Frederick Edward Forrest MC (9 April 1877 – 20 October 1930) was an Australian soldier and politician. He was born in

Rheola, Victoria Rheola is a locality in central Victoria, Australia. At the , Rheola and the surrounding area had a population of 316. Originally called the 'Berlin Rush' or 'Berlin field' after gold nuggets were found. It is part of Victoria's 'Golden Triangl ...

, to miner Edward James Forrest and Cecelia Hannah Atchison. He worked in

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

and joined the volunteer defence forces in

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 ...

before moving to Launceston. On 14 September 1904 he married Bertha Ada Graham, with whom he had three children. During the

First World War 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 ...

he served with the

7th Battalion Seventh is the ordinal form of the number seven. Seventh may refer to: * Seventh Amendment to the United States Constitution * A fraction (mathematics), , equal to one of seven equal parts Film and television *"The Seventh", a second-season epi ...

and artillery units, and was wounded at

Gallipoli The Gallipoli Peninsula (; ; ) is located in the southern part of East Thrace, the European part of Turkey, with the Aegean Sea to the west and the Dardanelles strait to the east. Gallipoli is the Italian form of the Greek name (), meaning ' ...

and Passchendaele, winning the

Military Cross The Military Cross (MC) is the third-level (second-level until 1993) military decoration awarded to officers and (since 1993) Other ranks (UK), other ranks of the British Armed Forces, and formerly awarded to officers of other Commonwealth of ...

. After the war he was secretary of the Tasmanian

Returned and Services League 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 ...

(RSL) from 1919 to 1921, and from 1921 to 1924 he was the RSL's general secretary. In 1924 he returned to

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

, becoming an estate agent, although he remained a lieutenant colonel in the Citizen Military Forces. In 1927 he was elected to the

Victorian Legislative Assembly The Victorian Legislative Assembly is the states and territories of Australia, state lower house of the bicameral Parliament of Victoria in Australia; the state upper house being the Victorian Legislative Council. Both houses sit at Parliament H ...

for Caulfield, representing the new

Australian Liberal Party The Liberal Party of Australia (LP) is the prominent Centre-right politics, centre-right list of political parties in Australia, political party in Australia. It is considered one of the two Major party, major parties in politics of Australia, ...

. Re-elected as a Liberal in 1929, he died in

East Melbourne East Melbourne is an inner-city suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Melbourne local government area. East Melbourne recorded a population of 4,896 at the 2021 ce ...

in 1930.

References

1877 births 1930 deaths Australian Army officers Australian military personnel of World War I Australian Liberal Party (1926) members of the Parliament of Victoria Australian recipients of the Military Cross Members of the Victorian Legislative Assembly {{Australia-politician-stub