McKell, William John - Bright Sparcs Biographical entry

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McKell, William John (1891 - 1985)

GCMG

Archival/Heritage Sources

Published Sources

Governor-General and State Premier

Born: 26 September 1891 Pambula, New South Wales, Australia. Died: 11 January 1985 Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.

(Rt. Hon. Sir) William John McKell was Governer General of Australia from 1947 to 1953 and (Labor) Premier of New South Wales from 1941 to 1947. He was also a keen conservationist who throughout his long political career fought for ways of improving soil and water conservation. His greatest legacy in the field was the founding of Kosciusko National Park. The McKell Medal for excellence and achievement in natural resource management was named in his honour. Before taking up politics, McKell worked as a boilermaker and later went on to become a successful livestock farmer of sheep and horses including thoroughbred racehorses and trotters.

Career Highlights

URL: The home page for this entity is located at http://www.daff.gov.au/content/output.cfm?ObjectID=AD9C34FE-3252-4550-A29D4B642B7D6105

Chronology
1913 - 1914 Boilermaker at the Railways Department of New South Wales
1915 - 1917 Assistant Secretary to the Boilermakers' Union
1917 - 1947 Member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly
1920 Assistant Minister of Justice (eigth months)
1920 - 1922 Minister of Justice
1925 Called to the Bar
1925 - 1927 Minister of Justice and Assistant Colonial Treasurer
1930 - 1931 Minister for Local Government (seven months)
1931 - 1932 Minister of Justice
1941 - 1947 Premier of New South Wales and Colonial Treasurer
1944 Established Kosciusko National Park and declared Macquarie Marshes a national fauna reserve
1949 Helped establish the Snowy Mountains Hydro-Electric scheme
1951 Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George (GCMG)
1952 Honorary Doctor of Laws (LLD) received from the University of Sydney
1984 McKell Medal established by the New South Wales Minsiter for Agriculture and Forestry

Structure based on ISAAR(CPF) - click here for an explanation of the fields.

Prepared by: McCarthy, G.J.
Created: 20 October 1993
Modified: 2 August 2005

Published by The University of Melbourne eScholarship Research Centre on ASAPWeb, 1994 - 2007
Originally published 1994-1999 by Australian Science Archives Project, 1999-2006 by the Australian Science and Technology Heritage Centre
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Prepared by: Acknowledgements
Updated: 26 February 2007
http://www.asap.unimelb.edu.au/bsparcs/biogs/P002146b.htm

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