Christopher Baron Lethbridge (30 August 1886 – 8 March 1981) was an Australian politician and a member of the

New South Wales Legislative Assembly The New South Wales Legislative Assembly is the lower of the two houses of the Parliament of New South Wales, an Australian state. The upper house is the New South Wales Legislative Council. Both the Assembly and Council sit at Parliament House ...

between 1937 and 1946. He was an Independent member of parliament.

Early life

Lethbridge was born in

Mitchell, Queensland Mitchell is a rural town and locality in the Maranoa Region, Queensland, Australia. The town services the local area, a cattle and sheep farming district. In the , the locality of Mitchell had a population of 995 people. Geography Mitchel ...

and was the son of a clerk. He was educated at

Brisbane Grammar School Brisbane Grammar School (BGS) is an Independent school, independent, fee charging, non-denominational, day school, day and boarding school for boys, located in Spring Hill, Queensland, Spring Hill, an inner suburb of Brisbane, Queensland, Austra ...

and became an articled clerk. He served with the

First Australian Imperial Force The First Australian Imperial Force (1st AIF) was the main Expeditionary warfare, expeditionary force of the Australian Army during the First World War. It was formed as the Australian Imperial Force (AIF) following United Kingdom of Great Bri ...

in France during World War One. Lethbridge was admitted as a solicitor in 1920 and founded Nicholson and Lethbridge, a law firm in

Corowa Corowa is a town in the state of New South Wales in Australia. It is on the bank of the Murray River, the border between New South Wales and Victoria, opposite the Victorian town of Wahgunyah. It is the largest town in the Federation Counci ...

where he was noted for his legal representation of soldier settlers. Lethbridge was involved in community organizations including the Ambulance Board and the Corowa Race club. Lethbridge also developed a farm,'Barondale' in the Corowa region.

State Parliament

Lethbridge entered parliament as the Independent member for

after he won the November 1937

by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, or a bypoll in India, is an election used to fill an office that has become vacant between general elections. A vacancy may arise as a result of an incumben ...

caused by the death of the former Country Party member Richard Ball. Labor did not contest the by-election but supported Lethbridge, which raised accusations that he was a Labor Party stooge. This impression was heightened when Lethbridge joined Labor members and rebel

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 ...

members in August 1939 to pass a motion of no confidence in the Premier Bertram Stevens which brought down Stevens' government. Lethbridge's vote gave Stevens' opponents their 1-vote victory. However, Lethbridge generally voted with the conservative parties and after 1939 he was considered to be a conservative independent. He retained the seat with this designation until he joined the nascent

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. For example, while the political systems ...

in July 1946. The next month he resigned from parliament to contest the seat of

Division of Riverina The Division of Riverina () is an Divisions of the Australian House of Representatives, Australian electoral division in the states and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales. It is located in southwest New South Wales and include ...

at the

1946 1946 (Roman numerals, MCMXLVI) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1946th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 946th year of the 2nd millennium, the 46th year of the 20th centur ...

federal election as the Liberal candidate. He came third behind the

Australian Labor Party The Australian Labor Party (ALP), also known as the Labor Party or simply Labor, is the major Centre-left politics, centre-left List of political parties in Australia, political party in Australia and one of two Major party, major parties in Po ...

's incumbent Joe Langtry and the Country Party's

Hugh Roberton Hugh Stevenson Roberton (18 December 1900 – 13 March 1987) was an Australian politician, farmer and journalist. A member of the Country Party, he served as Minister for Social Services in the Menzies government from 1956 to 1965. He later ...

. He contested the

for Corowa, caused by his resignation, as the Liberal candidate but was easily defeated by the endorsed Country Party candidate Ebenezer Kendell. Lethbridge then retired from public life. He did not hold caucus, parliamentary or ministerial office.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lethbridge, Christopher 1886 births 1981 deaths Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly Liberal Party of Australia members of the Parliament of New South Wales 20th-century Australian politicians People from Mitchell, Queensland People educated at Brisbane Grammar School