Percy Spender
The Honourable Sir Percy Spender KCVO KBE QC |
|
---|---|
![]() |
|
Member of the Australian Parliament for Warringah |
|
In office 1937 – 1951 |
|
Preceded by | Sir Archdale Parkhill |
Succeeded by | Francis Bland |
Australian Ambassador to the United States | |
In office 1951–1958 |
|
Preceded by | Norman Makin |
Succeeded by | Sir Howard Beale |
Personal details | |
Born | Sydney |
5 October 1897
Died | Script error: The function "death_date_and_age" does not exist. Sydney, New South Wales |
Political party | Liberal Party of Australia |
Spouse(s) | Jean Maud Henderson Averil Watkins Trenerry, née McLeod Eileen Esdaile, née Congreve |
Children | 2 sons |
Alma mater | University of Sydney |
Occupation | politician |
Sir Percy Claude Spender, KCVO, KBE, QC, (5 October 1897 – 3 May 1985), was an Australian politician, diplomat and jurist.[1]
Contents
Early life
Spender was born in Sydney and educated at Fort Street High School and later the University of Sydney. He joined the Commonwealth Public Service in 1915. He was admitted to the New South Wales Bar in 1923 and was made a King's Counsel in 1935.[1]
Politics
Spender entered politics at the 1937 election when he was elected to the House of Representatives as member for Warringah. He ran as an independent, defeating the sitting member, Sir Archdale Parkhill. Soon after his election, he joined the government party, the United Australia Party, and held the seat until his resignation from federal politics in 1951. From 1944 was a member of the Liberal Party.
Spender held a number of ministries in Robert Menzies' wartime government. He was Minister without portfolio assisting the Treasurer from April–November 1939, Vice-President of the Executive Council from January–March 1940, then Treasurer until October 1940 and then Minister for the Army until the fall of Arthur Fadden's government in October 1941. He was also a member of the Economic Cabinet (1939–1940), War Cabinet (1939–1941) and the Advisory War Council (1940–1945).
Upon Menzies' return to power in 1949, Spender was made Minister for External Affairs (19 December 1949 – 26 April 1951) and Minister for External Territories. Spender's greatest influence on Australian politics occurred during this period. He led Australian delegations to the British Commonwealth Conference in Colombo, Ceylon and to the Fifth Session of the United Nations General Assembly (of which he was the Vice-President).[1]
At the conference in Colombo, Spender was instrumental in the development of the Colombo Plan (which had originally been known as the Spender Plan). He also played a large part in the signing of the ANZUS Pact[2] and the Treaty of San Francisco (Japanese Peace Treaty; 1951).
Spender expressed more desire to secure alliances with 'great powers' than contribute to collective security, stating that international organisations like the UN may "contain those who are at work to disrupt the order we believe in".[3] In this sense Spender was more akin to the realist tradition of Australian foreign politics linked to former Prime Minister Sir Robert Menzies.[4]
Later life
On leaving politics, Spender was appointed Australia's Ambassador to the United States (1951–58). He was the first Australian appointed to the International Court of Justice in The Hague (1958–1964) and was the Court's President 1964–67. Spender died in May 1985, aged 87.[1]
Marriages and family
Spender married Jean Maud Henderson on 6 April 1925 at St Mary Magdalene Church of England, Coraki, New South Wales. She became a crime-fiction writer and they had two sons. One son, John Spender, was also a politician and diplomat. Jean Spender died in 1970 and on 4 October 1975 at St Mark's Church of England, Darling Point, he married Averil Watkins Trenerry, née McLeod. The marriage was short lived and they divorced soon after. He married Eileen Esdaile, née Congreve, in Honolulu, Hawaii in 1983.[1]
Honours
Percy Spender was knighted in 1952 as a Knight of the British Empire. In 1957, he was further created a Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order. He was conferred the Grande Ufficiale Order of Merit by the Republic of Italy in 1976. He also received ten honorary doctorates. However, a personal rift between himself and Menzies prevented him from receiving the honour which he most desired, appointment to the Privy Council.[1]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 Lowe, D. 2012, Spender, Sir Percy Claude (1897–1989) Australian Dictionary of Biography Retrieved 9 July 2013
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lowe, D. 2003, 'Percy Spender, Minister and Ambassador', in, Beaumont, J. Waters, C. Lowe, D. and Woddard, G. Ministers, Mandarins and Diplomats: Australian Foreign Policy Making, 1941–1969, Melbourne University Press, p. 70
- ↑ Gyngell, A. and Wesley, M. 2007, Making Australian Foreign Policy (Second Edition), Cambridge University press, Melbourne, p. 11
External links
- A film clip "Longines Chronoscope with Sir Percy C. Spender" is available at the Internet Archive
Political offices | ||
---|---|---|
Preceded by | Vice-President of the Executive Council 1940 |
Succeeded by Henry Gullett |
Preceded by | Treasurer 1940 |
Succeeded by Arthur Fadden |
Preceded by | Minister for the Army 1940–1941 |
Succeeded by Frank Forde |
Preceded by | Minister for External Affairs 1949–1951 |
Succeeded by Richard Casey |
Preceded by | Minister for External Territories 1949–1951 |
|
Parliament of Australia | ||
Preceded by | Member for Warringah 1937–1951 |
Succeeded by Francis Bland |
Diplomatic posts | ||
Preceded by | Australian Ambassador to the United States 1951–1958 |
Succeeded by Sir Howard Beale |
- Use dmy dates from August 2014
- Use Australian English from August 2014
- All Wikipedia articles written in Australian English
- Pages with broken file links
- Articles with Internet Archive links
- 1897 births
- 1985 deaths
- Australian Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire
- Australian Knights Commander of the Royal Victorian Order
- Australian ministers for Foreign Affairs
- Australian public servants
- Knights of the Order of St John
- Australian Queen's Counsel
- Queen's Counsel 1901–2000
- Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Warringah
- Members of the Australian House of Representatives
- Members of the Cabinet of Australia
- Treasurers of Australia
- Ambassadors of Australia to the United States
- Independent members of the Parliament of Australia
- Liberal Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Australia
- United Australia Party members of the Parliament of Australia
- Presidents of the International Court of Justice
- Australian judges