Robert Mervyn Forrest (28 April 1891 – 22 August 1975) was an Australian pastoralist and politician who served as a

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 ...

member of the

Legislative Council A legislative council is the legislature, or one of the legislative chambers, of a nation, colony, or subnational division such as a province or state. It was commonly used to label unicameral or upper house legislative bodies in the Brit ...

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

from 1946 to 1952, representing North Province.

Early life

Forrest was born in

Bunbury, Western Australia Bunbury () is a coastal city in the Australian state of Western Australia, approximately south of the state capital, Perth. It is the state's third most populous city after Perth and Mandurah, with a population of approximately 75,000. Loca ...

, to Mary (née Parker) and David Forrest. His father and two uncles (

Alexander Alexander () is a male name of Greek origin. The most prominent bearer of the name is Alexander the Great, the king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia who created one of the largest empires in ancient history. Variants listed here ar ...

and

John John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second E ...

) were also members of parliament, with John being Western Australia's first

premier Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier. A premier will normally be a head of govern ...

. Forrest lived at

Minderoo Station Minderoo Station, commonly referred to as Minderoo, is a pastoral lease that once operated as a sheep station but now operates as a cattle station in Western Australia. Description It is situated about south of Onslow, Western Australia, Onsl ...

for periods as a child, and was later sent to

Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...

to be educated, attending

Hale School Hale School is an independent, Anglican day and boarding school for boys, located in Wembley Downs, a western suburb of Perth, Western Australia. Named after the school founded by Bishop Mathew Blagden Hale in 1858, Hale School claims to ...

and

Guildford Grammar School Guildford Grammar School, informally known as Guildford Grammar, Guildford or GGS, is an Independent school, independent Anglican Church of Australia, Anglican Mixed-sex education, coeducational Primary school, primary and Secondary school, se ...

. After leaving school, he worked for family businesses as a jackaroo at Cubbine Station, bookkeeper in Perth, and station overseer of Minderoo. Forrest eventually became managing director of the

holding company A holding company is a company whose primary business is holding a controlling interest in the Security (finance), securities of other companies. A holding company usually does not produce goods or services itself. Its purpose is to own Share ...

for the Minderoo and Wyloo leases, and also served on the executive of the Pastoralists and Graziers Association. He became a justice of the peace in 1916.Robert Mervyn Forrest
Biographical Register of Members of the Parliament of Western Australia. Retrieved 7 February 2017.

Family

Forrest married Agnes Courthope (the granddaughter of Archdeacon James Brown) in 1918, with whom he had four children. A grandson,

Andrew Forrest John Andrew Henry Forrest (born 18 November 1961), nicknamed Twiggy, is an Australian businessman. He is best known as the former CEO (and current non-executive chairman) of Fortescue Metals Group (FMG), and has other interests in the mining ...

, became a prominent mining entrepreneur.

Politics and later life

Forrest served on the Ashburton Road Board from 1915 to 1947, including as chairman from 1924. He entered parliament at the 1946 Legislative Council election, defeating Cyril Cornish (an independent) for one of the three North Province seats. Forrest served a single six-year term before losing his seat to

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 ...

's Don Barker at the 1952 election. After allocation of

preferences In psychology, economics and philosophy, preference is a technical term usually used in relation to choosing between alternatives. For example, someone prefers A over B if they would rather choose A than B. Preferences are central to decision the ...

he was defeated by five votes (873 votes were cast). Forrest died in Perth in August 1975, aged 84, and was buried at

Karrakatta Cemetery Karrakatta Cemetery is a metropolitan cemetery in the suburb of Karrakatta in Perth, Western Australia. Karrakatta Cemetery first opened for burials in 1899, the first being that of wheelwright Robert Creighton. Managed by the Metropolitan Ce ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Forrest, Mervyn 1891 births 1975 deaths Australian justices of the peace Australian pastoralists Burials at Karrakatta Cemetery Liberal Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Western Australia Mayors of places in Western Australia Members of the Western Australian Legislative Council People educated at Guildford Grammar School People educated at Hale School People from Bunbury, Western Australia Western Australian local councillors

Early life

Family

Politics and later life

See also

References