William John McKell GCMG (1891 - 1985)

Born 26 Sep 1891 in Pambula, New South Wales, Australia

Husband of Minnie May (Pye) McKell — married 7 Jan 1920 in Annandale, New South Wales, Australia

Died 11 Jan 1985 at age 93 in Waverley, New South Wales, Australia

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Biography

William McKell GCMG is Notable.

Preceded by HRH The Prince Henry William Frederick Albert, Duke of Gloucester, KG KT KP GCB GCMG GCVO

12th Governor-General of Australia 11 March 1947 - 8 May 1953

Succeeded by Field Marshal the Right Hon. Sir William Joseph Slim, KG GCB GCMG GCVO GBE DSO MC

Sir William John McKell (1891-1985), was a boilermaker and Labor party politician. He was a premier of the state of New South Wales and Australian governor-general

He was born on 26 September 1891 at Pambula, New South Wales. He was the eldest of four children of New South Wales-born parents Robert Pollock McKell, butcher, and his wife Martha, née Shepherd. ^[1]

In 1892 the McKells moved to Candelo, where Billy attended the local primary school, helped his father as a delivery boy, and had his own pony. Robert sold his business in December 1898 and took the family to Sydney; they lived at Surry Hills, a slum neighbourhood near where bubonic plague broke out in 1900.

In 1901 his father Robert deserted his wife and family and left for Broken Hill, and then Western Australia, with a young woman from Bega and their one-year-old son. McKell would later claim that his father died about this time whereas, in fact, Robert died in 1934, at Kalgoorlie. Close to poverty, Martha worked as a laundress and took in shirts for sewing; she soon moved with her children to nearby Redfern, which was to be McKell’s refuge and stronghold for the next half-century.

Leaving school at 13, William first worked as a druggist’s messenger boy. His lifelong frugality, independence, caution, and social conscience stemmed from his mother’s strength of character, his father’s betrayal, and the ensuing hardship and tragedy; the elder of his two sisters died of tubercular meningitis in 1905. He retained a special bond with his mother, who was the major influence on him; she was to live with him and his family until she died in 1951.

On 7 January 1920 at St Aidan’s Church of England, Annandale, William married Minnie May (Pye) McKell (1894-1985), a tailoress, and bought a house in Dowling Street, Redfern, that became his constituency office as well as his home.^[2]

Survived by his wife and their two daughters and son, he died on 11 January 1985 at Waverley, Sydney, and was cremated. A memorial service was held at St Andrew’s Anglican Cathedral.^[3]

Sources

1. ↑ Birth Record: NSW Government. Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages. Record Search

   Name: MCKELL WILLIAM J

   Registration Number: 12663/1891

   Father: ROBERT P

   Mother: MARTHA

   District: EDEN

2. ↑ Marriage Record: NSW Government. Registry of Births, Deaths, and Marriages. Record Search

   Registration: 3502/1920

   Groom: MCKELL WILLIAM J

   Bride: PYE MINNIE M

   District: ANNANDALE

3. ↑ Death Record: NSW Government. Registry of Births, Deaths, and Marriages. Record Search

   Name: MCKELL WILLIAM J

   Registration Number: 3491/1985

Chris Cunneen, 'McKell, Sir William John (1891–1985)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/mckell-sir-william-john-15293/text26501, published first in hardcopy 2012, accessed online 17 August 2017