she supported animal welfare
causes. She enjoyed attending race meetings
and in 1973 the Dame Merlyn Myer Transition
Handicap, the first race for women jockeys on
an Australian metropolitan racecourse, was
run at Eagle Farm, Brisbane.
Survived by her two sons and two daughters,
Dame Merlyn died on 3 September
1982 in Royal Melbourne Hospital and was
buried in Box Hill cemetery. Her estate was
valued at $7.4 million. She bequeathed John
Hamilton Mortimer’s oil painting featuring
Captain James Cook, Sir Joseph Banks, Daniel
Solander [qq.v.1,2] and others (c.1771)—
the earliest portrait of Cook in existence—to
the National Library of Australia. In 1990 the
Merlyn Theatre, the largest of three theatres in
the Malthouse Theatre complex in Melbourne,
was named after her. In 2000 her four granddaughters
funded the Merlyn Myer Leadership
awards, which recognise Year 11 secondary
school students with leadership potential.
The family holds a portrait of Dame Merlyn,
painted by (Sir) William Dargie in 1944.
S. Barber, Sidney Myer: A Life, A Legacy (2005);
Age (Melbourne), 9 Feb 1968, p 13, 6 Sept 1982,
p 6; Sun News-Pictorial (Melbourne), 10 June 1971,
p 47; private information.
SteLLa M. BarBer
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