Ebenezer Thomas Kendell (31 May 1886 – 7 April 1966) 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 ...

from 1946 until 1950. He was a member of the Country Party.

Early life

Kendell was born at Miniacowie near Minalton on the

Yorke Peninsula The Yorke Peninsula, known as Guuranda by the original inhabitants, the Narungga people, is a peninsula located northwest and west of Adelaide in South Australia, between Spencer Gulf on the west and Gulf St Vincent on the east. The peninsula ...

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories by area, which in ...

. He was the son of a farmer and was educated to elementary level. He became a wheat farmer in the

Wimmera The Victorian government's Wimmera Southern Mallee subregion is part of the Grampians region in western Victoria. It includes most of what is considered the Wimmera, and part of the southern Mallee region. The subregion is based on the social ...

district of

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...

and served in 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 the Middle East and France in World War One. Following repatriation, he was one of a 100 Australian farmers chosen to study irrigation and wheat growing at the

University of California The University of California (UC) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university, research university system in the U.S. state of California. Headquartered in Oakland, California, Oakland, the system is co ...

. He moved from the Wimmera to

Lockhart, New South Wales Lockhart is a town in the Riverina Region of New South Wales, Australia. It is the location of the Lockhart Shire Council. At the 2016 census, Lockhart had a population of 818 people. History Lockhart was named after C.G.N. Lockhart – a co ...

in 1927 and became active in community organizations including the Farmers' and Settlers' Association of New South Wales, the

Returned and Services League of Australia The Returned and Services League of Australia, also known as RSL, RSL Australia and the RSLA, is an independent support organisation for people who have served or are serving in the Australian Defence Force. History The League was formed in ...

, the Australian Wheat Growers Association, the Hospital Board and the Show Society.

State Parliament

Kendall was the unsuccessful Country Party candidate for the seat of

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 ...

at the state elections of

1938 Events January * January 1 – state-owned enterprise, State-owned railway networks are created by merger, in France (SNCF) and the Netherlands (Nederlandse Spoorwegen – NS). * January 20 – King Farouk of Egypt marries Saf ...

, and

1944 Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January 2 – WWII: ** Free France, Free French General Jean de Lattre de Tassigny is appointed to command First Army (France), French Army B, part of the Sixt ...

. On both occasions he was defeated by the incumbent Independent Country member Christopher Lethbridge. Kendell was elected as the member for Corowa at the 1946

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 Lethbridge's resignation to contest the federal seat of

Riverina The Riverina () is an agricultural list of regions in Australia, region of south-western New South Wales, Australia. The Riverina is distinguished from other Australian regions by the combination of flat plains, a climate with significant seaso ...

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 ...

election. Lethbridge was unsuccessful and then contested the by-election as the Liberal candidate but was beaten by Kendell, who retained the seat at the next election in

1947 It was the first year of the Cold War, which would last until 1991, ending with the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Events January * January–February – Winter of 1946–47 in the United Kingdom: The worst snowfall in the country i ...

. The seat was abolished by a redistribution at the

1950 Events January * January 1 – The International Police Association (IPA) – the largest police organization in the world – is formed. * January 5 – 1950 Sverdlovsk plane crash, Sverdlovsk plane crash: ''Aeroflot'' Lisunov Li-2 ...

election and Kendell stood as one of two endorsed candidates for the seat of

Murray Murray may refer to: Businesses * Murray (bicycle company), an American bicycle manufacturer * Murray Motor Car Company, an American car manufacturer * Murrays, an Australian bus company * Murray International Trust, a Scottish investment trus ...

. He was defeated by the incumbent member Joe Lawson, and retired from public life. He did not hold a party, parliamentary or ministerial position.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kendell, Ebenezer 1886 births 1966 deaths National Party of Australia members of the Parliament of New South Wales Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly 20th-century Australian politicians