Frederick Alexander (known primarily as Fred Alexander) (12 April 1899 – 1996) was an Australian historian who specialised in foreign affairs and policy. He was the founding Head of the

University of Western Australia The University of Western Australia (UWA) is a public research university in the Australian state of Western Australia. The university's main campus is in Perth, the state capital, with a secondary campus in Albany, Western Australia, Albany an ...

's Department of History, where he was instrumental in the development of the history curriculum.

Biography

The son of a primary school headmaster, Fred Alexander was born in Victoria on 12 April 1899. He attended

Melbourne High School Melbourne High School is a Education in Australia#Government schools, government-funded Single-sex education, single-sex Selective school, academically selective secondary school, secondary day school for boys, located in the Melbourne suburb o ...

, and in 1916 won an exhibition to attend lectures at Trinity College during his studies at the

University of Melbourne The University of Melbourne is a public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in Victoria. Its main campus is located in Parkville, an inner suburb n ...

, where he intended to gain a

Bachelor of Laws Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the People's Republic of ...

degree. However, he developed an interest in history under the influence of Professor

Ernest Scott Sir Ernest Scott (21 June 1867 – 6 December 1939) was an Australian historian and professor of history at the University of Melbourne from 1913 to 1936. Early life Scott was born in Northampton, England, on 21 June 1867, the son of Hannah S ...

, and deferred his law studies to obtain a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four yea ...

with

First Class Honours The British undergraduate degree classification system is a grading structure for undergraduate degrees or bachelor's degrees and integrated master's degrees in the United Kingdom. The system has been applied (sometimes with significant variat ...

in history. He then completed his third year of law studies, but in 1920 he won an

Orient Line The Orient Steam Navigation Company, also known as the Orient Line, was a British shipping company with roots going back to the late 18th century. From the early 20th century onwards, an association began with P&O which became 51% sharehold ...

scholarship that enabled him to pursue studies at

Balliol College, Oxford Balliol College () is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. One of Oxford's oldest colleges, it was founded around 1263 by John I de Balliol, a landowner from Barnard Castle in County Durham, who provided the ...

. During his second year at Balliol, he suffered from a recurrent illness, and in 1923 he was advised by his doctors to take a long sea voyage. That year, he sailed for Melbourne; when his ship docked at

Fremantle, Western Australia Fremantle () () is a port A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can als ...

, he took the opportunity to visit

Edward Shann Edward Owen Giblin Shann (30 April 1884 – 23 May 1935, often written as E. O. G. Shann) was an Australian economist and historian. At a time when Australia's dominant economic philosophy favoured protectionist tariffs, Shann championed a more ...

, the foundation professor of History and Economics at the University of Western Australia. The following year, after returning to England, receiving the Herbertson Prize in History along with a M.A., and getting married, he received from Shann an offer of appointment as Assistant Lecturer at the University of Western Australia. He arrived in

Perth Perth is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the Australian states and territories of Australia, state of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth most populous city in Aust ...

in September 1924. In 1949–50, he spent four months in South Africa as a

Carnegie Fellow Carnegie may refer to: People *Carnegie (surname), including a list of people with the name *Clan Carnegie, a lowland Scottish clan Institutions Named for Andrew Carnegie *Carnegie Building (Troy, New York), on the campus of Rensselaer Polytec ...

, an experience which caused him to concentrate on Commonwealth history. He retired in 1966, and later served as Chairman of the Library Board of Western Australia. The

Alexander Library Building The Alexander Library Building, is located in the Cultural Centre of Perth, Western Australia. It was named after Western Australian historian and former member of the Library Board, Fred Alexander. It houses the State Library of Western Au ...

is named after him.

Bibliography

Fred Alexander was the author of a great many works. The following are a few of his better known publications: * * * * * * * *

References

External links

Interview with Professor Fred Alexander

National Library of Australia The National Library of Australia (NLA), formerly the Commonwealth National Library and Commonwealth Parliament Library, is the largest reference library in Australia, responsible under the terms of the ''National Library Act 1960'' for "mainta ...

1899 births 1996 deaths University of Western Australia alumni People educated at Melbourne High School People educated at Trinity College (University of Melbourne) 20th-century Australian historians Australian Book Review people Writers from Victoria (Australia) {{WesternAustralia-stub