Tasman Hudson Eastwood Heyes CBE (1896 - 1980)

Born 6 Nov 1896 in Kent Town, South Australia (Australia)

Ancestors

Husband of Ethel Brettell (Causer) Heyes — married 29 Nov 1921 in St Kilda, Victoria, Australia

Died 25 Jun 1980 at age 83 in Windsor, Victoria, Australia

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Biography

Tas Heyes CBE is Notable.

Sir Tasman 'Tas' Heyes CBE was a soldier and senior Australian public servant and policymaker. He was a key member of the team that established the Australian War Memorial and oversaw its opening in 1941. He was Secretary of the Department of Immigration between May 1946 and November 1961.

Tas Heyes CBE was born in the Colony of South Australia (1836-1900)

Tasman 'Tas' Hudson Eastwood Heyes was born on 6th November 1896 in Kent Town, South Australia (Australia). He was the oldest surviving son of Victorian-born Hudson Eastwood Heyes and Tasmanian-born Mary Jones. ^[1] Soon after the family moved to Ballarat and then Bendigo, Victoria.

He joined the Commonwealth Public Service in 1912 as a messenger in the Department of Defence.

On 18th March 1916, Tas enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force, his young nation's all-volunteer expeditionary force for the (First World) War. ^[2] Together with other reinforcements for the newly-established 3rd Divisional Signal Company, he embarked for Europe aboard HMAT Shropshire A9 on 25th September 1916 at Melbourne. ^[3] After spending twelve months from April 1917 with the 3rd Divisional Signal Company on the Western Front, he was posted to the Australian War Records Section and promoted to Sergeant. He returned to Australia 31st May 1919 and was demobilised on 19th August 1919 in Melbourne, resuming his public service employment. ^[2] For his war service he was awarded both the British War Medal and the Victory Medal. Later that year he was transferred to the Australian War Museum at the request of Charles Bean.

Tas married Ethel Causer on 29th November 1921 in Christ Church, St Kilda. The couple subsequently had a son and daughter.

In 1924-27 he was in England with his family as Australian representative on the historical section (military branch), Committee of Imperial Defence, and carried out research for the Australian official war histories. The family returned to Victoria via the United States of America, Canada and New Zealand, with Tas briefly undertaking research in those countries.

From 1928 he was deputy director of the Australian War Memorial (AWM). Having moved to the newly-established Canberra, in October 1939 he was appointed acting-director; overseeing the opening of the AWM in 1941. For a few months in early 1942 he was secretary of the Administrative Planning Committee and for the remainder of the Second World War was assistant to the assistant-secretary (policy and supplies), Department of Defence.

Tas was Secretary of the Department of Immigration between May 1946 and November 1961, openly defending the White Australia policy, preferring British and Northern European immigrants to those from Asia.

After he retired in 1961, Tas served on the Commonwealth Immigration Planning Council and the Australian Broadcasting Control Board, and was chairman of directors (1962-69) of Commonwealth Hostels Ltd.

Tas was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the Queen's Birthday Honours 1953 for 'service as permanent head of the Department of Immigration'. ^[4] He was created Knight Bachelor in the New Year Honours 1960 for 'for service as Secretary of the Department of Immigration'. ^[5] He was also awarded the Nansen Refugee Award by the UN Refugee Agency, for his work as head of the Department of Immigration. ^[6]

Aged 83 years and having been widowed for three years, Tas passed away on 25th June 1980 in Windsor, Victoria. ^[7] He was survived by his daughter.

Sources

1. ↑ South Australia Birth Index #592/471 1896; registered at Norwood
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1} Australian War Memorial nominal roll: 15184 Sergeant Tasman Hudson Heyes; accessed 7 Nov 2023
3. ↑ Australian War Memorial nominal roll: 15184 Sapper Tasman Hudson Eastwood Heyes; accessed 7 Nov 2023
4. ↑ Australian Honours: CBE; accessed 7 Nov 2023
5. ↑ Australian Honours: Knight bachelor; accessed 7 Nov 2023
6. ↑ The UN Refugee Agency; accessed 7 Nov 2023
7. ↑ Victoria Death Index #15261/1980

See also

• Markus, Andrew. 'Heyes, Sir Tasman Hudson Eastwood (1896–1980)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, published first in hardcopy 1996; accessed online 7 Nov 2023.
• Wikipedia: Tasman heyes; accessed 7 Nov 2023.