Ross McLarty
Sir Ross McLarty Western Australian Parliament for Murray-Wellington | |
---|---|
In office 12 April 1930 – 31 March 1962 | |
Preceded by | William George |
Succeeded by | Ewart Runciman |
Personal details | |
Born | First World War
Second World War | 17 March 1891
Awards | Military Medal |
Sir Duncan Ross McLarty,
Early life
McLarty was born in Pinjarra, Western Australia, the youngest of seven children of Edward McLarty, a farmer and grazier and member of the Western Australian Legislative Council, and his wife Mary Jane, née Campbell. He attended Pinjarra State School and the Perth Boys' High School.
On 12 January 1916 he enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force at the Blackboy Hill depot. On 27 March he was promoted to corporal and assigned to the 44th Battalion, arriving in England on 21 July. The 44th Battalion departed England for the Western Front on 25 November 1916. McLarty was promoted to sergeant on 29 March 1917. In June 1918, McLarty was awarded the Military Medal for "bravery in the field" on 25 January 1918 at Passchendaele.[1][2][3]
McLarty was commissioned on 1 May 1918 as a second lieutenant and was promoted to lieutenant on 1 August. This was the rank he held until being discharged. On 28 August 1918, during the
After the war, McLarty returned to farming at Pinjarra and married Violet Olive Margaret Herron on 25 October 1922. He served as a justice of the peace from 1925 and belonged to the Returned Sailors', Soldiers' and Airmen's Imperial League of Australia.
Parliamentary career
He campaigned in the
Premiership
The
Together with the premiership, he held the Treasury, Housing, Forests and North-West portfolios. His administration coincided with rapid post-war expansion of the Western Australian economy and, in 1950, conducted negotiations with
Throughout his parliamentary career, McLarty travelled home to Pinjarra for most weekends. He was chairman of the Murray District Hospital Board and held a number of pastoral investments, including a controlling interest in Liveringa station, near Derby. He resigned from parliament because of poor health in May 1962 and died in December. McLarty was accorded a state funeral and is buried in the Pinjarra cemetery.
See also
- McLarty–Watts Ministry
References
- ^ a b "Service record – Ross McLarty". Service Record, series number-B2455. Australian War Memorial. Retrieved 4 July 2008.
- ^ ISBN 0-9750632-0-0.
- ^ The service record does not provide the location of McLarty on 25 January 1918. Passchendaele is sourced from the book, which cites an article in the South Western Advertiser 10 January 1930. AIF troops would have occupied trenches in the area between the end of the battle in November 1917 and the abandoning of the positions in March 1918.
Further reading
- McLarty, D. R. (1951) The Development of Western Australia London: Commonwealth Parliamentary Association, United Kingdom Branch "An address given in the rooms of The Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (United Kingdom Branch), Westminster Hall, on 20 March 1951, with the Rt. Hon Lord Llewellin, C.B.E., M.C. in the chair" -Inside cover.
- West, K. Power in the Liberal Party (Melb, 1965)
- The West Australian, 13 Feb 1957, 19 May 1962, 24 December 1962
- McLarty, M. Sir Duncan Ross McLarty, KBE, MM (State Library of Western Australia)
- McLarty family papers, 1887–1969 (State Library of Western Australia)
- Sir Ross McLarty, political ephemera (PR3597/1-10, State Library of Western Australia)
- Jamieson, R. interviews with R. Doig (transcript, 1984–86, State Library of Western Australia).
- Layman, Lenore McLarty, Sir Duncan Ross (1891–1962) Australian Dictionary of Biography – online edition published by Australian National University
External links
- Duncan Ross McLarty (Liberal) 1 April 1947 to 23 February 1953 Constitutional Centre of Western Australia