Sir Raymond William Garrett, (19 October 1900 – 12 October 1994) was an Australian pilot, military officer, photographer, and

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

. A member of 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 ...

, Garrett served on the

Victorian Legislative Council The Victorian Legislative Council is the upper house of the bicameral Parliament of Victoria, Australia, the lower house being the Victorian Legislative Assembly, Legislative Assembly. Both houses sit at Parliament House, Melbourne, Parliament ...

for eighteen years, and was knighted in 1973.

Early life and career

Garrett was born in

Kew Kew () is a district in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. Its population at the 2011 census was 11,436. Kew is the location of the Royal Botanic Gardens ("Kew Gardens"), now a World Heritage Site, which includes Kew Palace. Kew is ...

, in

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 ...

, Victoria. He was educated at Workingman's College (now

RMIT University The Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (abbreviated as RMIT University) is a public research university located in the city of Melbourne in Victoria, Australia., section 4(b) Established in 1887 by Francis Ormond, it is the seventh-o ...

) and the

University of Melbourne The University of Melbourne (colloquially known as Melbourne University) is a public university, public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in the state ...

. At the age of 26, Garrett graduated from flying school at the

Royal Australian Air Force The Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) is the principal Air force, aerial warfare force of Australia, a part of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Australian Army. Constitutionally the Governor-Gener ...

base at Point Cook; he became a commercial pilot in 1927, and joined the

Citizen Air Force The Air Force Reserve or RAAF Reserve is the common, collective name given to the reserve units of the Royal Australian Air Force The Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) is the principal Air force, aerial warfare force of Australia, a part of ...

. Garrett later became the first civilian instructor in the CAF. Garrett was as keen on

gliding Gliding is a recreational activity and competitive air sports, air sport in which pilots fly glider aircraft, unpowered aircraft known as Glider (sailplane), gliders or sailplanes using naturally occurring currents of rising air in the atmospher ...

as he was on flying aeroplanes. In 1928, he set a

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record for gliding duration. In 1929, he founded the Gliding Club of Victoria. In 1933, he began working in the

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (abbreviated as NT; known formally as the Northern Territory of Australia and informally as the Territory) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian internal territory in the central and central-northern regi ...

for the Larkin Aircraft Company. Flying as the chief pilot for the company, Garrett ran the first Territory-wide mail route, and provided the air links between Darwin and other townships in the territory. In the mid-1930s, Garrett left the Northern Territory and returned to Melbourne, where he tried being a professional photographer. Garrett's interest in photography began in the 1920s, when he was one of the country's first aerial photographers. In 1934, Garrett married Vera Halliday Lugton, with whom he had four children. When

World War II 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 ...

broke out, Garrett was called up into the Royal Australian Air Force. Initially based at RAAF Base Laverton, he moved to

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to take up a post as commanding officer of the RAAF training school. He retired from the Air Force in 1945, having achieved the rank of

group captain Group captain (Gp Capt or G/C) is a senior officer rank used by some air forces, with origins from the Royal Air Force. The rank is used by air forces of many Commonwealth of Nations, countries that have historical British influence. Group cap ...

. After the war, Garrett took his earlier love of photography and set up a successful business in

Doncaster Doncaster ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in South Yorkshire, England. Named after the River Don, Yorkshire, River Don, it is the administrative centre of the City of Doncaster metropolitan borough, and is the second largest se ...

, manufacturing photographic chemicals. He later became Chairman of

Ilford Ilford is a large List of areas of London, town in East London, England, northeast of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Redbridge, Ilford is within the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Greater London. It had a po ...

(Australia) Pty Ltd. Several of his descendants shared his passion, and became professional photographers.

Politics

It was around this time that Garrett also began to dabble in politics, sitting on the council of the Shire of Doncaster and Templestowe for six years. In 1956, Garrett contested—and won—the seat of Southern Province for the Liberals. He served the electorate with distinction, and was elected President of the Victorian Legislative Council in 1968. Southern Province had, by that time, become over-large and difficult to represent, and, after some redistricting, Garrett joined fellow Liberal Vasey Houghton in representing Templestowe Province. He held a seat in Templestowe until his retirement from politics in 1976.

References

* * "Sir Raymond Garrett, 93, former President of Victorian Legislative Council and wartime pilot instructor", ''The Age'', 25 October 1994. * Condolence motions, HANSARD records of the Victorian State Parliament, 14 October 1994
available online
, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Garrett, Raymond 1900 births 1994 deaths 20th-century Australian politicians Australian Knights Bachelor Liberal Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Victoria Members of the Victorian Legislative Council Presidents of the Victorian Legislative Council Recipients of the Air Force Cross (United Kingdom) RMIT University alumni Royal Australian Air Force officers Royal Australian Air Force personnel of World War II Australian aviation record holders Australian commercial aviators People from Kew, Victoria Military personnel from Melbourne 20th-century Australian photographers Photographers from Melbourne Politicians from Melbourne 20th-century Australian male artists Artists awarded knighthoods