Frank Outen Jensen Purdue, (2 September 1899 – 24 December 1985) was an Australian politician. He was 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 1956 until 1962 and again between 1964 and 1965. He was prominent in local Government and was Lord Mayor of

Newcastle, NSW Newcastle, also commonly referred to as Greater Newcastle ( ; ), is a large metropolitan area and the second-most-populous such area of New South Wales, Australia. It includes the cities of Newcastle and Lake Macquarie and it is the hub of th ...

for 9 years between 1951 and 1965. He was not aligned to a political party.

Early life

Purdue was born in Murrumbeena,

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 ...

. He was the son of a building contractor and was educated to intermediate level at

Armidale High School Armidale High School was a Education in Australia#Government schools, government-funded Mixed-sex school, co-educational Comprehensive education, comprehensive secondary school, secondary day school, located in Armidale, a College town, universi ...

. His initial employment was with the New South Wales Railway Department as a clerk. He was transferred to Newcastle in 1922 and resigned from the department in 1955. Purdue was a Methodist lay preacher, Rotarian and Freemason. He walked with a profound limp due to childhood

polio Poliomyelitis ( ), commonly shortened to polio, is an infectious disease caused by the poliovirus. Approximately 75% of cases are asymptomatic; mild symptoms which can occur include sore throat and fever; in a proportion of cases more severe ...

Political career

Purdue was an Alderman of the

City of Newcastle The City of Newcastle is a local government area in the Hunter region of New South Wales, Australia. The City of Newcastle incorporates much of the area of the Newcastle metropolitan area. The Lord Mayor of the City of Newcastle Council is Co ...

from 1944 to 1974 and Lord Mayor in 1951, 1953–55 and 1959–65. during this period he played an active role in the development of the

University of Newcastle, Australia The University of Newcastle is a Public university#Australia, public university in Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia. Established in 1965, it has a primary campus in the Newcastle suburb of Callaghan, New South Wales, Callaghan. The univers ...

. At the state election held on 3 March 1956 he stood as an independent candidate for the seat of

Waratah Australia’s famous waratah (genus ''Telopea'') is an Australian-endemic genus of five species of large shrubs or small trees, native to the southeastern parts of Australia (New South Wales, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, and Tasmania). The be ...

. In a surprise result he defeated the endorsed

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 ...

candidate Harry Sheedy. This result was at least in part due to the recent split of the Democratic Labor Party from Labor. Purdue successfully defended the seat at the election of 21 March 1959 but lost the seat to Edward Greaves the ALP candidate at the election of 3 March 1962. Greaves died in 1964 and Purdue was successful in his attempt to regain the seat at a by-election. He was defeated at the election of 1 May 1965 by ALP candidate Sam Jones. Purdue was appointed a

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 ...

in 1966.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Purdue, Frank Independent members of the Parliament of New South Wales Mayors and lord mayors of Newcastle Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly Politicians from Newcastle, New South Wales 1899 births 1985 deaths 20th-century Australian politicians Australian Commanders of the Order of the British Empire People from Murrumbeena, Victoria