Sir Lawrence Emmet McDermott

KBE KBE may refer to: * Knight Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, post-nominal letters * Knowledge-based engineering Knowledge-based engineering (KBE) is the application of knowledge-based systems technology to the domain o ...

(6 September 1911 – 31 August 2002) was an Australian dentist, politician and

Lord Mayor of Sydney The Right Honourable the Lord Mayor of Sydney is the head of the Council of the City of Sydney, which is the local government area covering the central business district of Sydney in the State of New South Wales, Australia. The Lord Mayor has b ...

between 1969 and 1972.

Early life

Emmet McDermott was born in

Glebe A glebe (, also known as church furlong, rectory manor or parson's close(s)) is an area of land within an ecclesiastical parish used to support a parish priest. The land may be owned by the church, or its profits may be reserved to the church. ...

, the sixth of ten children. Educated at

St Ignatius' College St Ignatius College is a Catholic Church, Catholic Voluntary aided school, voluntary aided secondary school for boys aged 11–18 in Enfield, London, England, founded by the Society of Jesus in 1894 and completely moved to its present site by 1 ...

and the

University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD) is a public university, public research university in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in both Australia and Oceania. One of Australia's six sandstone universities, it was one of the ...

where he graduated in dentistry, he earned a doctorate of dentistry from

Northwestern University Northwestern University (NU) is a Private university, private research university in Evanston, Illinois, United States. Established in 1851 to serve the historic Northwest Territory, it is the oldest University charter, chartered university in ...

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

. McDermott was Consultant Dental Surgeon at the

Royal Prince Alfred Hospital The Royal Prince Alfred Hospital (abbreviated RPAH or RPA) is a large teaching hospital in Sydney, Australia, located on Missenden Road in Camperdown. It is a teaching hospital of the Central Clinical School of the Sydney Medical School at the ...

from 1942 and also worked at the

Sydney Dental Hospital Sydney Dental Hospital (SDH) is in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, in Surry Hills, between Chalmers Street and Elizabeth Street opposite the entrance to Central railway station. SDH provides both specialist treatment and general dental ...

. He was the President of the Australian Dental Association (NSW) from 1960 to 1961 and became a Fellow of the

Royal Australasian College of Dental Surgeons The Royal Australasian College of Dental Surgeons (RACDS) is a postgraduate professional education body established in 1965 to provide a broad range of activities to enhance the professional development of both general and specialist dentists thr ...

(FRACDS).

City of Sydney

Joining the

Civic Reform Association The Civic Reform Association (CRA), also known as the Civic Reform Movement, the Civic Reform Party or simply Reform, was an Australian ratepayers' organisation and local political party which contested elections for the City of Sydney. The p ...

, he was elected to the Council of the

City of Sydney The City of Sydney is the Local government in Australia, local government area covering the Sydney central business district and surrounding inner city suburbs of the Greater Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Established by Act of Parliament ...

in 1962, becoming Lord Mayor in 1969. As Lord Mayor, he was instrumental in the preservation of the historic

Queen Victoria Building The Queen Victoria Building (abbreviated as the QVB) is a heritage-listed late-19th-century building located at 429–481 George Street, Sydney, George Street in the Sydney central business district, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. D ...

and the conversion of

Martin Place Martin Place is a pedestrian mall in the Sydney central business district, New South Wales, Australia. Martin Place has been described as the "civic heart" of Sydney.

into a pedestrian mall.

Later life

In the 1972

New Year Honours The New Year Honours is a part of the British honours system, with New Year's Day, 1 January, being marked by naming new members of orders of chivalry and recipients of other official honours. A number of other Commonwealth realms also mark this ...

he was made a

Knight Commander 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 ...

(KBE) in the civil division. Sir Emmet McDermott died in 2002 age 90. He is survived by his son and daughter from his first marriage, and his second wife.

References

20th-century mayors of places in Australia Australian Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire Mayors and lord mayors of Sydney Northwestern University Dental School alumni University of Sydney alumni 1911 births 2002 deaths 20th-century Australian politicians Councillors of Sydney County Council 20th-century Australian dentists {{Australia-mayor-stub