Dudley Erwin
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| Personal details | |
| Born | 20 August 1917 Winchelsea, Victoria, Australia |
| Died | 29 October 1984 (aged 67) Canberra, Australia |
| Political party | Liberal |
| Spouses | Alma Cleburne
(m. 1944; div. 1957)Virginia Burrows
(m. 1962, divorced)Gwenda Potter (m. 1977) |
George Dudley Erwin (20 August 1917 – 29 October 1984) was an Australian politician who served in the
Early life
Erwin was born in Winchelsea, Victoria, as the fifth of nine children born to Alfreda Mary Elizabeth (née Blake) and Herbert Edward Erwin. He grew up on his father's farming property near Wensleydale. He attended the local state school until the age of 13, leaving during the Great Depression to help on the farm. Erwin took a correspondence course in Morse code, later attending the Marconi School of Wireless in Sydney. He enlisted in the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) in January 1940, training as a radio operator. He finished the war with the rank of flight lieutenant, serving as a navigator with No. 25 Squadron and No. 31 Squadron. Erwin was discharged in October 1945 and bought a farm of 360 acres (150 ha) near that of his father.[2] He also owned a successful hotel in Ballarat.[3]
Politics
Erwin was elected for the
It's shapely, it wiggles, it's cold blooded and its name is Ainsley Gotto."[5]
Erwin chaired the Joint Select Committee on Parliamentary and Government Publications, which produced the first edition of the Australian Government Style Manual.[3] He retired from parliament at the 1975 election. His final political candidacy occurred at the 1979 elections for the Australian Capital Territory House of Assembly, where he ran unsuccessfully as an independent.[2]
Personal life
On 8 January 1944, Erwin married Alma Betty Cleburne. The couple had a son and a daughter. However, in 1957 Erwin divorced his first wife on the grounds of desertion. He remarried to Virginia Joan Burrows (née Eagan), an American divorcee, in 1962. His second marriage also ended in divorce, and he married for a third time in 1977 to Gwendolyne Phyllis Potter (née Pennant). After leaving parliament, Erwin split his time between Canberra and Caloundra, Queensland, where he owned a block of units. He died of a heart attack in Canberra on 29 October 1984.[6][7] He was survived by his daughter, youngest son, third wife, and stepson from his third marriage; his oldest son predeceased him.[2]
Notes
- ^ "Members of the House of Representatives since 1901". Parliamentary Handbook. Parliament of Australia. Archived from the original on 17 November 2007. Retrieved 2008-01-27.
- ^ a b c Ian Hancock (2007). "Erwin, George Dudley (1917–1984)". Australian Dictionary of Biography (vol. 17).
- ^ a b Peacock, Andrew (21 February 1985). "Deaths of The Hon G D Erwin, The Hon Sir William Haworth and Mr L H Irwin". Hansard. Parliament of Australia. Archived from the original on 24 May 2011. Retrieved 29 January 2008.
- ^ Hawke, Bob (21 February 1985). "Deaths of The Hon G D Erwin, The Hon Sir William Haworth and Mr L H Irwin". Hansard. Parliament of Australia. Archived from the original on 24 May 2011. Retrieved 27 January 2008.
- ^ "Obituary: Larger-than-life nationalist". The Sydney Morning Herald. 20 May 2002. Retrieved 27 January 2008.
- ^ Sinclair, Ian (21 February 1985). "Deaths of The Hon G D Erwin, The Hon Sir William Haworth and Mr L H Irwin". Hansard. Parliament of Australia. Archived from the original on 24 May 2011. Retrieved 29 January 2008.
- ^ Cohen, Barry (21 February 1985). "Deaths of The Hon G D Erwin, The Hon Sir William Haworth and Mr L H Irwin". Hansard. Parliament of Australia. Archived from the original on 24 May 2011. Retrieved 29 January 2008.
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