Person
McKell, William John (1891 - 1985)
GCMG
- Born
- 26 September 1891
Pambula, New South Wales, Australia - Died
- 11 January 1985
Sydney, New South Wales, Australia - Occupation
- Governor-General and State Premier
Summary
William McKell was Governor 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.
Details
Chronology
- 1913 - 1914
- Career position - Boilermaker at the Railways Department of New South Wales
- 1915 - 1917
- Career position - Assistant Secretary to the Boilermakers' Union
- 1917 - 1947
- Career position - Member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly
- 1920
- Career position - Assistant Minister of Justice (eight months)
- 1920 - 1922
- Career position - Minister of Justice
- 1925
- Career position - Called to the Bar
- 1925 - 1927
- Career position - Minister of Justice and Assistant Colonial Treasurer
- 1930 - 1931
- Career position - Minister for Local Government (seven months)
- 1931 - 1932
- Career position - Minister of Justice
- 1941 - 1947
- Career position - Premier of New South Wales and Colonial Treasurer
- 1944
- Career position - Established Kosciusko National Park and declared Macquarie Marshes a national fauna reserve
- 1949
- Career position - Helped establish the Snowy Mountains Hydro-Electric scheme
- 1951
- Award - Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George (GCMG)
- 1952
- Education - Honorary Doctor of Laws (LLD), University of Sydney
- 1984
- Award - McKell Medal established by the New South Wales Minister for Agriculture and Forestry
Archival resources
Mitchell and Dixson Libraries Manuscripts Collection, State Library of New South Wales
Published resources
Books
- Cunneen, Chris, William John Mckell: Boilermaker, Premier, Governor-General (Sydney: University of New South Wales Press, 2000), 304 pp. Details
Resources
- Wikidata, http://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q735387. Details
- VIAF - Virtual International Authority File, OCLC, https://viaf.org/viaf/13241110. Details
- 'McKell, William John (1891-1985)', Trove, National Library of Australia, 2009, https://nla.gov.au/nla.party-1474240. Details
McCarthy, G.J.
Created: 20 October 1993, Last modified: 4 February 2010
- Foundation Supporter - Committee to Review Australian Studies in Tertiary Education