Frederic Eggleston

Sir Frederic Eggleston
Born	(1875-10-17)17 October 1875 Brunswick, Victoria, Australia
Died	12 November 1954(1954-11-12) (aged 79)
Nationality	Australian
Alma mater	University of Melbourne
Occupation(s)	Diplomat, Lawyer, Author, Politician

Sir Frederic William Eggleston (17 October 1875 – 12 November 1954) was an Australian lawyer, politician, diplomat and writer.

Early life

The eldest son of lawyer John Waterhouse Eggleston and his wife, Emily, his grandfather was the Methodist minister Rev. John Eggleston. His maternal grandparents were also Methodists. His mother died early in his life in 1884 and his father married Ada Crouch in 1887.

Career

Eggleston was on good terms with John Latham and in 1902 founded a group known as the 'Boobooks' with him.^[1] Eggleston was elected to the Victorian Legislative Assembly as the member for Member for St Kilda in 1920 and was appointed Attorney-General of Victoria and Solicitor-General of Victoria (1924–1927) in the government of John Allan.^[2]

Frederic Eggleston was appointed Australia's first Ambassador to China in 1941. For his role as Chairman of the Commonwealth Grants Commission, in the 1941 King's Birthday honours he was made a Knight Bachelor.^[3] Eggleston met with British biochemist and Sinologist Joseph Needham at chance encounter in a monastery in China. They had lunch with a group that included Chinese monks, three itinerant Tibetan monks, and a "living Buddha".^[4]

Later life

At the end of 1952 he published his Reflections of an Australian Liberal (F. W. Cheshire). He died in 1954.^[5]

References

1. Stuart Macintyre, Latham, Sir John Greig (1877–1964), adb.anu.edu.au. Retrieved 26 June 2021.
2. "Sir Frederic William Eggleston". Re-Member: a database of all Victorian MPs since 1851. Parliament of Victoria. Archived from the original on 23 April 2023. Retrieved 12 February 2019.
3. "Mr Frederick William EGGLESTON". It's an Honour database. Australian Government. 12 June 1941. Retrieved 17 June 2017. Chairman - Commonwealth Grants Commission
4. Winchester, Simon (2008). The man who loved China. Harper Perennial. ISBN 978-0060884611.
5. Osmond, Warren (1981). "Eggleston, Sir Frederic William (1875 - 1954)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Vol. 8. Canberra: National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. ISBN 978-0-522-84459-7. ISSN 1833-7538. OCLC 70677943. Retrieved 24 October 2022.

 

Civic offices
Preceded by	Mayor of Caulfield 1914 – 1915	Succeeded by
Victorian Legislative Assembly
Preceded by Agar Wynne	Member for St Kilda 1920–1927	Succeeded by Burnett Gray
Political offices
Preceded by	Minister of Water Supply 1924	Succeeded by John Gordon
Preceded by Francis Old as Minister of Agriculture and Railways	Minister of Railways 1924	Succeeded by Edmond Hogan as Minister for Agriculture and Railways
Preceded by Edmond Hogan	Minister of Railways 1924–1926	Succeeded by John Allan
Preceded by Bill Slater	Attorney-General of Victoria Solicitor-General of Victoria 1924–1927	Succeeded by John Allan
Diplomatic posts
New title	Australian Minister to China 1941–1944	Succeeded by Keith Officer as Chargé d'affaires
Preceded by Owen Dixon	Australian Minister to the United States 1944–1946	Succeeded by Norman Makin
	Australian Ambassador to the United States 1946