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Stanley Eskell

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Stanley Eskell
Chairman of Committees
In office
2 August 1967 – 6 March 1969
Preceded byErnest Gerard Wright
Succeeded byThomas McKay
Member of the New South Wales Legislative Council
In office
23 April 1958 – 5 November 1978
Personal details
Born(1918-01-04)4 January 1918
Perth, Western Australia
Died6 June 2000(2000-06-06) (aged 82)
London, England
Political partyLiberal Party
Military service
Branch/serviceCitizens Military Force
Years of service1938–70
RankBrigadier
CommandsUniversity of New South Wales Regiment (1955–58)
Battles/warsSecond World War
AwardsEfficiency Decoration
Mentioned in Despatches

Stanley Louis Mowbray Eskell, ED (4 January 1918 – 6 June 2000) was an Australian politician.

He was born in Perth, Western Australia, to clerk Stanley Herbert Eskell and Muriel Kerr. He attended the Royal Military College, Duntroon and in 1939 was a lieutenant in the Staff Corps. From 1942 to 1945 he served in the Second Australian Imperial Force, being promoted to major and mentioned in despatches in 1942. In 1944 he went to the United States Army staff school at Fort Leavenworth, and for the remainder of the war was part of the Australian Military Mission in Washington, D.C. After the war he was managing director of a number of companies, and in 1958 he entered the New South Wales Legislative Council as a Liberal Party member. He was Government Whip from 1966 to 1967 and Chairman of Committees from 1967 to 1969.

Eskell married in Denise Rachel Yaffa on 18 December 1946.[1] The relationship broke down and his wife sought a divorce which Eskell agreed to. Eskell admitted to adultery with Margaret Rose Cleary and the divorce was granted in 1962.[2] The divorce became controversial in 1968 as a result of proceedings involving Alexander Armstrong, in which Justice Street found that Armstrong had helped Eskell procure false evidence of adultery.[3] The council had voted to expel Armstrong in February 1969 for unrelated conduct. John Slattery QC advised there was no evidence to charge Eskell with perjury.[4] None the less the council voted to remove him from the position of Chairman of Committees.[5][6] He was not expelled from the council and was elected to a second 12 year term in 1970. His term ended early in 1978 as part of the transition to a directly elected council and he did not seek re-election.

Eskell died in London on 6 June 2000(2000-06-06) (aged 82).[1]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b "Mr Stanley Louis Mowbray Eskell (1918–2000)". Former members of the Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 23 June 2019.
  2. ^ "MLC divorced for adultery". The Canberra Times. 26 June 1962. p. 16. Retrieved 30 July 2021 – via Trove.
  3. ^ Barton v Armstrong, unreported Street J 19 December 1968, reproduced in Barton v Armstrong, Appeal Book Volume 9 (PDF), p. 3107 – via British and Irish Legal Information Institute
  4. ^ "Labor wants Gen. Eskell removed". The Canberra Times. 5 March 1969. p. 3. Retrieved 30 July 2021 – via Trove.
  5. ^ "House ousts Eskill from top post". The Canberra Times. 7 March 1969. p. 1. Retrieved 30 July 2021 – via Trove.
  6. ^ "Chairman of Committees" (pdf). Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). New South Wales: Legislative Council. 25 February 1969. pp. 4262–4285.

 

New South Wales Legislative Council
Preceded by Chairman of Committees
1967–1969
Succeeded by
Military offices
Preceded by
W. M. McGilvray
Commanding Officer of the
University of New South Wales Regiment

1955–1958
Succeeded by
J. McCarty