Richard Casey, Baron Casey
The Lord Casey | |
---|---|
![]() | |
16th Governor-General of Australia | |
In office 7 May 1965 – 30 April 1969 | |
Monarch | Elizabeth II |
Prime Minister | Sir Robert Menzies (1965–66) Harold Holt (1966–67) John McEwen (1967–68) John Gorton (1968–69) |
Preceded by | The Viscount De L'Isle |
Succeeded by | Sir Paul Hasluck |
Minister for External Affairs | |
In office 11 May 1951 – 4 February 1960 | |
Prime Minister | Robert Menzies |
Preceded by | Percy Spender |
Succeeded by | Robert Menzies |
Minister for External Territories | |
In office 26 April 1951 – 11 May 1951 | |
Prime Minister | Robert Menzies |
Preceded by | Percy Spender |
Succeeded by | Paul Hasluck |
Minister in charge of the CSIRO | |
In office 23 March 1950 – 4 February 1960 | |
Prime Minister | Robert Menzies |
Preceded by | Office established |
Succeeded by | Donald Alastair Cameron |
Minister for Works and Housing | |
In office 19 December 1949 – 17 March 1950 | |
Prime Minister | Robert Menzies |
Preceded by | Nelson Lemmon |
Succeeded by | Wilfrid Kent Hughes |
Governor of Bengal | |
In office 14 January 1944 – 19 February 1946 | |
Preceded by | John Herbert |
Succeeded by | Frederick Burrows |
1st Australian Ambassador to the United States | |
In office 1 February 1940 – 20 April 1942 | |
Prime Minister | Robert Menzies (1940–41) Arthur Fadden (1941) John Curtin (1941–42) |
Preceded by | Office established |
Succeeded by | Sir Owen Dixon |
Treasurer of Australia | |
In office 3 October 1935 – 26 April 1939 | |
Prime Minister | Joseph Lyons (1935–39) Sir Earle Page (1939) |
Preceded by | Joseph Lyons |
Succeeded by | Robert Menzies |
Member of the Australian Parliament for La Trobe | |
In office 1949–1960 | |
Preceded by | Division Created |
Succeeded by | John Jess |
Member of the Australian Parliament for Corio | |
In office 1931–1940 | |
Preceded by | Arthur Lewis |
Succeeded by | John Dedman |
Personal details | |
Born | Brisbane, Colony of Queensland | 29 August 1890
Died | 17 June 1976 Berwick, Victoria | (aged 85)
Political party | Liberal Party of Australia(after 1945) United Australia Party(before 1945) |
Spouse | Maie Casey |
Profession | Engineer, Diplomat and politician |
Military service | |
Allegiance | Australia |
Branch/service | Australian Imperial Force |
Years of service | 1914–1919 |
Rank | Major |
Awards | Distinguished Service Order Military Cross Mentioned in Despatches (2) |
Richard Gavin Gardiner Casey, Baron Casey KG, GCMG, CH, DSO, MC, KStJ, PC, FAA (29 August 1890 – 17 June 1976) was an Australian politician and diplomat, who served as the colonial governor of Bengal from 1944 to 1946 and as the 16th Governor-General of Australia from 7 May 1965 to 30 April 1969.
Early life and education
Casey was born in Brisbane, Queensland, as Richard Gavin Gardiner Casey, but he dropped the "Gavin" in later life. His father, also named Richard Gardiner Casey, was a wealthy pastoralist and Member of the Queensland Legislative Assembly of Irish descent. His mother, Evelyn, was the daughter of George Harris, another wealthy pastoralist and Member of the Queensland Legislative Council. His father moved the family to Melbourne in 1893 and became a rich company director.
Casey was educated at Cumloden School, St Kilda, and at Melbourne Grammar School. He enrolled for engineering at the University of Melbourne, where he was a resident student at Trinity College in 1909 and 1910, but then travelled to England, entering Trinity College, Cambridge. At Cambridge, he graduated as a Bachelor of Arts in 1913, graduating with second-class honours in the mechanical sciences tripos. By the custom of Cambridge, he was promoted to a Master of Arts in 1918.[1]
Military and early career
At the outbreak of the First World War in 1914, Casey joined the Australian Imperial Force as a lieutenant,[2] was a member of the first convoy on board the Orvieto, was the responsible officer looking after the German prisoners from the SMS Emden following the Battle of Cocos Island until the ship reached Colombo, and served at Gallipoli as aide-de-camp to Major General Sir William Bridges. Casey was standing next to Bridges when Bridges was shot by a sniper (he died three days later). A statue of Casey being rescued by a Turkish soldier has pride of place in the Gallipoli battlefields. Later he served in France, where he observed operations and sifted information, earning the Military Cross[3] and promotion to brigade major of the 8th Brigade. This position involved dangerous visits to the front line and he received a Distinguished Service Order in 1918.[4] He resigned his commission in June 1919 and transferred to the Reserve of Officers, serving as a part-time intelligence officer in Melbourne.[1]
Casey's father died in 1919 and he returned after the war to Melbourne to take over his father's business interests including engineering and mining firms. He did this until 1924, when Prime Minister Stanley Bruce appointed him his political liaison officer in London, a position he held until 1931, sending home confidential reports on political and economic matters, both for Bruce and for his Labor successor, James Scullin. In 1926 he married Ethel Marian Sumner (Maie) Ryan, daughter of Sir Charles Snodgrass Ryan, with whom he had two children.[1]
Political career
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5e/Washington%2C_D.C._The_Australian_Legation._Minister_Casey_8d22912v.jpg/220px-Washington%2C_D.C._The_Australian_Legation._Minister_Casey_8d22912v.jpg)
In 1931 Casey returned to Australia and was elected to the House of Representatives as the United Australia Party (UAP) Member for the Geelong-based seat of Corio. Prime Minister Joseph Lyons appointed him an assistant minister in 1933, and in 1935 he became Treasurer.[1]
In 1939 Robert Menzies became Prime Minister for the first time. He saw Casey as a rival, and moved him to the lesser portfolio of Supply and Development. In 1940 Casey resigned from parliament when Menzies appointed him as the first Australian Ambassador to the United States. This was a vital posting in wartime, but it also served to remove Casey from domestic politics. Casey was in Washington, D.C. when the US entered the war, and played an important role in establishing the alliance between the US and Australia.[5] In this effort he engaged the services of public relations counselor Earl Newsom.
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/40/Lady_Spears_%28May_Borden%29_and_Sir_Edward_Spears_in_the_Lebanon%2C_1942.jpg/220px-Lady_Spears_%28May_Borden%29_and_Sir_Edward_Spears_in_the_Lebanon%2C_1942.jpg)
Casey moved to Cairo in 1942 when Winston Churchill appointed him Minister Resident in the Middle East, to the annoyance of Prime Minister John Curtin and some in the British Foreign Office. In this role he played a key role in negotiating between the British and Allied governments, local leaders and the Allied commanders in the field. In 1944, when the Middle East ceased to be a military theatre, the British government appointed Casey as the Governor of Bengal, in India, a post which he held till 1946.[1] During his tenure he had to deal with the aftermath of the devastating Bengal famine of 1943. He also had to deal with the ever more vocal demands for independence from Britain by Indian patriots, represented politically by the Indian National Congress.
In 1946 Casey returned to Australia in the hope of being elected to parliament in the 1946 election and becoming the leader of the new Liberal Party that Menzies had formed in 1944, as part of his reorganisation of conservative politics in Australia. Casey had turned down the offer of a British peerage to preserve his political chances. However, he was too late to organise his pre-selection for a seat. He was persuaded to become Federal President of the Liberal Party in September 1947 and proved to be a very effective fundraiser, partly as a result of his past social and business connections.[1] Although Menzies still saw Casey as a rival, and although Casey undoubtedly saw himself as a future Prime Minister, they formed an effective partnership.
The Liberals won the 1949 election, and Casey returned to the House of Representatives as Member for the outer Melbourne seat of La Trobe. Menzies appointed him Minister for Supply and Development and Minister for Works and Housing. In March 1950 he became Minister for National Development, gaining functions from Eric Harrison's abolished portfolio of Postwar Reconstruction and losing supply to Howard Beale. In 1951, when the Minister for External Affairs, Percy Spender (another Menzies rival), was dispatched to the Washington embassy, Casey succeeded him. Casey held the External Affairs post during the height of the Cold War, the Suez Crisis, the Vietnam War and other major world events. He formed close relations with Anthony Eden, John Foster Dulles and other leaders. Casey was also Minister in charge of the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) from March 1950, and he was committed to its success.
In January 1960 Casey was made a life peer of the British House of Lords, on the recommendation of the British Prime Minister, Harold Macmillan;[6] next month he resigned from the ministry and parliament. For most Australians, Britain was still the mother country, but it was by then becoming something of an anomaly that an Australian should be appointed to another country's parliament. Lord Casey made annual trips to London and put in appearances in the House of Lords, but he had no obvious constituency. He was also appointed to the executive of the CSIRO in 1960.[1]
Governor-General
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/ac/Cecil_Beaton_Photographs-_Political_and_Military_Personalities%3B_Casey%2C_Richard_Gavin_Gardiner_IB349.jpg/220px-Cecil_Beaton_Photographs-_Political_and_Military_Personalities%3B_Casey%2C_Richard_Gavin_Gardiner_IB349.jpg)
In 1965 the Queen, on Menzies' recommendation, appointed Lord Casey Governor-General to succeed Lord De L'Isle. This was the first time a conservative Prime Minister had recommended an Australian for the post, but it also marked the end of the appointment of non-Australians to the office of Governor-General. He was initially reluctant to accept the post, but when he did accept, he asked for a two-year appointment instead of the usual five years, subject to extension should he wish to continue. In the event, he served for three and a half years.[6]
One of the arguments against appointing an Australian, particularly a former politician, had always been that they would be too closely involved with Australian personalities and issues to perform their constitutional role impartially. This became an acute issue for Casey in December 1967, when Prime Minister Harold Holt died.[7][8]
Casey could have commissioned the Deputy Leader of the Liberal Party, Billy McMahon, as acting Prime Minister or Caretaker prime minister, but instead he appointed John McEwen, the leader of Liberals' coalition partner, the Country Party. In this he was following a precedent set in 1939, when Sir Earle Page was appointed Prime Minister following the death of Joseph Lyons. But it was later alleged that Casey appointed McEwen to prevent McMahon having an advantage in the Liberal Party's ballot for a new leader, since he shared the view of some Liberals that McMahon would not be a suitable successor. This matter was aired in a 1969 book, The Power Struggle, by veteran political journalist Alan Reid. Casey's biographer, W.J. Hudson says (in his 1986 book Casey) that Casey was concerned to preserve the Liberal-Country Party coalition, and that he knew (because McEwen had told him) that the Country Party would not serve under McMahon. (McEwen publicly confirmed his party's position on McMahon the day after his swearing-in.) If this was his motive for commissioning McEwen rather than McMahon, it suggests that he did take political considerations into account in making his decision.[7][8] On the other hand, if the coalition were to disband, there would have been no party that could command a majority in the parliament and it could well have become unworkable.
Casey's Official Secretary throughout his term was Murray Tyrrell, who was knighted in 1968.
Casey left office in 1969 and he and his wife retired to their farm at Berwick in Victoria. Casey never fully recovered from a car accident in 1974, and died on 17 June 1976 at St Vincent's Hospital, Fitzroy, survived by his wife, daughter and son.[1] He is buried in Mount Macedon cemetery.
Honours
Casey received a Military Cross, was appointed a Companion of the Distinguished Service Order and was twice Mentioned in Despatches during the First World War. He was appointed a Companion of the Order of the Companions of Honour in 1944. In 1960, he was created "Baron Casey, of Berwick in the State of Victoria and the Commonwealth of Australia, and of the City of Westminster",[9] becoming the second (and last) Australian politician (after Stanley Bruce) to be elevated to the House of Lords (Sir John Forrest is sometimes mentioned in such lists, however his peerage was never formally established).[1] He was appointed a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George (GCMG) in 1965, and a Knight of the Order of the Garter (KG) in 1969. In 1969 also, he was named Australian of the Year.[10]
The municipality which includes Berwick is now called the City of Casey. There is also federal Electoral Division of Casey (in a different part of Melbourne). The Canberra suburb of Casey and Casey Station, a base in the Australian Antarctic Territory, were named in Casey's honour. The R. G. Casey Building in Canberra is the headquarters of the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
Styles
- Mr Richard Casey (1890–1917)
- Mr Richard Casey MC (1917–1918)
- Mr Richard Casey DSO MC (1918–1931)
- Mr Richard Casey DSO MC MP (1931–1933)
- The Hon. Richard Casey DSO MC MP (1933–1939)
- The Rt. Hon. Richard Casey DSO MC MP (1939–1940)
- His Excellency The Rt. Hon. Richard Casey DSO MC, Ambassador to the United States of America (1940–1942)
- His Excellency The Rt. Hon. Richard Casey DSO MC, Minister Resident in the Middle East (1942–1944)
- His Excellency The Rt. Hon. Richard Casey CH, DSO, MC, Governor of Bengal (1944–1946)
- The Rt. Hon. Richard Casey CH DSO MC (1946–1949)
- The Rt. Hon. Richard Casey CH DSO MC MP (1949–1960)
- The Rt. Hon. The Lord Casey CH DSO MC KStJ PC (1960–1965)
- His Excellency The Rt. Hon. The Lord Casey GCMG CH DSO MC KStJ PC, Governor-General of Australia (1965–1969)
- The Rt. Hon. The Lord Casey KG GCMG CH DSO MC KStJ PC (1969–1976)
Notes
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Hudson, W. J. (1993). "Casey, Richard Gavin Gardiner, Baron Casey (1890–1976)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Canberra: National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. ISBN 978-0-522-84459-7. ISSN 1833-7538. OCLC 70677943. Retrieved 25 August 2007.
- ^ "First World War Service Record – Richard Gardiner Casey". National Archives of Australia. Retrieved 9 October 2014.
- ^ London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 29886, page 44, 29 December 1916
- ^ London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 30450, page 28, 28 December 1917
- ^ R.G. Casey (2008) A Delicate Mission: The Washington Diaries of R.G. Casey 1940-42/ Edited by Carl Bridge, Canberra, National Library of Australia, ISBN 978-0-642-27662-9
- ^ a b Sir David Smith, What shall we do with ex-Governors-General?
- ^ a b Reid, Alan (1972). The Power Struggle. Sydney: Tartan Press. p. 195. ISBN 0-7264-0005-X.
- ^ a b Hudson, W. J. (1986). Casey. Melbourne: Oxford University Press. p. 361. ISBN 0-19-554730-6.
- ^ "No. 42035". The London Gazette. 17 May 1960.
- ^ Lewis, Wendy (2010). Australians of the Year. Pier 9 Press. ISBN 978-1-74196-809-5.
Further reading
- Casey, Richard Gardiner; Millar, T. B. (1972). Australian foreign minister: the diaries of R.G. Casey, 1951–60. London: Collins. p. 352. ISBN 0-00-211001-6.
- Casey, Richard Gardiner (1963). Personal experience, 1939–1946. New York: David McKay Co. p. 256.
External links
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg/30px-Commons-logo.svg.png)
- "World War I – War Diaries [personal diary Gallipoli, 27 May 1915 – 6 September 1915 – Richard Gardiner Casey". National Archives of Australia.
- "First World War Service Record – Richard Gardiner Casey". National Archives of Australia. Retrieved 9 October 2014.
- A film clip "Longines Chronoscope with Richard G Casey" is available for viewing at the Internet Archive
- A film clip "Longines Chronoscope with Richard G Casey (10 November 1952)" is available for viewing at the Internet Archive
- 1890 births
- 1976 deaths
- People educated at Melbourne Grammar School
- Governors-General of Australia
- Australian ministers for Foreign Affairs
- Members of the Cabinet of Australia
- Treasurers of Australia
- Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Corio
- Members of the Australian House of Representatives for La Trobe
- Members of the Australian House of Representatives
- Liberal Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Australia
- United Australia Party members of the Parliament of Australia
- Australian life peers
- Australian Knights Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George
- Australian Knights of the Garter
- Australian of the Year Award winners
- Australian Companions of the Distinguished Service Order
- People from Brisbane
- Australian Members of the Order of the Companions of Honour
- Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom
- Fellows of the Australian Academy of Science
- Governors of Bengal
- Ambassadors of Australia to the United States
- Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge
- People educated at Trinity College (University of Melbourne)
- Australian military personnel of World War I
- 20th-century Australian politicians