Samuel Walder
Sydney City Council | |
---|---|
In office 1 December 1924 – 31 December 1927 | |
In office 18 June 1930 – 5 December 1941 | |
Member of the New South Wales Legislative Council | |
In office 8 September 1932 – 22 April 1943 | |
Personal details | |
Born | Samuel Robert Walder 8 October 1879 Woollahra, New South Wales, Australia |
Political party | Nationalist / United Australia |
Other political affiliations | Civic Reform Association |
Spouse |
Elsie Blunt (m. 1911) |
Relations | William McMahon (nephew) John Human (son-in-law) |
Sir Samuel Robert Walder (8 October 1879 – 24 November 1946) was an Australian businessman and politician. He was a long-serving member of the
Early life and business career
Samuel Robert Walder was born in Sydney on 8 October 1879, the son of Mary Ann (Hatton) and Samuel Walder, a sail-maker. After being educated at Cleveland Street Public School and Christ Church St Laurence Parish School, he left school at age 13 and entered his father's sail, tent and tarpaulin manufacturing business as an apprentice. When his father died, the 18-year-old Walder took over as manager. He expanded the business and floated it as a Limited company, S. Walder Ltd, in 1911. On 22 March 1911 he married Elsie Helena Blunt, a milliner, at St Martin's Anglican Church, Kensington. They had two children together, Mollie and Samuel; Mollie married the English cricketer John Human.[1] After the death of his sister Mary in 1917, Walder and his wife helped raise his nephew William McMahon, who would eventually become Prime Minister of Australia. He was the chief paternal influence on McMahon, whose own father was absent.[2]
During the
Political career
Sydney City Council
Walder was a prominent member of the Sydney community, being a member of the Sydney Chamber of Manufactures,
On 9 December 1931, Walder was elected by the council as
During World War II, Walder chaired Sydney City Council's National Emergency Services committee, advocating the construction of underground air-raid shelters and other measures preparing for possible attack.[1] He served as an alderman until his retirement in December 1941.[3]
State politics
As Lord Mayor, Walder was given a life appointment to the New South Wales Legislative Council from 8 September 1932. However, with the abolition of life appointments and the introduction of indirect elections to the council in 1933, Walder was elected as a member on 21 November 1933.[4] An active philanthropist along with his wife, in 1933 he donated £100 towards an initiative to build houses for the financially distressed.[7] As a vice-president of the liberal conservative National Association of New South Wales in 1930 and a member of the committee that negotiated the creation of the United Australia Party, of which he was a vice-president in 1933–1939, Walder sat for the UAP in the Legislative Council until his defeat in April 1943.[4] Survived by his wife, son and daughter, he died of cancer on 24 November 1946 at Woollahra and was buried in Waverley Cemetery.
References
- ^ ISSN 1833-7538. Retrieved 15 March 2013.
- ^ Don Whitington (1972). Twelfth Man?. The Jacaranda Press. pp. 144–146.
- ^ a b c "Samuel Walder". Sydney's Aldermen. City of Sydney. Retrieved 1 April 2013.
- ^ a b c "Sir Samuel Robert Walder (1879–1946)". Former members of the Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 23 June 2019.
- ^ "Lord Mayor of Sydney – Alderman Walder Elected". The Barrier Miner. 10 December 1931. Retrieved 1 April 2013.
- ^ "WALDER, Samuel Robert". It's an Honour database. Australian Government. Retrieved 1 April 2013.
- ^ "Sir Samuel Walder, Gift of £100 to Relieve Distress". The Sydney Morning Herald. 26 January 1933. Retrieved 1 April 2013.