Frederick Meares Osborne &

Bar Bar or BAR may refer to: Food and drink * Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages * Candy bar ** Chocolate bar * Protein bar Science and technology * Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment * Bar (tropical cyclone), a laye ...

, VRD (20 January 1909 – 23 July 1996) was an Australian lawyer, politician and company director. He was a member of the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entities. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often ...

from 1949 to 1961, representing the New South Wales seat of

Evans Evans or Evan's may refer to: People * Evans (surname) * List of people with surname Evans * Evans Welch, Trinidad and Tobago politician Places United States * Evans Island, an island of Alaska * Evans, Colorado * Evans, Georgia * Evans County ...

for the

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. For example, while the political systems ...

. He held ministerial office in the Menzies government as

Minister for Customs and Excise The Minister for Home Affairs is the minister in the Australian government responsible for the Department of Home Affairs, the country's interior ministry. The current minister is Tony Burke of the Labor Party, who has held the position since ...

(1956),

Air An atmosphere () is a layer of gases that envelop an astronomical object, held in place by the gravity of the object. A planet retains an atmosphere when the gravity is great and the temperature of the atmosphere is low. A stellar atmosph ...

(1956–1960), and

Repatriation Repatriation is the return of a thing or person to its or their country of origin, respectively. The term may refer to non-human entities, such as converting a foreign currency into the currency of one's own country, as well as the return of mi ...

(1960–1961)

Early life

Osborne was born on 20 January 1909 in

Mosman, New South Wales Mosman is a suburb on the Lower North Shore (Sydney), Lower North Shore region of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Mosman is located 8 kilometres north-east of the Sydney central business district and is the administrative c ...

. He was the youngest of six children born to Eleanor Mary (née Scott) and William Alexander Osborne. Osborne and his family moved to

Orange, New South Wales Orange is a city in the Central Tablelands region of New South Wales, Australia. It is west of the state capital, Sydney on a great circle at an altitude of . Orange had an urban population of 41,920 at the 2021 Australia Census, 2021 Cens ...

, when he was an infant. His father, a bank manager, died when he was two years old and the family was supported by his older brothers. He began his education at Orange Primary School, before the family returned to Mosman in 1918. He attended Mosman Public School before completing his secondary education at North Sydney High School (1922–1924) and

Sydney Church of England Grammar School The Sydney Church of England Grammar School (commonly known as Shore or Shore School) is an independent Anglican school for boys located on Sydney's Lower North Shore, New South Wales, Australia. The school operates across two campuses, offer ...

(1925–1926). Osborne went on to study law at 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 ...

, graduating

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

in 1930 and

Bachelor of Laws A Bachelor of Laws (; LLB) is an undergraduate law degree offered in most common law countries as the primary law degree and serves as the first professional qualification for legal practitioners. This degree requires the study of core legal subje ...

in 1934 and living at St Andrew's College on a scholarship. He subsequently joined his older brother Ronald at the firm of Dibbs, Crowther & Osborne.

Military service

Osborne joined the

Royal Australian Naval Volunteer Reserve Royal Australian Naval Volunteer Reserve (RANVR) was a reserve force of the Royal Australian Navy. Formation In late 1920, the Navy Board proposed the creation of an Royal Australian Naval Volunteer Reserve scheme, with approaches made to yac ...

in 1938, and with the outbreak of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, he was seconded to the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

in 1940. He was awarded a

Distinguished Service Cross The Distinguished Service Cross (D.S.C.) is a military decoration for courage. Different versions exist for different countries. *Distinguished Service Cross (Australia) *Distinguished Service Cross (United Kingdom) *Distinguished Service Cross (U ...

in 1940 for "bravery and devotion to duty" while assisting the evacuation of forces from Norway as a sub-lieutenant on the ''St Loman'', an

armed trawler Naval trawlers are vessels built along the lines of a fishing trawler but fitted out for naval purposes; they were widely used during the First and Second World Wars. Some, known in the Royal Navy as "Admiralty trawlers", were purpose-built to na ...

. He then successively commanded , and , escorting ships between the United States and Canada and the United Kingdom in the

Battle of the Atlantic The Battle of the Atlantic, the longest continuous military campaign in World War II, ran from 1939 to the defeat of Nazi Germany in 1945, covering a major part of the naval history of World War II. At its core was the Allies of World War II, ...

. He crossed the Atlantic 22 times and was the only Royal Australian Naval Volunteer Reserve officer to rise to the command of a Royal Navy destroyer during the war. In 1945 a

was added to his DSC for sinking of a German

U-boat U-boats are Submarine#Military, naval submarines operated by Germany, including during the World War I, First and Second World Wars. The term is an Anglicization#Loanwords, anglicized form of the German word , a shortening of (), though the G ...

Political career

Osborne was elected as the member for

at the December 1949 election as a

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * Generally, a supporter of the political philosophy liberalism. Liberals may be politically left or right but tend to be centrist. * An adherent of a Liberal Party (See also Liberal parties by country ...

. He was

from January to October 1956, Minister for Air from October 1956 to December 1960 and

Minister for Repatriation The Minister for Veterans' Affairs is an Australian Government position. In the Government of Australia, the minister oversees income support, compensation, care and commemoration programs for more than 400,000 veterans and their widows, widowe ...

from December 1960 to his defeat at the December 1961 election. Osborne, as Minister for Air, and Keith Brennan from the Department of External Affairs, represented the Australian Government in the

independence Independence is a condition of a nation, country, or state, in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the status of ...

celebrations for

Ghana Ghana, officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It is situated along the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, and shares borders with Côte d’Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, and Togo to t ...

from 2–10 March 1957. Following his defeat he returned to his legal practice, but continued to play a major role in the New South Wales branch of the Liberal Party and was its president from 1967 to 1970. He supported a change in Liberal Party policy in favour of support for state aid for independent schools, a policy adopted by the three major national political parties by the 1972 election. He was invested as a Companion of the

Order of St Michael and St George The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is a British order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George, Prince of Wales (the future King George IV), while he was acting as prince regent for his father, King George III ...

for distinguished services to government and the community. Osborne was survived by his wife, Elizabeth and four children, Alick, Michael, Imogen and Penelope.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Osborne, Frederick Meares 1909 births 1996 deaths Australian Companions of the Order of St Michael and St George Australian recipients of the Distinguished Service Cross (United Kingdom) Liberal Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Australia Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Evans People educated at North Sydney Boys High School Royal Australian Navy officers Royal Australian Navy personnel of World War II 20th-century Australian politicians People from Orange, New South Wales Royal Navy officers of World War II University of Sydney alumni