Walter Cooper (Queensland politician)

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Minister for Repatriation
In office
19 December 1949 – 29 December 1960
Prime MinisterRobert Menzies
Preceded byClaude Barnard
Succeeded byFrederick Osborne
Leader of the Opposition in the Senate
In office
1 June 1947 – 19 December 1949
Preceded byGeorge McLeay
Succeeded byBill Ashley
Senator for Queensland
In office
1 July 1935 – 30 June 1968
Preceded byMatthew Reid
Succeeded byRon Maunsell
In office
17 November 1928 – 30 June 1932
Preceded byJohn MacDonald
Succeeded byJoe Collings
Personal details
Born(1888-04-23)23 April 1888
Cheetham, Manchester, England
Died22 July 1973(1973-07-22) (aged 85)
Greenslopes, Queensland, Australia
Political partyCountry
Spouse
Dorothy Crick
​
(m. 1918)​

Sir Walter Jackson Cooper,

Menzies government
from 1949 to 1960.

Early life

Cooper was born on 23 April 1888 in Cheetham, Lancashire, England. He was the son of Sarah (née Jackson) and Joseph Pollitt Cooper; his father was a travelling salesman.[1]

Cooper was educated in England at Bedford School and Wyggeston Grammar School for Boys. He was a reservist in the Leicestershire Yeomanry and the Royal Horse Artillery, before migrating to Australia in 1910. He initially landed in Western Australia and worked his way to Queensland, finding work as an indent agent in Brisbane. In 1913, he was awarded a certificate of merit by the Royal Humane Society of Australasia for his role in rescuing swimmers from dangerous surf at Southport in December 1912.[1]

In 1914, via the land ballot system, Cooper purchased a grazing property of 28,000 acres (11,000 ha) in remote Central West Queensland, adjoining Llanrheidol Station in the locality of Middleton. Naming the property Brackenburgh, he expanded his holdings via the acquisition of neighoburing properties and continued to raise sheep until 1950.[1]

Military career

During World War I, Cooper enlisted in the

Battle of Mouquet Farm, requiring the amputation of a leg. In February 1918, he married Louie Dorothy Marion Crick. He was made a Member of the Order of the British Empire in 1919 and demobilised in 1921. He later joined the Returned Sailors' and Soldiers' Imperial League of Australia
(RSL).

Political career

Queen Elizabeth II
in 1954

Cooper was elected a

Father of the Senate. He served in the Senate for a total of 36 years, 227 days,[2] making him the longest-serving member of parliament from Queensland, the second-longest-serving senator after George Pearce, and the second-longest-serving Country MP after Earle Page
.

Cooper died at Repatriation General Hospital in the Brisbane suburb of Greenslopes, survived by his wife. They had no children.[1]

Notes

  1. ^
    OCLC 70677943
    . Retrieved 15 January 2008.
  2. ^ Stevenson, Brian. "COOPER, Sir Walter Jackson (1888–1973)". The Biographical Dictionary of the Australian Senate. Retrieved 21 December 2022.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Walter Cooper (Queensland Senator).

 

Political offices
Preceded by
Minister for Repatriation

1949–1960 		Succeeded by
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Walter_Cooper_(Queensland_politician)&oldid=1216171589"