Robert Gordon Menzies KT AK CH (1894 - 1978)

Born 20 Dec 1894 in Jeparit, Victoria (Australia)

Ancestors

Husband of Pattie Maie (Leckie) Menzies — married 1920 in Victoria, Australia

Died 15 May 1978 at age 83 in Malvern, Victoria, Australia

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Biography

Robert Menzies KT AK CH is a member of Clan Menzies.

Robert Menzies KT AK CH is Notable.

Robert Menzies KT AK CH was born in the Colony of Victoria (1851-1900)

This profile is part of the Menzies Name Study.

The Rt Hon. Sir Robert Gordon Menzies, KT, AK, CH, QC, FAA, FRS, also known as 'Bob' Menzies, or 'Pig-Iron Bob',^{[1][2] [3]} was Australia's longest serving Prime Minister; he held the position for a total of 18 years and five months.

Early in his first period in office, he announced the declaration of the Second World War to the people of Australia. In 1944 he helped start the Liberal Party, which in terms of winning elections, has been the most successful party in federal politics. He presided over Australia's longest period of prosperity and rising living standards this century.

Robert Gordon Menzies was born in Jeparit, Victoria, on 20 December 1894,^[4] the fourth of five children of Australian-born parents James Menzies, storekeeper, and his wife Kate, née Sampson. The forebears were Scots on the paternal side and Cornish on the maternal. Kate, of Cornish descent, was the daughter of a miners' union leader.

Though lacking much formal education themselves, Menzies' parents were anxious that their children should have the best that could be afforded. Thus the eldest four-Les, Frank, Belle and Bob-were sent in turn to Ballarat's Humffray Street State School, boarding with their father's redoubtable Scots mother, the widowed Elizabeth. Bob did best, topping the State scholarship examination in 1907, and studying in consequence for two years at Grenville College, a Ballarat private school. It opened the way to another scholarship, which Menzies took at Wesley College, Melbourne. Success there won him an exhibition to the University of Melbourne (LL.B., 1916; LL.M., 1918). He was admitted as a barrister in 1918, built up a highly successful practice and became the youngest Kings Counsel in Victoria in 1929.

He married Pattie Maie Leckie in 1920,^[5] and they had three children.

He was a member of the Victorian State Parliament (1928-34), serving as Deputy Premier and Attorney General (1932-4). Elected to Federal Parliament in 1934, he was immediately appointed Attorney General, until becoming Prime Minister on the eve of World War II in 1939. Reduced to minority government after the 1940 election, he was forced to resign as Prime Minister and party leader in August 1941. He launched a new party, the Liberal Party, in 1944, and won the 1949 election, the first of seven election victories. He retired in January 1966.

Extract from Australian Dictionary of Biography

Queen Elizabeth II appointed him K.T. (1963), and when (Sir) Harold (Baron) Wilson nominated him to succeed Churchill as constable of Dover Castle and warden of the Cinque Ports (1965), ceremonial titles which gave him a uniform and a residence at Walmer Castle. He had been appointed a privy counsellor in 1937 and C.H. in 1951. Among many additional awards and distinctions, he was appointed to the U.S. Legion of Merit in 1950.

Sir Robert died on 15 May 1978.^[6]

A portrait of him by Ivor Hele won the Archibald Prize in 1954.

DNA

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Sources

1. ↑ "The story behind how Robert Menzies become 'Pig Iron Bob'", ABC Radio programme "Nightlife with Phillip Clark", originally broadcast on Monday, 13 May 2019, 10:00pm (12min 57sec).
2. ↑ Michael W Jackson, [https://theory-practice.sydney.edu.au/2016/05/pig-iron-bob/ ‘Pig-Iron Bob’] - the circumstances around how Menzies’ famous nickname was given to him by political opponent Eddie Ward.
3. ↑ The SS Dalfram Dispute, 1938 (the event where Menzies acquired the 'Pig-Iron Bob' nickname).
4. ↑ VIC BDM birth reg. no. 4435 in 1895
5. ↑ VIC BDM marriage reg. no. 9417 in 1920
6. ↑ VIC BDM death reg. no. 11651 in 1978

• A. W. Martin, Menzies, Sir Robert Gordon (Bob) (1894–1978), Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/menzies-sir-robert-gordon-bob-11111/text19783, published first in hardcopy 2000, accessed online 5 June 2021.
• Wikipedia entry on Robert Menzies
• National Museum of Australia - Robert Menzies
• Museum of Australian Democracy (Old Parliament House) - Robert Menzies
• A. W. Martin & P. Hardy, Robert Menzies: A life, Vol. 2, 1996 (Melbourne University Press, 1996).
• Ivor Hele's Rt Hon RG Menzies, PC, CH, QC, MP oil on board/100 x 80 cm. from the Art Gallery of New South Wales. first accessed online on the 5th of June, 2021 at: https://www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au/prizes/archibald/1954/16444/
• Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/7253168/robert-gordon-menzies : accessed 05 June 2021), memorial page for Sir Robert Gordon “Bob” Menzies (20 Dec 1894–15 May 1978), Find a Grave Memorial ID 7253168, citing Melbourne General Cemetery, Carlton North, Melbourne City, Victoria, Australia ; Maintained by Find A Grave .
• Grave record for Robert Gordon Menzies (20 Dec 1894 - 15 May 1978), Billion Graves Record 4394756 Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. first accessed online on the 5th of June, 2021 at: https://billiongraves.com/grave/Robert-Gordon-Menzies/4394756