Basil Arthur Helmore

OBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(28 February 1897 – 4 November 1973) was an Australian solicitor and businessman. Born at

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to company secretary Ernest Arthur James Helmore and Gertrude, ''née'' Allbon, he attended local state schools and in 1913 was first in the state in

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and

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for the Leaving certificate. He became an articled clerk with Sparke & Millard in 1914 but suspended his articles to enlist in the Australian Imperial Force (5 September 1916), in which he became a gunner. After training in

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

he was sent to the Western Front with the 4th Field Artillery Brigade in August 1917; in October 1918 he began work with the AIF Education Scheme and returned to

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

in June 1919. Helmore was admitted as a solicitor in November 1920 and became a partner in the firm (now Sparke & Helmore). At

Lake Macquarie The City of Lake Macquarie is a local government area (LGA) in the Hunter Region in New South Wales, Australia. It was proclaimed a city on 7 September 1984. It is adjacent to the city of Newcastle and is part of the Greater Newcastle area. The ...

on 4 November 1922 he married Jessie Wilhelmina Cannington. Helmore also edited four legal textbooks and qualified by correspondence for his

Bachelor of Law A Bachelor of Laws (; LLB) is an undergraduate law degree offered in most common law countries as the primary law degree and serves as the first professional qualification for legal practitioners. This degree requires the study of core legal subje ...

(1933) and

PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

(1955) from the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...

. He was involved in various legal societies as president of the Newcastle Law Society (1957–58) and councillor of the Incorporated Law Institute of New South Wales (1953–60). Helmore contested the

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unsuccessfully in 1937 as a

United Australia Party The United Australia Party (UAP) was an Australian political party that was founded in 1931 and dissolved in 1945. The party won four Elections in Australia, federal elections in that time, usually governing Coalition (Australia), in coalition ...

candidate; he would also make an unsuccessful attempt to enter the

New South Wales Legislative Council The New South Wales Legislative Council, often referred to as the upper house, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of New South Wales, parliament of the Australian state of New South Wales. Along with the New South Wales Legislative As ...

in 1948. In 1960 he was elected to the council of the University of Newcastle, which he had helped found; he was later deputy chairman (1965–66) and warden of convocation (1967). He was appointed

Officer of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

in 1971. Helmore died at Newcastle in 1973 and was cremated.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Helmore, Basil 1897 births 1973 deaths Alumni of University of London Worldwide Officers of the Order of the British Empire