Reginald John Rudall (27 September 1885 – 1 January 1955) was a lawyer and Liberal Country League politician in

Gawler, South Australia Gawler, established in 1839, is the oldest country town in the state of South Australia. It was named after the second Governor of South Australia, Governor (British Vice-Regal representative) of the colony of South Australia, George Gawler. ...

. His father, Samuel Bruce Rudall, was member for Barossa 1906–1915.

History

Reginald Rudall was born at

Gawler Gawler, established in 1839, is the oldest country town in the state of South Australia. It was named after the second Governor (British Vice-Regal representative) of the colony of South Australia, George Gawler. It is about north of the st ...

, the son of Samuel Bruce Rudall (1859–1945) and Margaret Rudall, née McNeil. He was educated at Miss Burton's Private School in Gawler, Queen's School in North Adelaide, and St. Peter's College. He read law at the

University of Adelaide The University of Adelaide is a public university, public research university based in Adelaide, South Australia. Established in 1874, it is the third-oldest university in Australia. Its main campus in the Adelaide city centre includes many Sa ...

then served his articles with his father firm of Rudall & Rudall and in the firm G. & J. Downer. He was admitted to the Bar in 1907. In 1908 he was awarded a

Rhodes scholarship The Rhodes Scholarship is an international postgraduate award for students to study at the University of Oxford in Oxford, United Kingdom. The scholarship is open to people from all backgrounds around the world. Established in 1902, it is ...

, which he used to further his studies at

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 ...

. He enlisted in the AIF in 1915 and served with the 50th Battalion in France. In September 1918 he was appointed assistant director of the newly formed AIF Education Service in London, where he was promoted to the rank of captain shortly before in May 1919 returning to Australia. He returned to Gawler, where he rejoined his father's firm of Rudall & Rudall and lectured in Constitutional Law at the

from 1920 to 1925. He was elected to the

House of Assembly House of Assembly is a name given to the legislature or lower house of a bicameral parliament. In some countries this may be at a subnational level. Historically, in British Crown colonies as the colony gained more internal responsible g ...

at a July 1933 by-election in the seat of Barossa. In 1938, when the House of Assembly moved from multi-member to single-member districts, he contested and won the new seat of Angas. Thomas Playford became premier in the following November and appointed Rudall to his cabinet as Commissioner of Crown Lands (1938–1944), Minister of Repatriation and Minister of Irrigation (1938–1946) and Minister of Lands (1944–1946). Following the outbreak of the Second World War, Rudall's two sons enlisted and both were lost in action: Peter on on 19 November 1941, and Jake was killed at Buna, Papua in December 1942. Rudall had the responsibility of implementing the soldier-settlement scheme with memories of the failures of earlier schemes still fresh in the minds of South Australians. As a returned soldier he was able to maintain a degree of goodwill from returned servicemen when bureaucracy and Federal government financial problems delayed the purchase of suitable land. He became a legal adviser to the Returned Sailors', Soldiers' and Airmen's Imperial League of Australia. He stood for a Midland seat in 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 ...

in 1944 and retained it until 1955. He was, in the Legislative Council, the chief ally of Premier Playford in his program of taking over the monopolistic Adelaide Electric Supply Co. and regional suppliers, and the formation of the State-owned

Electricity Trust of South Australia The Electricity Trust of South Australia (ETSA) was the Government of South Australia, South Australian Government-owned monopoly vertically integrated electrical power industry, electricity provider from 1946 until its privatisation in 1999. ...

. He later served as

Attorney-General of South Australia The attorney-general of South Australia is the Cabinet minister in the Government of South Australia who is responsible for that state's system of law and justice. The attorney-general must be a qualified legal practitioner, although this wa ...

from 1946 to 1955 and Minister of Education from 1946 to 1953. He also served as Minister of Industry and Employment.

Family

He married Kathleen Clara Sutherland on 20 January 1914. They had two sons, both killed in World War II: *John Glasgow "Jake" Rudall (20 June 1920 – December 1942) *Peter Sutherland Rudall (31 May 1922 – 20 November 1941) He died on New Year's Day 1955 in Calvary Hospital; he was accorded a state funeral and was buried in the A.I.F. section of the

West Terrace Cemetery The West Terrace Cemetery, formerly Adelaide Public Cemetery is a cemetery in Adelaide, South Australia. It is the state's oldest cemetery, first appearing on Colonel William Light's 1837 plan of the Adelaide city centre, to the south-west of ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rudall, Reginald John 20th-century Australian lawyers Members of the South Australian House of Assembly Members of the South Australian Legislative Council 1885 births 1955 deaths Liberal and Country League politicians Burials at West Terrace Cemetery People from Gawler, South Australia 20th-century Australian politicians Attorneys-general of South Australia Adelaide Law School alumni