John Neville Fraser (6 August 1890 – 23 January 1962) was an
Australian
Australian(s) may refer to:
Australia
* Australia, a country
* Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia
** European Australians
** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists
** Aboriginal Aus ...
first-class
cricket
Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...
er, pastoralist and the father of
Australian Prime Minister
The prime minister of Australia is the head of government of the Commonwealth of Australia. The prime minister is the chair of the Cabinet of Australia and thus the head of the federal executive government. Under the principles of responsibl ...
Malcolm Fraser
John Malcolm Fraser (; 21 May 1930 – 20 March 2015) was an Australian politician who served as the 22nd prime minister of Australia from 1975 to 1983. He held office as the leader of the Liberal Party of Australia, and is the fourth List of ...
.
Early life
The son of the businessman, pastoralist, and politician
Simon Fraser, he was born in the
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 ...
suburb of
Toorak
Toorak () is a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, south-east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Stonnington local government area. Toorak recorded a population of 12,817 at the 2021 census.
The name ...
in August 1890. He was educated at
Melbourne Grammar School
Melbourne Grammar School is an Australian private school, private Anglican Church of Australia, Anglican Day school, day and boarding school. It comprises a co-educational preparatory school from Prep to Year 6 and a middle school and senior s ...
, before going up to
Trinity College, Melbourne
Trinity College is the oldest residential college of the University of Melbourne, the first university in the colony of Victoria, Australia. The college was opened in 1872 on a site granted to the Church of England by the government of Victor ...
.
From there he studied in England at
Magdalen College, Oxford
Magdalen College ( ) is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford. It was founded in 1458 by Bishop of Winchester William of Waynflete. It is one of the wealthiest Oxford colleges, as of 2022, and ...
.
Sporting career
While studying at Oxford, he played
first-class cricket
First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is of three or more days scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officially adju ...
for
Oxford University
The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the second-oldest continuously operating u ...
, making his debut against
H. K. Foster's XI at
Oxford
Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town.
The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...
in 1912. He played first-class cricket for Oxford until 1914, making a total of seventeen appearances. Playing primarily as a
leg break
Leg spin is a type of spin bowling in cricket. A bowler who uses this technique is called a leg spinner. Leg spinners bowl with their right-arm and a wrist spin action. The leg spinner's normal delivery is called a leg break, which spins from ...
googly
A googly, also known as a wrong'un or Bosie, is a type of delivery in the game of cricket bowled by a right-arm leg spin bowler. It is different from the normal delivery for a leg-spin bowler in that it is turning the other way. The googly is ...
bowler, he took a total of 59 wickets in his seventeen matches for Oxford, at an
average
In colloquial, ordinary language, an average is a single number or value that best represents a set of data. The type of average taken as most typically representative of a list of numbers is the arithmetic mean the sum of the numbers divided by ...
of 23.57. He took a
five wicket haul
In cricket, a five-wicket haul (also known as a "five–for" or "fifer") occurs when a bowler takes five or more wickets in a single innings. This is regarded by critics as a notable achievement, equivalent to a century from a batter.
Taking ...
on four occasions, with best figures of 6 for 35 against
H. D. G. Leveson Gower's XI. A less successful batsman, Fraser scored 195 runs with a high score of 33.
Military service
Fraser was still in England when war was declared on
Germany
Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...
to mark the start of 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 in the
British Army
The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...
during the war, being commissioned as a
second lieutenant in the
Royal Artillery
The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery (RA) and colloquially known as "The Gunners", is one of two regiments that make up the artillery arm of the British Army. The Royal Regiment of Artillery comprises t ...
in November 1914. He was made a temporary
lieutenant
A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a Junior officer, junior commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations, as well as fire services, emergency medical services, Security agency, security services ...
in January 1916, with him later seeing action in the
Battle of the Somme
The Battle of the Somme (; ), also known as the Somme offensive, was a battle of the First World War fought by the armies of the British Empire and the French Third Republic against the German Empire. It took place between 1 July and 18 Nove ...
.
He was made an acting
captain
Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...
in December 1916, before taking part in the June 1917
Battle of Messines.
He relinquished his acting rank of captain in August 1918, with Fraser relinquishing his commission following the war in January 1919,
returning to Australia.
Later life
His father died in July 1919, with Fraser inheriting his property at ''Balpool-Nyang''
sheep station
A sheep station is a large property ( station, the equivalent of a ranch) in Australia or New Zealand, whose main activity is the raising of sheep for their wool and/or meat. In Australia, sheep stations are usually in the south-east or sout ...
of on the
Edward River
Edward River, or Kolety is an anabranch of the Murray River and part of the Murray–Darling basin, is located in the western Riverina region of south-western New South Wales, Australia.
The river rises at Picnic Point east of Mathoura, as a r ...
near
Moulamein
Moulamein is a small town in New South Wales, Australia, in the Murray River Council local government area. At the , Moulamein had a population of 484 . Moulamein is the oldest town in the Riverina.
The town is located between Balranald, Hay, ...
in the
Riverina district of
New South Wales
New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...
. Despite being a trained lawyer,
he decided to focus his attention to being a pastoralist, preferring the life of a grazier. He married Una Arnold (née Woolf) at
St Mark's Church, Darling Point
St Mark's Church is an active Anglican church in Darling Point, a suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is part of a significant local heritage group that includes the church, rectory, and adjacent cottage. The group forms part of a la ...
in 1926. The couple had two children, a daughter Lorraine and a son,
Malcolm
Malcolm, Malcom, Máel Coluim, or Maol Choluim may refer to:
People
* Malcolm (given name), includes a list of people and fictional characters
* Malcom (footballer) (born 1997), Brazilian football forward
* Clan Malcolm
* Maol Choluim de Innerp ...
. He sold Balpool in 1944, moving to
Nareen in the
Western District of Victoria.
Fraser died at the
Sydney
Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...
suburb of
Lindfield in January 1962. His son would serve as the
Prime Minister of Australia
The prime minister of Australia is the head of government of the Commonwealth of Australia. The prime minister is the chair of the Cabinet of Australia and thus the head of the Australian Government, federal executive government. Under the pr ...
from 1975 to 1983.
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fraser, Neville
1890 births
1962 deaths
Military personnel from Melbourne
Australian people of Canadian descent
Australian people of Scottish descent
People educated at Melbourne Grammar School
People educated at Trinity College (University of Melbourne)
Alumni of Magdalen College, Oxford
Australian cricketers
Oxford University cricketers
British Army personnel of World War I
Royal Artillery officers
Australian pastoralists
Malcolm Fraser
Parents of prime ministers of Australia
Cricketers from Melbourne
People from Toorak, Victoria
Australian expatriate cricketers in England
20th-century Australian sportsmen