Edwin Thomas John Kerby (12 April 1885 – 5 July 1971) was an Australian politician.

Early life

Born in

Ballarat, Victoria Ballarat ( ) () is a city in the Central Highlands (Victoria), Central Highlands of Victoria, Australia. At the 2021 Australian census, 2021 census, Ballarat had a population of 111,973, making it the third-largest urban inland city in Australi ...

, he attended Grenville College before becoming a mining engineer and electrical contractor.

Military service

He served in

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

from 1914 to 1919. During his service he was awarded the 1914-15 Star,

British War Medal The British War Medal is a campaign medal of the United Kingdom which was awarded to officers and men and women of British and Imperial forces for service in the First World War. Two versions of the medal were produced. About 6.5 million were st ...

, and the Victory Medal.

Politician

In 1919, he was selected as the

Nationalist Nationalism is an idea or movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the State (polity), state. As a movement, it presupposes the existence and tends to promote the interests of a particular nation,Anthony D. Smith, Smith, A ...

candidate for the

Australian House of Representatives The House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameralism, bicameral Parliament of Australia, the upper house being the Australian Senate, Senate. Its composition and powers are set out in Chapter I of the Constitution of Australia. ...

seat of Ballaarat, and defeated sitting

Labor Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

Charles McGrath Charles McGrath may refer to: * Charles McGrath (politician) * Charles McGrath (critic) {{hndis, McGrath, Charles ...

by one vote, the closest result ever recorded for the House of Representatives. McGrath successfully challenged Kerby's election in the courts, and a

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 ...

was held in 1920 and won by McGrath. Kerby became a businessman, focusing mainly on

aviation Aviation includes the activities surrounding mechanical flight and the aircraft industry. ''Aircraft'' include fixed-wing and rotary-wing types, morphable wings, wing-less lifting bodies, as well as lighter-than-air aircraft such as h ...

, and became prominent among

ex-service A veteran () is a person who has significant experience (and is usually adept and esteemed) and expertise in an occupation or field. A military veteran is a person who is no longer serving in the armed forces. A topic of interest for resear ...

men's causes; he held the leadership of the RSL. He died in 1971.

Amateur radio

Throughout his adult life Kerby maintained an interest in amateur radio and held the callsigns VK7EK while resident at Ringarooma, Tasmania (1932 to 1939) and VK3KK while living in Auburn, Melbourne, Victoria (1946 to 1969). Potted biography

Notes

References

Sporting Politician Seeks Championship: Major Kerby to Oppose Victoria's Best Scullers, ''The Herald'', (Friday, 5 March 1920), p.4.
1885 births 1971 deaths Players of Australian handball Nationalist Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Australia Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Ballarat Members of the Australian House of Representatives Australian MPs 1919–1922 {{Australia-National-politician-stub